Ham-Fruit Ring

Oh goodness, I LOVE theme parties! And when I was invited to the Luau of the Mid Century Supper Club, I sought a vintage recipe that featured something semi-grody yet tropical, and hopefully also edible. (My history for this event has tended towards the disgusting, something I revel in: searching vintage cookbooks for The Grossest Concoction I can find, and actually making it!) But what with the rise in food costs, I decided that making something just for the Yuck factor was too wasteful. So I went to my trusty Betty Crocker green 1975 plastic recipe file, and found this recipe for what is much like a ham version of a Waldorf salad, nicely displayed inside rings of fresh pineapple. My goal was to accurately re-create the look of the dish from the photo on the card, which included laying each ring out on a bed of lettuce.

Though it was edible, it did pain me to sacrifice just about THE most perfect fresh pineapple to the cause. I saved a bit of it out to eat plain, and then forced myself to mix the rest up with sliced celery, ham and mayonnaise. It did look great, but along with much Luau food, not much of it was actually eaten that day. At that particular event, the cocktails were the biggest hit. Oh, those any my friend Lynn’s stellar pineapple-upside down cake, which I think I actually ate THREE pieces of. I’m sorry, cake? Beats ham ANYTIME!


Ham-Fruit Ring

1 medium pineapple
½ pound canned ham, cut into bite-size pieces
2 medium stalks celery, sliced (about 1 cup)
1 cup seedless grapes
¾ cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
2 tsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. garlic salt
½ cup chopped salted peanuts or slivered almonds
Lettuce leaves
Seedless grapes

Remove top from pineapple; cut pineapple crosswise into 4 or 5 slices. Cut pineapple from each slice, leaving 1/2 –inch ring as pictured; reserve rings. Core and cut up pineapple. Toss 2 cups of the pineapple with the ham, celery and 1 cup grapes.

Mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, ginger and garlic salt; toss with ham mixture. Just before serving, fold in peanuts. Arrange reserved pineapple rings on lettuce leaves; fill with ham mixture. Garnish with grapes. 4 or 5 servings.

Pina Colada with Special Guest Rory Volk

My dear, fabulous friend Rory recently took a vacation where he reported consuming copious numbers of a fab cocktail, and he even learned the history behind it. When I asked what drink it might have been, before he had even finished saying the drink’s name, we burst into song together…. And this is how I came to have my second Guest Star Blogger, Mr. Rory Volk, presenting the venerable and delicious Pina Colada! Click on this link to WATCH OUR VIDEO PRESENTATION! See: live cocktail-prep shenanigans! See: Immersion Blender mess-making!

Though I have several vintage cocktail guides, none but the somewhat dull Mr. Boston Deluxe Official Bartender’s Guide included Pina Coladas. (My version of Mr. Boston comes from 1982, but it was first complied in 1935 so I don’t know when the Pina Colada was added.) I did find it, though, in a great new book: “Cocktails A-Go-Go – 100 Swinging Drinks from Bahama Mamas to Salty Dogs” (2003) by Susan Waggoner and Robert Markel. The beauty of this book is that they include the history of each drink, as well as photos and illustrations from original recipes, ads and magazines, and it was from this book (and from Rory!) that I learned the drink originated in Puerto Rico in the 50s - a good 25 years before Rupert Holmes and his “own lovely Lady” enjoyed them while getting caught in the rain. (For more juicy historical details, see the video.)

Rory and I made a few variations of the drink, mostly experimenting with the addition and/or omission of dark rum as well as the light rum called for in most recipes. We actually decided the dark rum changed the flavor profile in a strange, somewhat suntan-lotion-y way, so we vote for light rum only. Oh and did I mention we used immersion blenders? My vintage blender had recently died, and the immersion blender was a $5 impulse buy at Wallgreen’s, and one that has actually not disappointed, even with this experiment. Get out your blenders, folks, and whip up a little glass of delight to read while you peruse the personals…

Pina Colada

2 ounces light rum
½ ounce dark rum (Rory and Carrie vote to leave this out)
2 ounces cream of coconut
2 – 3 ounces pineapple juice

Mix ingredients in a blender with a few scoops of crushed ice until smooth (about 10 seconds). Pour into a chilled Hurricane glass and garnish with a pineapple spear.