Seafood Salad with Tarragon-Mustard Dressing

This salad can be made with any combination of seafood you like - lump crabmeat, octopus, and squid will all work as well as what's listed below.

1 pound medium-sized cooked shrimp, shelled, deveined, and chopped
1 pound fresh bay scallops, cooked
1/2 pound steamed lobster meat (about 1 1/2 cups meat, the equivalent of a 3 1/4 to 4 pound lobster), shredded
2 green onions, trimmed, cleaned and thinly cut (white and light green only)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Tarragon-Mustard Dressing
2 cups mixed baby lettuces
2 or 3 hard boiled egg, chopped

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the seafood, onion, and seasoning.  Add one cup Tarragon-Mustard Dressing, and mix well.  Taste, and add more dressing if needed.

Arrange salad greens on six plates.  Place a scoop of seafood on each lettuce bed.  Sprinkle lightly with chopped egg.  Pass additional dressing, and chopped egg.

Frosty, Pink Arctic Freeze

As festive as it is frosty!  

A good friend from Cleveland, gave me this festive recipe years ago, when my children were small.  It makes a lovely salad accompaniment to a holiday dinner, or serve it as dessert.  Either way, the kids will love it.

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sugar
1 can whole cranberry sauce
9 ounces crushed pineapple (I used a 15 oz can), drained
1 cup pecans, finely chopped (optional)
1/2 - 1  cup mini marshmallows
1 regular size container Cool Whip, thawed

Beat together the cream cheese, mayo and sugar.  Blend in the next four ingredients.  Fold in the Cool Whip.

Line a loaf pan (I use two small pans so I don't have to handle all at once) with large sheets of plastic wrap so the plastic drapes well over the outside of the pan.  Pat the mixture firmly into the corners of the loaf pan and level off the top.  Fold the wrap over the top (like a present).  Freeze overnight.  When ready to serve, carefully remove the frozen loaf from the pan by uncovering the top and pulling up on the plastic so the loaf slides out with the plastic (if you have trouble, quickly wipe the bottom and sides of the pan with a hot kitchen wash cloth, to loosen).

Remove plastic wrap and cut into 1/2 to 1 inch slices.  Serve on a lettuce leaf with a small dollop of whipped cream and a piece of maraschino cherry.

Cran-Raspberry Jello Salad with Mandarin Oranges

This is another pretty salad option for the holiday dinner table.  The jello adds just enough sweetness to offset the cranberries.

1 (6 ounce) package raspberry jello
2 cups boiling water
1 cup cold water
1 (16 ounce) can whole cranberry sauce
2 (12 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained (reserve liquid)

Stir gelatin into 2 cups boiling water.  Stir until gelatin is dissolved. Using a flat whisk blend cranberry sauce into hot gelatin, breaking up larger pieces with spoon.  Measure reserved liquid from oranges, and add cold water to measure one cup of liquid.  Add to gelatin/fruit mixture (the fruit juice adds a little extra flavor).  Add oranges.

Pour all into a jello mold, or an 8 x 8 dish, and stir so the fruit is well distributed.  Chill four hours, or until set.  Cut into serving size pieces, and garnish with whipped cream.