Salad Bar Party

Well folks,
My sister and I have been talking on the phone while she struggled to get her computer back online. But that hasn't helped you, so I'll post my first email to her here, and then later try to remember my tips for her over the last week and post them.

Salad Bar Party for the Ladies

NO BACON BITS... NO AVOCADO... NO NUTS... NO CHEESE

The host supplies 1 bottle of FF salad dressing,
the lettuce base (NO ICEBURG please, or at least not much),
tomato chunks
diced red onion
1 hardboiled egg
(Yes, only 1 for all 4...slice and top each persons' salad individually).

Ideas for the lettuce base:
Romain, red leaf, bibb, spinach, arugula, radicchio, endive, red cabbage, etc. or buy a bag or 2 of mixed spring greens.

Each guest brings a bottle of FF dressing(a different kind each party, so everyone gets to try new ones each time...and yes you take home the one you bring unless someone wants to trade.)
+ 4 various salad ingredients.

For the guest ingredients, you'll have to co-ordinate so there are no duplicates. They can prepare them at home or it's more fun to bring whole and prepare around the table sipping Green Tea... not wine, (and someone I know has a new slicer-dicer perfect for this).

Each person builds their own salad and any leftovers get divided into doggie bags. So bring plenty of glad sandwich bags so you can put each leftover ingredient in 4 separate bags (if there are 4 of you). If you put all ingredients in just 4 doggie bags, it would get all limp and only last about a day...each ingredient in separate bags lets you build a nice fresh salad for days.

Variious Ideas:
Fresh:
cucumbers, shredded carrots, sl mushrooms,
bell peppers, green onions, thin sl radishes, asparagus
zuccini or summer squash, alfalfa sprouts,
diced apple, pears, raisins, dried cranberries, grapes (halved)

Canned:
Chick Peas,red, white or black beans,(be sure to drain & rinse well),
sl pickled beets, mandarin orange sections, baby corn,
hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, green or white asparagus,
dried sundried tomatoes (not from oil packed),
bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, roasted red bell peppers

Optional fruit salad part of the salad bar:
FF cottage cheese, FF yogurt, mandarin orange sections,
apples, pears, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple

Try to have a variety of FF Dressings...FF Italian,
Kraft FF Ranch Peppercorn, FF Blue Cheese,
FF Thousand Island, FF Asian Ginger etc.
The choices out there now are almost unlimited.
This way you all get to taste 4 new kinds of dressing each month
to see what you like, but only have to buy 1 bottle.
OR
You can make your own FF French Dijon Dressing by using any
ordinary French dressing recipe and substituting the
oo (olive oil or oil) with a FF mayo/pepper juice & water mixture
for the of oil
i.e... 1/2 c oil would be...
1/4 c FF mayo,
1 T juice from jar of roasted red bell peppers
2 T water
whisked together. Chill

Love S