Back in the late 1970s, when we still lived in Mobile, I got a call one day from my friend, Anita Draime, asking me if I could come to lunch. She told me she had a special dessert that she wanted to make just for me. She recently had the dessert at her sister’s house and she just knew I would love it. The enthusiasm in her voice was contagious although it doesn’t take much at all to get me excited about food. This is especially true if someone wants to share a special dish with me. When you make a dish with someone in mind, you are sharing part of your heart and soul with them. There’s no better way to ingratiate one’s self than to cook for someone just because you want to; not because you have to. Perhaps giving birth to them might rate higher on the ingratiation scale but cooking for them would be a close second.
She went on to say that this dessert was a gelatin dessert and the crust was special, but that was all she would tell me. She wanted me to figure out the ingredients in the crust. We decided on the date for the luncheon. Time seemed to drag by for me. Long before I even thought about food writing, people knew of my food enthusiasm. Al Gore hadn’t gotten around to inventing the internet yet, so food blogging was an unknown. The anticipation of Anita’s dessert was just about to kill me.
The morning of the much anticipate luncheon date was routine. My oldest child was a toddler and the second child was only a few months away from being born. Anita told me she wanted us to get together before the baby was born because she felt that I would be tied down for a while with a twenty-month old and a newborn. Was she ever right! I scurried around the house doing some cursory housekeeping before getting Marcia and me dressed for the visit. My expanding girth was already causing shortness of breath making me tire easily. As I loaded Marcia in her car seat, I was preoccupied with the thoughts of this luscious dessert that my dear friend made especially for me.
Anita greeted us graciously at the door. I was so happy to see her. Marcia and her only son who was a little younger, were quite content playing together. We chit-chatted until we felt we had gotten caught up on the most important news. It’s now lunchtime, at last!
She had made a lovely shrimp salad which was just as delicious as it was eye appealing. Chili sauce was a new ingredient she was trying out in the salad. The results were spectacular. Honestly, I can’t remember what we did about feeding our youngsters. I may have packed a lunch for Marcia. However, I have no recollection of them eating lunch. I have no doubt that we fed them. The event just hasn’t stayed in my memory bank. After we finished our salads, Anita heads to the refrigerator and brings out a dish that has a lovely ruby red topping. As she slices the dessert and scoops it up to put on plates, I can see that it’s layered. She serves the dessert and takes her place back at the table. “You take the first bite”, she instructs. Don’t think for one minute I argued about that. Are you kidding me? I had waited a lifetime for this moment. “Taste the crust first and tell me what you think it is.” I pushed back the top two layers to expose as much of the crust as possible. On inspection, it looked much like a graham cracker crust. As if she could read my mind, she states, “It’s not graham cracker.” I tasted. It was good! I tasted again and still couldn’t get past graham cracker. Wanting to get on with the tasting and down to the eating, I said, “The taste is familiar but I just can’t put my finger on it.” She announces gleefully, “It pretzels! The crust is made with crushed pretzels, sugar and butter.” I thought that was the smartest thing I have ever heard. And the Strawberry Pretzel Salad was delicious. I savored every last bite. Anita gave me the recipe written in her handwriting. I still have that recipe card and the memory of that special occasion. I make the recipe without any variations. You see, I’ve lost track of my friend Anita. We moved to Florida over 25 years ago and she has since moved from Mobile. When I make the recipe exactly as she did, I feel that she is still close to me. The connection of food and memories is just that strong. Over 30 years ago, I had no idea that I would be writing a story about this dish that I would be serving today as part of my birthday celebration. My family will be told the story of Anita Draime, our friendship and this special memory as we enjoy this dessert together. Time has been mighty good to the Strawberry Pretzel Salad.
Y’all come see us!
UPDATE , October 3, 2013: Over two years since writing this post, I receive a voice mail from Anita. Someone contacted her shortly after reading this newly published post and left her a voice mail message, including my phone number, saying that I was trying to contact her. She was going through trauma and tragedies in her life and just wasn’t able to place the call to me. But, she held on to my number. We finally got to talk last night. And talk we did. Way into the wee hours of the morning. What a lesson in patience, hope and Grace. Never, ever give up!
