“A Piece of Cake”

By Pat O’Keefe

I always talk about my “food” memories and here is a perfect example.  My mother-in-law’s sister Florence Larsen

would make this herring salad for family gatherings and it was always one of my
favorites.  We used to serve it as an appetizer with drinks.  My research tells me that most herring salads include boiled potatoes but hers did not.  In all deference to sweet Auntie Florence here is my version.  I like to use the herring in sour cream with the onions all together to save a few steps. This amount makes about 6 cups of salad but of course you can scale down the recipe to your needs.  I suggest you make the entire amount especially if you are having guests, and refrigerate the remainder. The recipe can be made in advance.

Auntie Florence’s Herring Salad

1 - 32-ounce (large) jar Vita herring in sour cream, cut into a dice

1 - 16-ounce jar “pickled” beets, drained, cut into a dice

2 - large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cut into a dice

2 - Tablespoons sour cream

1 - heaping Tablespoon small capers in juice

2 - sleeves Saltine crackers or other plain crackers

1 - teaspoon dried dill OR 2-teaspoons fresh dill (optional)

Dice herring, peeled apples and drained pickled beets, all into similar-sized dice.  Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight. The beets impart a lovely pink color to the salad.  Serve in a pretty bowl with crackers or on individual beds of lettuce.  Makes approximately 6 cups.

I will be happy to send you my weekly recipes via email just contact me a apieceofcake@optonline.net  On the Web at www.patokeefe.net Web site now has an extensive collection of recipes with more added weekly.  Need a past recipe or have a question, I will do my best to help, just email me. ENJOY!