There are recipes you follow and then there are recipes you inherit. This one belongs to the latter.

My grandma’s Pink Salad appeared at every family gathering, impossibly pink, unapologetically sweet and never asking permission to exist. 

Was it a salad? Hardly. Dessert? Sort of.

But calling it salad gave us full permission to eat it well beyond dessert,  including at midnight.

Especially midnight.

The kind of midnight where I’m perched on the kitchen counter with my mom, toenails half-painted, doodling on scrap paper, Pink Salad balanced between us like it’s a perfectly reasonable life choice. No rush or agenda. Just time together and somehow, that’s when it tastes best.

Serve it in a rocks glass and it becomes wonderfully deceiving, refined at first glance and always nostalgic at first bite. It’s also a surprisingly perfect addition if you host dinner parties: unexpected and guaranteed to be part of the conversation.

Growing up, my job in Grandma’s kitchen was always the “special mixer.” I stirred carefully, took my role very seriously and was strongly encouraged to stick my fingers in the bowl for frequent taste tests. It was about participation and always feeling that my role was necessary and purposeful.

This recipe makes perfect sense when you understand Grandma Myrtle — Myrt to her circle of Gal Pals (… and “boyfriends” — yes, plural — wink wink). She was always impeccably dressed, strong-willed and deeply loved. A Ukrainian Baba by blood, but far too glamorous for the title. She believed in fine china, even on ordinary days and always chose the little spoon for dessert, not out of restraint, but intention. “It lasts longer,” she’d say.

Her extra (shall we say) “voluptuous” figure wasn’t something she apologized for. It was simply proof that she enjoyed the best things in life; good food, good company, pleasure without permission and never “built for cardio” — funny how I firmly believe I’m “built” the same!

Pink Salad feels like her signature: super sweet and meant to be enjoyed slowly, preferably with people you love and always with a small spoon.

Grandma Myrt’s Pink Salad

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Stir condensed milk and cherry pie filling together.
  2. Fold in Cool Whip until pink and fluffy.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and mix gently.
  4. Transfer to a bowl or rocks glasses.
  5. Chill 2 hours or overnight. Serve cold.