Mom brought a retro kind of dessert too – cherry chip cake made with a cake mix and a can of diet cherry cola!  The frosting was just whip cream and chopped maraschino cherries — easy and delish!  My salad though was something I found out of a Pillsbury Spring Get-Togethers cookbook called Island Paradise Salad.  It seemed a little retro itself to me and turned out to be a hit — I got two requests for the recipe. I adapted it a bit from the original and I meant to but completely forgot about making the dressing so I served it with a couple of fruit based dressings on the side.  However, most people didn’t use any — it’s kind of sweet and held up well on its own. Throw this salad together, put an umbrella in your iced tea, wear your sunglasses through lunch and pretend you’re in the islands while you check your lotto numbers.  Pool boy, er, I mean Glen, please refresh the ice in my tea thank you.  : )

1 pkg sugar snap peas from produce section in ready to steam bag, steamed per directions & cooled

2 bags of your choice of lettuce.  (I used a mix greens bag and a romaine lettuce bag)

1 avocado cut into cubes

1 large ripe mango cut into cubes (I couldn’t find a ripe mango so I found the next best thing — jarred mango slices in the produce section right next to the bagged lettuce.  I wasn’t sure it would work but they were really good and I would use them again.)

1 large diced tomato

1 small red onion (Mine was fresh out of my nieces garden!)

1/2 cup cashews

1/2 cup coconut (The recipe considers these last two ingredients optional but I think they’re what put the “paradise” in this salad.  You got the “island” part from the mango and the “paradise” from the cashews and coconut.  : )

Toss everything together.  This makes a very pretty salad which somehow I didn’t click a picture of. Alas.

1 tsp grated lime peel

3 T honey

2 T fresh lime juice

1 T canola or vegetable oil

Mix everything together well and serve on side.