St. Patrick's Day Treat - Watergate Salad

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! 

St. Patrick's Day is always associated with the color green.  I remember when I was a kid in 2nd grade and I forgot to wear green to school on St. Patrick's Day - that meant the kids all got to pinch me - I remembered when I was in 3rd grade !! Ouch!!

A few years ago, I made green Lucky Charm Cupcakes for my co-workers.  I was thinking of a green food to make for today and I remembered .... last weekend, I went to The Blue Willow Inn and they serve a delicious Watergate Salad on their salad bar.  It is soooo good and I thought - hey, that is green, I will make that to honor this special holiday.

What?  You've never had Watergate Salad.  How did it get its strange name, you ask?  Well....

In 1975, just 3 years after the famous Nixon Watergate Scandal, Kraft came out with a new product called "Instant Pistachio Pudding".  As Kraft generally does, they put a recipe on the box and called it "Pistachio Pineapple Delight". 

In 1976, The Denver Post, in Empire Magazine, published a recipe that was supposedly created by the sous chef of the Watergate Hotel.  Guess what?  Same recipe as Kraft's Pistachio Pineapple Delight.  Hmmm - sounds a bit nutty, right?

I guess people thought "Watergate Salad" sounded more interesting to eat than "Pistachio Pineapple Delight" (plus it is easier to spell). 

Still...this is know by other names as well.  You may have heard it referred to as:
The Green Stuff
Green Fluff
Pistachio Delight
Green Goop
Golden Gate Salad

Watergate Salad

Recipe Source: Blue Willow Inn
Preparation Time: 1 minutes
Cook Time: 1 minutes
Servings: 1

Ingredients:

1 3-ounce package instant pistachio pudding
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple, do not drain
1 9-ounce package Cool Whip
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Mix all pudding, marshmallows and crushed pineapple
2. Fold in Cool Whip 
3. Refrigerate at least 3 hours and serve cold

W.I.P. Wednesday

I had a great weekend this past weekend and want to write a post about it and I will but for now, I just wanted to post the progress of my current W.I.P.  I have 2 more rounds of white plus one round of each color, so a few more rounds to go, but it is coming along. 

I would like to finish it this weekend but I have company in town so that probably won't happen.  Hopefully it will be finished soon though - I'm ready to move on to my last W.I.P. that needs to be completed.

W.I.P. Wednesday

Okay - this photo kind of stinks - I should have taken a better one but - oh  well.

I'm progressing along rather quickly on the baby afghan.  I really like this pattern.  I made it twice before but one was over 30 years ago and the other - gosh - maybe 20 - 22 years ago, I'm guessing.  I didn't take photos of them - just gave them away.

However, one of them recently made it back to me.  The one I made for my niece some 30+ years ago.  My sister-in-law recently returned it to me. 

Anyway...........

Here it is - I'm on Row 20 and there are 34 rows in total so I'm getting there.

W.I.P. Wednesday

I have finished my 2nd Work-In-Progress for the year.  It is super-cute, if I can say so, myself (not nice to brag on yourself but I'm not really bragging on myself but I really like this project).

My niece's family lives in New Zealand.  Her husband is from Matamata, which is happens to be where The Shire is from "Lord of the Rings" and it is known as Hobbiton - so, she can officially say she is married to a Hobbit :)

They have the cutest 3 year old that ever existed on the face of the earth (well, I am a little biased I suppose, but she is VERY cute!!).  I would love to post her picture here but don't want to do that without asking her parents first.

At any rate...I decided to make a cross-stitch version of them.  Here is my initial sketch (which I marked up a bit more after this photo to indicate thread color and such). 

 

 

And...here is the final version - kind of hard to see in this photo but the cat has green eyes.  The finished design is approx. 4" x 4"

And...here is the final version in its frame.  (Sorry, the fabric isn't all dirty - it is just a reflection in the glass)

Now....this isn't really a W.I.P. but rather just something fun I did today at lunch - I colored in my daily calendar.  I saw in a Facebook coloring group that someone else had colored this and posted it but (not to brag on myself - haha) my version is WAY better than hers was - haha!!  (You don't need to pat me on the back, I'm doing a good job of doing that myself).  I'm sorry, but it is the truth.  She just colored hers all gray with red hearts - how boring.  Mine has some colorful life in it.  Now, I know there is no "right" or "wrong" way to color and it isn't a competition, but if you could compare the two, I'm sure you would agree that mine is  much prettier.  ;-)

So....now I'm back to my next W.I.P.  - I started it almost a year ago and then totally set it aside because the person it was intended for, wasn't getting pregnant (but she told me she had kind of postponed trying at one point).  I'm not sure if she has started trying again or not but I'm going to finish this baby blanket, just in case.  Once finished, I will hang on to it, in case she does get pregnant, but if not, I will eventually give it to someone else or donate it to a NICU.

Funny Friday - Cute Joke!

Happy Friday!!! Have a GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Donny & Marie - Wax Figures - Part II

Tuesday night, the Donny & Marie wax figures were unveiled - wow!! It is amazing how realistic they are!!  I wish I had a close up of Marie side-by-side with her wax twin but she didn't post any photos.

Very cool!! 

 

W.I.P. Wednesday

So...what am I working on these days?  I am proud that I finished up one W.I.P. (work in progress) and it is no longer an U.F.O. (unfinished object).  I'm currently working on my second W.I.P. and it is coming along nicely - it is actually P.D.C. (pretty darned cute), if I do say so myself.

I'm making a cross-stitch replica of my niece and her family.  So far I just have a portion of my great niece and niece done.  It is coming along rather quickly and I hope to be done before I receive the girl scout cookies I ordered.  I'm going to ship my niece the girl scout cookies (she can't get the ones she craves in New Zealand) and I want to send this completed project along with the cookies.  I was going to wait until their wedding anniversary in May but decided I would rather go ahead and send it.  I'll post another picture when completed. But so far...I'm pretty happy with how it is shaping up.