CPR Salad Dressing

This recipe is so secret that you’ll want to keep it under lock and key! In the days when trains and the food served on them were elegant and exquisite, the head chef of Canadian Pacific Railroad created this very special salad dressing.

It was smuggled to me some 40 years ago under the strictest promise that I never so much as reveal the initials of the woman who passed it on! I remember those initials, but my lips are sealed! I will admit I think of Liz Lovick, my long-departed aunt-by-marriage, each time I make CPR (Canadian Pacific Railroad) Salad Dressing, but that’s just a coincidence. Liz’s late husband, Jimmy, was a legend in the public relations business. The firm Jimmy co-founded is now known in major cities around the world as BBDO. Jimmy’s many friends, clients, and business associates included - erk! - titans of the railway industry, for example. You’ll never get me alive, Copper!

CPR Salad Dressing:

½ c. vegetable oil

¼ c. malt vinegar (no substitutions!)

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. salt (no need to go fancy-schmancy ... regular salt does just fine)

½ c. granulated sugar

⅓ c. ketchup (or "catsup," as my American pals spell it ... how gourmet is that?)

1 tbsp. dehydrated onion (or freshly chopped)

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Combine in bottle, shaking well. Pour over salad and serve at once. Strap on the shackles! I'm bound for the hoosegow! If you don't know what the hoosegow is, you've led a very pure life. I hope I can blog from the Big House.

Fonda: Having the crime of her life

Parton: Bound for the Big House 

Bush: Last seen in Texas. Considered dangerous