[1] Go gourmet with apple ginger coleslaw. Photo courtesy EatWisconsin Cheese.com.

[2] Use a crisp eating apple for the salad, like Gala apples, the #1-selling apple in the U.S. (photo © Good Eggs).

When we attend summer cookouts, we always offer to bring the coleslaw. That way, we know it will be a great recipe.

With respect to the simple prepared slaws of shredded cabbage and a bit of carrot doused with sweetened mayonnaise—we’ve eaten our share—coleslaw deserves as much attention and finesse as any other recipe.

For Memorial Day, we’re whipping up this Apple Coleslaw with Lemon Ginger Yogurt Dressing. The recipe, from Eat Wisconsin Cheese, uses queso blanco; but you can substitute Monterrey Jack or even mozzarella.

RECIPE: APPLE COLESLAW

Ingredients For 8 Servings (About 12 Cups)

 
JULY 4TH INGREDIENTS

Use all red cabbage, plus:

1. TOSS the apple, lemon juice and zest in medium bowl; set aside.

2. WHISK together in a large bowl the yogurt, mayonnaise, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. Stir in the green and purple cabbages, carrots, cheese and lemon-apple mixture.

3. SEASON to taste with additional salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

 
ANOTHER COLESLAW RECIPE

For July 4th, try this BLT Cole Slaw recipe. Garnished with cherry tomatoes, it’s red, white (the cabbage) and blue (blue cheese).

 
WHAT’S A SLAW? WHY IS IT COLE?

Long part of the culinary repertoire, “koolsla” or “koolsalade” in Dutch means cabbage salad. Cabbage, the “kool” is pronounced “cole.” “Sla” is short for “salade.”

Instead of being pulled into bite-size pieces like lettuce, the cabbage was sliced.

The term got anglicized in the 18th century as cole slaw (and sometimes, cold slaw). In English, “slaw” came to specify a salad of shredded vegetables.

Over time, shredded cabbage slaw was joined by carrot slaws and more recently, broccoli slaw.
 
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*Approximately 4 tablespoons juice and 1 teaspoon zest.

TRIFLE HISTORY

A trifle is a classic English dessert, called by a variety of names including Tipsy Cake, Tipsy Parson, Tipsy Squire and Tipsy Hedgehog. “Tipsy” indicates the addition of spirits, typically sherry.

Trifle was an evolution of the fool, a simpler dessert of puréed fruit and whipped cream. The trifle emerged as a way to use stale cake.

Today, a classic English trifle layers fruit, whipped cream, egg custard and sponge cake that’s been soaked in sherry. Zuppa inglese is the Italian version.

According to What’s Cooking America, the recipe was brought to America in the mid-1700s by Brits settling in the coastal South. The combination of cake or biscuits with custard and alcohol became a popular dessert, served in an elegant cut-glass trifle bowl.

The recipe below is an evolution still, using modern America’s outdoor grills to add another note of flavor to the fruit. Of course, you can make the recipe without cooking the fruit. The recipe is from QVC’s chef David Venable.

Chocolate trifle with grilled strawberries. Photo courtesy QVC.

RECIPE: CHOCOLATE BERRY TRIFLE

Strawberries are usually the most economical berry, but you can substitute other berries (and matching preserves). While this recipe uses whipped topping, we vastly prefer whipped cream.

Use a large glass trifle bowl or salad bowl to assemble the trifle. If you don’t have one or can’t borrow one, a glass mixing bowl works, too; the idea is to show the visual appeal of the layers. But you can default to a lovely [opaque] porcelain bowl or soufflé dish.

There’s no sherry in this recipe, but if you want it, sprinkle it over the cake.

Ingredients For 14-16 Servings

For The Grilled Strawberries

 
For The Trifle

 
*We typically buy an uniced loaf cake or bake a bundt—it’s easier to cut into cubes than an iced cake.

Preparation

1. PREPARE the grilled strawberries: Preheat an outdoor grill over high heat. Place the halved strawberries, lemon juice and sugar in a medium-size bowl. Toss until the strawberries are fully coated and place them in a nonstick grill pan. Cook for 5–6 minutes, tossing constantly.

2. PLACE the berries back into the bowl and add the strawberry preserves. Mix until evenly combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until completely cold.

3. PREPARE the pudding: Whisk together the milk, coffee and instant pudding in a large bowl until the mixture is thick. Fold in half of the whipped topping until fully incorporated. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until completely cold.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the gelatin and cold water in a small pan; let stand until the mixture is thick. Then place the pan over low heat, stirring constantly, until the gelatin dissolves. Remove from the heat. Let it cool, but do not allow it to set.

2. WHIP the cream with the sugar until slightly thick. While slowly beating, add the gelatin to whipping cream. Whip at high speed until stiff.

You could bring a bottle of wine as a house gift, or you could bring a bottle of ready-to-drink Margaritas.

We really enjoyed the new Sandra Lee Cocktail Time Margaritas, in Key Lime or Strawberry. We’ll be buying more to bring to our Memorial Day hostess—and to enjoy ourselves, at home.

The ready-mixed Margaritas taste like freshly-made, top-self drinks. A blend of premium blue agave silver tequila and triple sec liqueur, infused with real Key limes or strawberries, these open-and-pour Margaritas hit the spot with us.

We prefer the classic (Key Lime) to the Strawberry, but if you want a strawberry Margarita, Ms. Lee’s is delicious.

The cocktails, which are 13% ABV/26 proof, have fewer than 150 calories per 4-ounce serving.

The suggested retail price is $15.99 per 750ml bottle. Learn more at CocktailTime.com.