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Strawberry Pretzel Salad
One day I want to make this salad with a few adaptations. I would add some lemon zest to the cream cheese filling, use fresh whipped cream instead of Cool Whip and add toasted pecans to the Jello layer. I’m just not ready to do that right now.
For crust:
2 cups crushed pretzels
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
Mix and press into a 9X13 pan. Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
For first layer:
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1 cup sugar
4 oz. Cool Whip
Blend cream and sugar well. Mix in Cool Whip. Spread over cooled crust.
For top layer:
1 (0.6 oz.) package strawberry Jell-o
2 cups boiling water
16 oz. crushed pineapple, drained
16 oz. frozen strawberries, unthawed
Dissolve Jell-o in hot water. Add frozen strawberries and stir until the strawberries are thawed. Add pineapple and mix well. Chill until almost solid and then spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate at least a few hours, or overnight, until firm.
May serve as a fruit salad or a dessert. Share it with a good friend. They will appreciate it for at least 30 years.
Mix crushed pretzels, melted butter and sugar. Press into a 9X11 pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
Cream sugar and softened cream cheese. Mix in Cool Whip. I called on my trusty 36 year old GE avocado green hand mixer to help me out.
After the crust had completely cooled, spread the cream cheese over the crust. The pretzel crust.
Dissolve Jell-o in 2 cups of boiling water. Add frozen strawberries and stir until they are thawed.
Add drained crushed pineapple and stir well. Let chill until almost solid.
Pour on top of cream cheese layer. Chill for several until firm, or overnight.
Enjoy the heck out of it! Congealed salads have long since been part of Southern culinary history. They are cold and refreshing during our prolonged hot and humid summers.
Julia says
Hi Jackie,
Just here lately, I’ve heard from a couple of different sources
about using crushed pretzels for making “dessert crusts”. I like
pretzels already, so I’ll have no problem rolling over them
with my trusty maple rolling pin, adding them to butter and sugar and making my crust. Like you, I’m inclined to want to make
my own whipped cream. Other than that, I’ll be following your
friend Anita’s recipe. It sounds wonderful and so nice and cool.
Maybe someone on Facebook will see your story and help you find
her. I hope so.
Thank you for sharingg a lovely story and a great recipe with us.
Julia
Jackie Garvin says
Julia,
It’s really tasty because you get that salty/sweet combination.
Maureen says
This is a lovely story and the dessert is beautiful.
Jackie Garvin says
Thank you, Maureen! I appreciate you taking the time to read the post.
Nina Miller Priddy says
I’ve eaten this dessert lots of times, but I’ve never made it, reading your story makes me want to make it, too! One of my daughters even makes it but I never have, I’m definitely going to now !! love the story, I hope you find your friend…!
Jackie Garvin says
Nina,
I hope you do make this dessert. It’s easy and people of all ages love it. I need to put forth a concerted effort to find Anita. If I am able to track her down, you can bet your bottom dollar that I will figure out a way to make a Strawberry Salad so we can share it once again. If that happens, I will write about the happy homecoming!
Jean says
My dear, everything we make in the south is good! Pretzels are good with lots of things!
Wish I had some of that now! YUM!
Jackie Garvin says
I’m with you, Jean (a.k.a. Bamanut) ! Thanks for reading the post!
GINGER says
Hi Jackie,
My momma use to make this dessert for my sister and I when we were kids,We loved it sooo much!! Sadly for some reason or another I have never made it for my girls. I see now I m going to have to right that wrong and make my girls Strawberry Pretzel Salad.
As always I enjoyed reading your post today,I do hope that maybe one day you and your friend Anita can find each other again.
Thanks for sharing your passion!
Ginger 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Ginger,
Your poor darling children have never had Strawvberry Pretzel Salad! They are in for such a treat, We ate the whole thing in one day. What’ s not to like about it??? I am going to make myself put forth a concerted effort to track down Anita. If and when we ever do see each other again, you can bet your bottom dollar I will find some way to have a batch of Strawberry Pretzel Salad on hand so we can share it again. I hope I can write about the happy homecoming!
Darlene says
Jackie love the story and the dessert does look so good. I have recipes from friends years ago and still use them to this day. It brings back such nice memories of the friends.
Jackie Garvin says
Darlene,
Isn’t it amazing how strong the food memory connection is? It amazes me sometimes. I sometimes feel that my grandmother is right along side me in the kitchen.
