Contest-Winning Holiday Tossed Salad

Dad retired Friday.

36 years at Engine 7 Ladder 17. He walked in at 22 years old and walked out at 58. I do not know how to write about it but I will try.

The ceremony was at the firehouse at 3 PM. Full dress blues for the active guys. A small crowd — family, the guys from his engine, a couple brass from HQ, the commissioner, the deputy chief of district. They made a corridor. They rang the bell three times, three times, three times, as they do — the last alarm. The captain read his service record. Dad stood at attention. Patrick stood next to him in his own Class A, three months into the job, and Patrick's hands were shaking, and I saw it and Patrick did not know anyone saw.

The captain gave Dad his badge. The retired badge, mounted on a wooden plaque. Dad took it. He held it. He looked at it. Then — I have never seen this in my life — he cried. Two tears, not a sob, but tears, on his cheek, visible. He wiped them with the back of his hand. The captain nodded. The room was silent.

Dad said, I have had the honor of my life serving this house. He said, I am handing it off to the next generation, and he looked at Patrick. Patrick lost it, quietly. I lost it, not quietly. Ma was holding Liam and Nora and she was crying too.

Then we ate. They had a spread in the bay — ziti, sandwiches, salads, cake. Dad hugged every retired and active guy in that room. He told each of them something specific. He is good at that.

Liam, age 5 for one more week, watched it all and did not speak. In the car going home he said Grandpa is a hero. I said yes he is. He said Daddy was a hero too. I said yes he was.

Group Tuesday. I told them about the retirement. Bernadette said watching a father retire is its own kind of grief. I said it is. I wrote it down.

Saturday pancakes. Burned the first one. Dad came by at 10, in jeans and a BFD t-shirt, and had two pancakes with Liam. He said the pancakes are real good, Katie. I said thanks Dad.

Food of the week: Ma's baked ziti for the retirement spread. Extra sauce. Enough for sixty firefighters and their families. Enough left over for three weeks of Patrick's lunches.

The spread in the bay that afternoon was the kind that only happens when people genuinely mean it — enough ziti for a battalion, enough cake for the whole shift, and salads that actually got eaten. I have been thinking about that table all week, about what it means to feed people in a moment like that, and this Contest-Winning Holiday Tossed Salad is the closest I can get to putting it on our own table at home. It’s bright and celebratory and makes enough to matter, which felt right.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 20 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 large head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1 head red leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 cup candied pecans
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
2 medium apples, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, cider vinegar, sugar, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper until the sugar dissolves and the dressing is emulsified. Set aside.
Prep the greens. Combine the torn romaine and red leaf lettuce in a very large salad bowl. Toss to mix the two varieties evenly throughout.
Add the toppings. Scatter the dried cranberries, crumbled blue cheese, candied pecans, and sliced red onion over the greens.
Add the apples. Fan the apple slices over the top of the salad just before serving so they stay crisp and do not brown.
Dress and toss. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss gently to coat everything evenly. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Contest-Winning Holiday Tossed Salad — The Spread at Engine 7