Southern Pear Salad

One evening I said “Do y’all remember the pear salad we used to have at school?”, and of course everyone did. We kind of giggled, then I said “But I liked it”, and it turns out so did everyone else. I remember my grandmother making pear salad and I wanted nothing to do with it. Being in school though, everyone else was eating it, so I tried it. I’ve liked it ever since. I don’t know if they still serve this in schools and you don’t see this classic served often anymore. It is one of the easiest things to make. If you’ve never had it, you have to try it. I made it and served prior to tonight’s supper and I’ll be serving this old fashioned classic at Easter this year.

• 1 16 oz can of pear halves, drained
• Lettuce Leaves
• Shredded Cheddar
• Mayonnaise, preferably Dukes
• Maraschino Cherries (optional)

Lay out a lettuce leaf and place pear half on top. Add about 1 tsp to the top of each pear and sprinkle on cheddar cheese over the mayonnaise. I’ve seen recipes where people will top it with a cherry, but I don’t care for the cherry. Its so fresh and delicious. I haven’t tried this yet but I bet it might even be good with a dollop of pimento cheese if you wanted to use that instead of the mayonnaise and cheese.