Groovy Grape Salad

Today is Tasty Tuesday. Last weekend, dear friends volunteered to watch our four children for the evening so that my Man and I could enjoy a dinner date at The Olive Garden. (Everyone needs friends like these!)

As a treat for those dining at home, we made Groovy Grape Salad. Our "southern family" introduced me to this dish when we lived there, and since moving further north, I've shared it with many others and now, with you--enjoy!

Groovy Grape Salad

1-1.5 pounds of seedless green grapes
1-1.5 pounds of seedless red grapes
(or any seedless grapes of contrasting colors)

Sauce:

1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces cream cheese (half of a block) room temp.
1/2 cup sour cream

Topping:

1/4 Brown Sugar
1 cup chopped pecans


First, wash, dry, and remove grapes from stems. This is the most time consuming task, you may want to hire it out...



Place the dry grapes in a clear glass decorative bowl, for best presentation. Layer with a few paper towels to absorb extra moisture from grapes.




In a separate bowl mix, combine the white sugar, vanilla extract, cream cheese and sour cream. You can mix by hand, but a mixer will give best results.

Note: Don't forget to remove paper towels before the next step ;-).




Add cream cheese mixture to grapes and stir to coat grapes thoroughly. I like to clean any mess I usually make while stirring from around the edge of the bowl with slightly damp paper towel.

Now, you're ready for the topping. Chop those pecans.

Finally, sprinkle brown sugar and pecans on the top of the salad and refrigerate until serving.



That's it! Enjoy.

Another note: This salad is one of those dishes that tastes even better on day 2. Make sure and squirrel away a helping or two for your breakfast the next morning!

Stop by Tasty Tuesday for some more fun food at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!