Thanksgiving 4

Okay meat's done, time to start with the sides. There are some interesting selections, but I'm going to start with a couple of old favorites.

Aunt Kathy's Broccoli Salad

Now this isn't actually my aunt's recipe, it's some sort of family variation on a certified American classic. But Kathy was the first one to serve it to me, so I will always remember the delicious raisin and bacon salad as hers.

I was making a huge dish, so I'm going to halve my holiday amounts, which will leave it at around 15 servings. Adjust accordingly.

Ingredients:

5-6 heads of broccoli
1 lb of bacon
1 cup of red raisins
1 large red onion - diced
1/2 cup of unsalted sunflower seeds with no shell


1 cup of mayonnaise
2 tbl of vinegar
1/4 cup of sugar


Wash the broccoli and cut the heads from the stems. Cut the heads into bite size chunks and throw them in a bowl. You can cut up the stems and add them too if you like, but no matter how small you cut them they're tough to chew. It's better with just the heads.

Mix the broccoli together with the raisins and onion. Mix up the dressing and cover the salad, stirring to coat everything. You may want more dressing, you may want less, but this amount is what I consider right. Adjust the amount however you like, but keep the ratios the same. Once everything's coated, cover and throw it in the fridge for at least two hours.

Cook the bacon until it's crispy and crumble it in when you pull the salad out to serve. Add the sunflower seeds at the same time and mix everything up one more time.

Mine was tasty:

I didn't use sunflower seeds because my cart was too full and the store too crazy by the time I remembered them. I also made a bacon-less portion for my friends who still believe that old tribal nonsense about how pigs raised in factory farms with huge sewage ponds aren't good for you. Yes, ol' Porkalicious has friends that don't dig on swine. Further proof that we can all get along in this world if we really try.