Special Tossed Salad with Old-Country Dressing

This recipe comes from my great-aunt, Janet Beck Clark (1936-2012). I remember Aunt Janet as a fun, kind, charismatic woman who loved spending time with family and friends, and was always hosting and organizing events, both large and small. She organized our extended family reunion for many years until she passed away, and she was good at spotting specific talents and strengths in certain people and delegating responsibilities accordingly. I remember she would always ask my Dad to be in charge of the games, which is his forte for sure, and then she would enthusiastically participate in all the games and activities, either as a player or a cheerleader. Not only that, but she would somehow manage to persuade everyone else to do the same. She was just one of those people you couldn’t refuse anything. Even now, we still do the reunion the same way Janet would have if she were here running the show. One important lesson I learned from her ability to delegate responsibilities as a hostess is that the key to a successful party or event is to keep things simple and not overload yourself. That way you allow others to feel involved, reduce your own stress load, and have time to connect with your guests.

Aunt Janet was also a talented artist, author, and cook in her own right. She had a business in Provo called, “The Naturalist,” where she made and sold beautiful dried bouquets, pictures, etc, and she co-authored and published several books, including a cookbook.

Janet had a love for plants and the outdoors, and she could see the beauty where sometimes others could not. She could take simple elements–a few branches or tall grass in a vase, dried flowers artfully arranged, etc–and transform them into something stunning. Her mother, Florence Robinson Beck (my great-grandmother), shared this artistic gift. This is an arrangement Florence composed in conjunction with “The Naturalist” business Janet had in Provo. Florence gave it as a house-warming gift to my Grandmother Linda in 1977. (I don’t have a picture of any of Janet’s arrangements, which is why I’m sharing this example instead.)

Anyway, this recipe actually comes from Janet’s cookbook, “A Collectors Cookbook,” and was dedicated to her friend, fellow author and botanist, Euell Gibbons, who had a passion for incorporating edible wild plants into our diet. Alongside the recipe, Janet notes: “Rocky Mountain Beeplant (cleame serrulata) grows abundantly in our area. Mr. Gibbons says that it belongs to the caper family and perhaps the flowerbuds might be good pickled like capers.” Well, whether you use capers, Beeplant, or whatever, this dressing is delicious!

Here’s the recipe.

Special Tossed Salad with Old-Country Dressing