This is a print preview of "Dessert Salad Saga – Part Two." recipe.

Dessert Salad Saga – Part Two. Recipe
by Mary Cokenour

Nectar and Ambrosia, the

drink and food of the Gods; the Ancient Greek Pantheon that is. Sitting upon celestial thrones high upon

Mount Olympus, these gods and goddesses played the humans upon the Earth as

pieces on a giant chessboard. My

interest in their mythology began in elementary school; in high school though

is when an English teacher asked us to make recipes of the Grecian culture.

Nectar is quite easy to

create; a mixture of whole cow’s milk, honey and the stigmas (only 3 per

flower) of Crocus flowers aka saffron threads.

Crocus, being a plant of the mountains is sacred to the Gods; it gives a golden color to the drink, with extraordinary

rejuvenating and energizing powers.

Ambrosia, in its original form, is a honey cake laden with apples and

figs; the modern version is a simple mixture of fruits, honey and Greek yogurt.

Ah, but now we come to the

Americanized version of this simple Greek recipe; we’ve all seen it in any

salad bar. That wondrous mixture of

fruits, coconut flakes, marshmallows and whipped topping; looking like a total

mess, yet tasting so cool and refreshing…Ambrosia salad. This is one of those recipes where almost

anything can be added, and it doesn’t go wrong; even pasta! That’s right, pasta, which brings me to a

popular dessert salad that dates back approximately 40 years to a recipe on a

box. Acini di Pepe, also spelled Acini

de Pepe (pronounced ah-CHEE-nee dee PAY-pay); "Acini" means

"berries", "Pepe" means "pepper", so "pepper

berries" or “peppercorns”. If you

are a fan of Italian Wedding Soup, then you have eaten Acini di Pepe; and it

gives Frog Eye Salad its unusual name.

The original name of the

recipe was “Ambrosia Salad with Acine di Pepe”, but as it made its rounds

through home kitchens, it picked up the name of “Frog Eye Salad”. How is a good question, but the only guessed

at reasoning was that someone’s child must have said, “Yuck, that looks like

frog eyes in there!” As the recipe was

passed along, the nickname stuck as it traveled throughout the United States,

and to the dessert salad loving state of Utah.

The first time I’d ever heard of, or tasted, it was at an annual holiday

party; the pasta being a chewy addition to the salad. The consensus is, some love it, some hate it;

some don’t care, its food, so just eat it.

Personally, I didn’t see the point of adding the pasta while my husband

enjoyed it; so to each his/her own.

One recipe I found was

supposedly from the original box of pasta put out by the Ronzoni Company. I contacted them for verification, but, as

yet, they have not bothered to respond with an answer. So, I’m using a recipe from The Salt Lake

Tribune’s “What’s Cooking in Utah Kitchens” cookbook (no date) which is

extremely close to the other recipe I found.

It also makes a quantity that could feed a small army (about 20

servings), so cut the recipe as needed.

(page 66, by Donna

Kastler)

overnight.

Several hours before

serving, add the mandarin oranges, pineapple, marshmallows and coconut. Stir well; add frozen whipped topping. Fold together.