Memorial Day Picnic Salad

Jill helping decorate graves in 1988 - Age 2 1/2

On Sunday, I'll join my parents for our annual Memorial Day pilgrimage to several Pratt and Stafford County cemeteries. Then, on Monday, Randy's sister, Kathy, and family will be here to decorate graves for that side of the family.

Back when I was a little girl, my Grandma and Grandpa Leonard from Sublette came back to their home county (Pratt) to make the trip on Memorial Day weekend. My Grandma's flowers were usually from her own garden and carefully arranged in cans which my Grandpa had spray-painted a dark green.
(There she is in the background with my Grandpa in 1989. Brent, 1, is with my Dad, and the young-looking guy in the middle is Randy.)

Maybe you don't think about a cemetery being a joyful place. But when I see the joy in these two little girls' faces, I can't help but think that the ancestors whose graves we were visiting had to be smiling as the little girls danced. (Read more in my 2010 blog post, Dancing in the Graveyard.)

Dancing in the graveyard - Jill & Paige - 1988

When I was a little girl about their age, we sometimes gathered at Lemon Park in Pratt for a picnic before our car caravan to the cemeteries. My Great Aunt Helen and Great Uncle Mike and their family would often meet us there. As a child, I loved getting together, eating homemade favorites and playing on the playground equipment until it was time to go and place flowers on graves of ancestors, some of whom I remembered and some who had died long before I was born.

At the time, I was blissfully unaware that preparing a picnic meal while also getting flowers ready for Decoration Day was more work for Moms and Grandmas. These days, we usually let a local pizza parlor do the cooking for us. And that's OK, too. But, if you have a picnic or a potluck to attend this Memorial Day weekend, this Cornbread Confetti Salad could be a contender. 

I last made it for a funeral dinner at church. It makes a large amount, which is great anytime you need to serve a crowd. Enjoy!

Cornbread Confetti Salad

From Taste of Home magazine

1 pkg. (8.5 oz.) cornbread/muffin mix
2 cans (15.5 oz. each) whole kernel corn, drained
2 cans (15 oz. each) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 pt. grape tomatoes, halved (or 3 small tomatoes, chopped)
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onions (bulb and green tops)
10 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese

Dressing:
1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream
1 cup Miracle Whip
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

Prepare cornbread according to package directions. Cool completely; crumble. Set aside.

Combine dressing ingredients; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine corn, beans, tomatoes, peppers and onions. Refrigerate.

Just before serving, add corn bread, crumbled bacon and cheese to the bean mixture. Pour dressing over all and toss to coat. Makes 20 to 22 servings.

Notes: I used both low-fat Miracle Whip and sour cream. Instead of preparing my own bacon, I used a package of already prepared real bacon bits found near the salad dressings. It was more expensive, but it worked well and saved time and mess.

The original recipe added the cornbread to the beans ahead of time. I prefer not having the cornbread, bacon and cheese soggy, so I add those just before serving. However, the leftovers were still good even with all the ingredients combined.

If you are serving this at an outdoor event, be sure and have a cooler ready for the leftovers.

Here's another potluck salad good for a Memorial Day outing:

Marinated Vegetable Salad

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I am linked today to Ashley's What's In Your Kitchen Wednesday. Click on the link to see what's cooking with other food bloggers.

Byers Banana Bread

My Community Kitchens Cookbook from the Byers United Methodist Church probably wins the prize for the most battered and stained in my whole cookbook collection (and I have an impressive collection).

It takes a rubber band to hold it together these days. On the inside cover, it reads:

A Book of Favorite Recipes
Women's Society of Christian Service of
The United Methodist Church
Byers, Kansas
1972

My mom inscribed: To Kim from Mother, April 1972

The Byers UMC was my childhood church. When I was a sophomore in high school, we began going to the Pratt UMC.

But it was my church home for the first 15 years of my life. On Sunday, my parents, Randy & I went to the last service for the church in the town 3.5 miles from where I grew up. As is customary for United Methodist churches which are closing, there was a special service to say goodbye. (More on that later.)

It's where my parents were married and where I first remember gathering in the basement for song time and Sunday School, usually taught by my Grandma Neelly or my mom.

The Byers UMC has been an anchor for the little town of Byers for a long, long time. And the cookbook has been a sort of touchpoint for me throughout the years, too. Looking through it, I see the names of the ladies from my childhood, our neighbors and friends.

One of the most used recipes in the cookbook is for Banana Bread. In fact, instead of leaving the cover at the front, I have page 33, the one that features the Banana Bread recipe, just underneath the rubber band. I've converted it for a double or triple recipe more times than I can count. (I like being able to put extras in the freezer. It's great to mess up the kitchen once and get a bunch of production!)

Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!

Banana Bread

3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

Cream together oil and sugar. Add mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Combine dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the banana mixture, alternately with buttermilk, beating after each addition. Add nuts, stirring well.

Bake in large loaf pan or two small loaf pans at 325 degrees. The large pan takes about an hour to bake, the smaller ones, around 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

This freezes well.

Recipe Notes:

• The bananas in the photo aren't ripe enough for this recipe. They are just for decoration!
• You can leave out the nuts. I always had to leave nuts out of part of it for Jill.
  
• If you don't have buttermilk, you can use 1 tablespoon of vinegar, then fill the measuring cup to 1/2 cup. Let sit while you are preparing other ingredients.

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This weekend was jam-packed with activities. I went to the Festival of Breads in Wichita on Saturday. I'll have more from it later, including an interview with the winner and other contestants, as well as prize-winning recipes.

Winner Gale Collier, Redmond, Oregon, as she was taking her Quick Raisin Granola Breakfast Rolls into the judging room.

After the special Byers church closing service, we went to my folks' house for dinner. It was like a blast from the past, since my Mom fixed roast beef with potatoes and carrots. That was our customary Sunday dinner when I was growing up. She also made Strawberry Cake for my birthday, plus homemade ice cream (chocolate ice cream with Heath brickle chips). Yum! With a birthday that customarily falls during wheat harvest, it was the first time in a long time I'd been treated to homemade cake and ice cream that someone else had made. Thanks Mom!