Retro Sweet & Creamy Red Grape Salad with Pecan & Brown Sugar Topping

“Rainy days and Mondays always get me down…”  …and can really just plain be a drag sometimes. Especially after having a beautiful, fun weekend with gorgeous weather. It just makes you a wee bit sad and a bit grumpy and just not wanting to go all-out making something complicated. (*Song is by one of my favorite singers, the late great Karen Carpenter.) 

On days like this, I like something to put a smile back on my face! 😀 Something, cool, creamy, refreshing, and simple. Something that has childhood memories attached that just makes your heart feel better and adds a huge bonus! You know what I mean?

So, I love to turn the clock back and make one of the classics! Crazy-silly-easy recipes that just makes you go, “WHY did I not think of this??” Seriously! You know exactly the ones I’m talking about! Ones like … this one. 😉   

Seven extremely common items, that when combined together like children sprinkled into a flowery meadow on a hot summers day, just plain equal fun! 😀  

Sweetened creamy cream cheese with a hint of vanilla … cool to the tongue … and with a little crunch from the pecans and dark brown sugar, lending an extra sweetness of molasses … a pop and juicy burst of flavor from the fresh grapes …. you can almost taste it, can’t you?!

This fun “salad-slash-dessert” has been around since I was a kid, and I even took the time to actually try to hunt down the original recipe to credit the first person to make it, but I couldn’t find a thing to direct me to it’s original owner. So I guess all I can say is, Thank you!, to whomever came up with this and humbly shared the recipe with a neighbor! From there it grew into a well-loved classic!

There is a reason why recipes like this continually resurface and are passed on to the next generation … because they’re darn good!  And simple sometimes is SO much better than always thinking that things have to have layers and layers of eclectic ingredients and then smothered with chocolate and caramel sauce and sea salt, oh my!

NOT dissing recipes like that by any means, I indulge in them every so often also, as they do certainly have their place, too! But it by no means makes them better than the rest. 

But if you’re tired of gobs and gobs of “stuff”, you might want to take a breather and give one of the more simple, elegant, classics a try!

I LOVE this salad and still make it to this day, obviously. It’s always a welcome treat for young and old alike and *gasp* it doesn’t have “edible” flowers, odd herbs and pink sea salt on top!

Believe me, you won’t miss any of those items. It’s one of those things that’s terrific just as it is. 😉

Simple. Fruity. Just “plain” delicious. 😉  

So enjoy the simple things in life! Relax, and have a fantastic day! 😀      

RETRO SWEET and CREAMY RED GRAPE SALAD with PECAN & BROWN SUGAR TOPPING

6 Servings

1 lb. seedless red grapes

4 oz. very soft cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup packed dark or light brown sugar

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

In medium-sized bowl, whisk until smooth the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla.

Rinse grapes and dry on paper towels. Fold into sweetened cream cheese mixture.

In small bowl mix together the brown sugar and pecans.

Spoon grape mixture into serving glasses, sprinkle top with brown sugar pecan mixture. Serve chilled.

Can also be placed into a medium-sized serving or trifle bowl if desired.