Fall Festival of Guest Posters (the final post!) Emily from My Love For Word's Broccoli Salad

Hi everyone! We just wanted to take a minute before this awesome post by Emily to say THANK YOU to all of our contributors for this awesome Fall Festival series! We have been blown away by all the amazing bloggers we have met through these guest posts, and are so impressed by their work and honored to be hosting them! Without further ado, here is our last post for this year:

Hi everyone! I'm Emily from My Love for Words, and I'm so excited to be here today! I want to say a big THANK YOU to Hilary and Jessica for letting me share one of my favorite recipes with you. Here it is...

This broccoli salad recipe is one of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. It's absolutely delicious, easy to make, and it can be put together ahead of time, which means there's less to do on Thanksgiving Day.

I was a nervous wreck to host my first Thanksgiving. I was a newlywed and may or may not have told my mom and mother-in-law that we should just order take out... and it was only 8:30 am. Needless to say, I was a tad bit overwhelmed. Thankfully, they were a huge help, and a dear friend of mine shared this recipe with me a few days earlier. I made it (with some minor adjustments for our family), and when dinner rolled around everyone talked about how great the new salad was. Yay! It felt great to successfully host my first holiday and to try a new recipe that everyone liked. It's become a holiday staple ever since. Here's what you'll need if you'd like to try it...


 Broccoli Salad:

• 2 cups fresh broccoli
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 cups green onions, diced
• 2 cups red and green grapes, halved (I tend to use more red since there's already a lot of green veggies in the salad)
• 1 cup raisins

Dressing

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

One reason I love to make this salad for holidays is because it can be made ahead of time. For most people (especially cooks!), holidays are hectic. Since this is a cold dish it can be assembled a day or two beforehand and stored in the fridge until it's time to be served. The first thing you'll want to make is the dressing. Simply mix together the mayonnaise, sugar, and balsamic vinegar, cover with plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator. (Plan ahead tip: Mix a couple hours to a day before serving to allow flavors to marry.)

Next, you'll want to combine the broccoli, celery, green onions, grapes, and raisins. Add the crispy bacon now too if you'll be serving it soon. (Plan ahead tip: If you're going to be storing it for a day or more you may want to add the bacon at the last minute to prevent it from becoming soggy.)

Isn't it pretty? Put the ingredients in the fridge and store until it's meal time. Just pour the dressing over the salad when you're ready to eat, mix it up, and enjoy!

If you're up for a little blogcation, I'd love for you to visit me over at My Love for Words or on my Facebook page. So I have to know, what are your favorite holiday side dishes?