Friday Friend Recipe #165 - Mandarin Almond Salad

My Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown #165!

(#willreallyfinishthissomeday)

My Mandarin Almond Salad

and you know all the whys and wherefores of this countdown, right? Homemade cookbook, friends contributed, Handyman said I couldn't/wouldn't do it, I'll show him, yadda yadda yadda....

...and the rest is cookbook history!

Mandarin Almond Salad

Debbie Stone

Winnemucca, NV

Torn Romaine & leaf lettuce and torn spinach

1 11oz can drained mandarin oranges

1/2 c. sliced almonds

water

2T sugar

1/2 t salt

dash pepper

2 T sugar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

Mix a combo of 8 cups of greens. Arrange oranges on top. 

Spread almonds on baking sheet; sprinkle with water and 2T sugar. Broil till golden.  Sprinkle over salad.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a jar and shake well.

Pour on salad and toss to coat.

Our Easter dinner last year consisted of the past few FF recipes I've posted in the countdown! 

There's that Red Top Jello and the Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes.

Thank goodness my family put up with me and my countdown.

If you remember....

Whenever it's my turn, a recipe I've turned in, instead of talking about myself AGAIN,  I've decided to tell a story about each and every Friday Friend who didn't turn in a recipe for the cookbook.  There are a handful or two of them and they either came to the Friday Friend Forum late (this cookbook was made 18 years ago) or they think they are not cooks or something silly like that.

My friend Jolina came to the Friday Friends late, and the cookbook was over and done by the time she started answering questions. 

This morning I grabbed a notebook/set of questions, dated 2010,  from the Friday Friend Forum (yes, I kept notebooks and notebooks full of answers.  I need to toss them, but it's hard)

Big notebook, but only two questions which Jolina answered. One was a question about Sesame Street  and breast feeding (one of these things is not like the other? )   and the other one was about - if you had been in Girl Scouts or Camp Fire Girls when you were younger.

(it continued--- United States, it's good enough for me!)

Jolina's answers were:

She never did get around to answering  what she thought of breast feeding in public, but at least we know she liked the Muppets and was never allowed to be a Girl Scout. 😞

So...Jolina.

I lived across the street from Jolina  when our kids were little--still in elementary school.  Our children played in the neighborhood together.  Back when you could still play outside and it was okay.

They spent hours and hours outside doing all kinds of kid stuff,  but Jolina and I barely waved at each other. 

For 3  years, we only waved.

Then we moved away to California for 5 years, then moved back and all of the sudden we became FRIENDS!

NOW

We're in book clubs together (2 of them)

 I've never been to a birding weekend without her.

She drew this California Quail for the Bird Nerd Herd (that's what we call ourselves. We love the California Quail and they run thru our yards during the summer and fall. They travel in extended families, a bevy, and many times have 12 or more babies following along behind them.

I have this drawing hanging on a wall in my house. I love it.

If you look closely you can see the proper collective noun for each of our favorite birds and of course, us; a gambol of Nevadans)

 I am showing our logo (Bird Nerd Herd) not showing off Mitzi's breast. ( it's okay if I say breasts--it's good enough for Sesame Street, it's good enough for me, remember?)

Jolina and Mitzi look at birds.

Once on a birding weekend, we took a class on Lamas and Alpacas.  We fell in love with them.

 She's an important part of Weinerfest!

(my summer hotdog party)

We just got back from a trip to Minnesota together to visit our good friend Mitzi.  Shelly and April joined in the fun!

One of my favorite memories tho is during one of my Soup Suppers (in the bleak midwinter--inviting friends over and they bring a soup. We get to taste 10 different soups!)  when we played a game called "Battle of the Sexes".  

Jolina drew the card  "Empire Waistline" and while trying to get us to guess it,  she put her hands under her breasts (Notice how the theme keeps coming back around to breasts?) to give a more visual clue.  No one could figure it out, no matter how many  verbal OR visual clues she gave, so then it was the guys turn to try and guess --steal our card, if you will -- and none of them had a clue, EXCEPT the Handyman!
He knew what an Empire Waistline was!

He's the man!

The man who worked in retail for 26 years!

Jolina and I now wonder why we wasted so much time only waving at each other?!

We could have been having all this fun so much earlier.

Go figure.

Jolina did give me one recipe for my soup supper. The same one where she and the Handyman are showcasing their chests:

Mandarin  Almond Salad is 

Recipe # 165.

Only 129 left to go!