Aunt Effie’s Switch-House Salad Dressing (Miss Effie’s Dressing)
My Aunt Effie ran an after-hours place called The Switch, so named because it was beside the “switch” for the railroad tracks. It was a popular spot for night owls, tobacco buyers and peanut graders who were in town during the harvest season.
The Switch After-Hours Steak House was a Jumping Place in its Day
Teeney cooked the best steaks on a cast iron wood-burning stove. Yes, all the food was cooked on a wood-burning stove. The menu was T-bone steak, baked potato and tossed salad with Effie’s famous dressing. Aunt Effie told me it was her recipe — we will never know. I do know it was good.
Effie’s Sweet Tart Salad Dressing is Perfect for Mixed Green Salads
There would also be other folks there who might have wanted a nightcap. The Switch didn’t get rocking until 10 p.m., late for a country town.
Around midnight, the sheriff would come in the back door, go to the pantry and grab his whiskey bottle from behind the canned goods. But come Sunday morning, at least the locals would still show up for church. There was an old piano in the back room of The Switch and folks would gather around and bellow out old hymns like “Whispering Hope” late into the evening
Serve up a salad with Effie’s Switch House dressing and it is bound to wow your guests. Throw in an edible flower and it will be a sure winner.
Ingredients
- 10 1/4 ounces Campbell's tomato soup undiluted or tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup corn oil or canola oil
- 3/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/3 cup onion grated
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together with a whisk. Refrigerated this will keep for up to a month.
Nutrition
Big Mill B&B, Williamston, NC 27892
tel. 252-792-8787
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