Sue, a Florida Farm Girl says
I like to leave the pretzels in bigger chunks so I really get that salty taste. Good stuff, though.
Jackie Garvin says
Sue,
That is a great idea! It would provide more texture, also. Thanks for sharing that!
Billie Shiver Smith says
Hey Jackie! I hope Anita runs across your blog one day and sees this story and have it fill her heart. It’s a great story and it teaches us all to remember how to make memories out of an invitation to lunch. Now that I have some time (wanting to try all your recipes this summer), I’m going to try this on my boys.
Again, you’ve found your element. (Paula Deen, watch out!)
Best of luck and keep up the good work.
Billie
Jackie Garvin says
Billie,,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments. They mean more to me than you will ever know. I hope your boys love this recipe as much as my family. We ate the whole dish in one day! I’m going to make another one just for Tyler because he is a crazy fool about this recipe. He’s thin as a rail and can certainly afford the calories although it’s has a rather moderate calorie count as desserts go. I have tracked down Anita’s address! I’m writing her a letter today in hopes the address is current. Hopefully, I will be blogging about a happy homecoming soon! If there is a homecoming, you can bet a Strawberry Pretzel salad will be involved. Thank you so much, Billie, for your support. I hope you and the boys are doing well.
Buford Enis says
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empress says
Pretzels wow who would have thought! Food is such a driving force behind some of my warmest memories, I can relate to the deep enjoyment of preparing a meal for someone close to your heart. I love this story about you and your friend 30 years later, the fact that your blogging about it proves how much of an impact this act of kindness creative.
Jackie Garvin says
Dear Empress,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog post. Your thoughtful comments are warm and very welcomed. I hope you visit us again!
Tami says
I haven’t eaten this for years but it used to be one of my favorites. We would always make it for our family get-togethers and for family reunions. I don’t remember the pineapple in our recipe but it sure sounds good. 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Tami,
I like the addition of the pineapple. You might want to give a try next time you make it. Thanks for reading and commenting! <3
Amy Moran says
I used to go to a restaurant that had Margarita Pie made in a pretzel crust. YUM
Jackie Garvin says
Amy,
A Margarita Pie sounds very interesting. The saltiness of the pretzels would make a perfect crust for that pie. Thanks so much for reading and commenting. 🙂
Pattypro says
What a wonderful story. A friend shared her Pretzel Salad recipe with me many years ago. Yours is the only other one I’ve seen that calls for pineapple. The difference is that mine goes into the cream cheese mixture, which also calls for the whole container of Cool Whip. I’ll have to give your variation a try. Sometime I change it up by using raspberry Jell-O and raspberries. Either way, it’s always a hit. (Since mine just goes by Pretzel Salad, folks who have it for the first time always ask me why it’s called that. When I tell them that the crust is made with pretzels, they invariably say, “No, it’s nuts.” They are always surprised to find that it’s actually pretzels.)
Jackie Garvin says
Pattypro,
People are surprised by the pretzel crust. Crushed pretzels make such a good crust, especially for a sweet dish. Most folks love the salty/sweet combination.
Thanks so much for your comment!
Pat Wright says
This exact dessert was introduced to me by a precious sister in law, who passed away from cancer in 1976. I loved it, and her very much. In 2011, another sister in law, who RE introduced me to this same dessert/salad passed away very young. I dearly loved her also. So, I make it often now, not only because it is a truly wonderful dessert, but in memory of those gals who were so special to all who knew them.
Jackie Garvin says
Pat,
This recipe certainly has a lot of “good memory” power!
Tracy Nichar says
I have enjoyed this dish for many ,many years! Its delish. I usually make it for the 4th of July. Great that you were able to reconnect with your old friend<3
Jackie Garvin says
Thanks, Tracy!
Serena | Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch says
This sounds delicious! I’m not a huge jello fan but this seems like it might win a place on my plate! Such a sweet story! I am so glad you found your friend after all these years, it made me tear up a bit. I’ve a few close friends I’ve lost track of and somehow we always find each other and pick up where we left off.
Jackie Garvin says
Serena,
The jello is pretty insignificant in this recipe. It’s there to provide a medium for the strawberries. I hope you give it a try.
I was so happy to hear from my friend. Such a blessing.
Thanks for reading!