I have warm memories of making Raggedy Ann Salad and other character-shaped salads using canned fruits when I was a child, so I was thrilled to see a recipe for Porcupine Salad in a hundred-year-old cookbook.
Porcupine Salad was fun and easy to make, and it turned out beautifully. Almond slices are inserted into a canned pear half, and whole cloves are used to make the eyes.
Here’s the original recipe:
When I made the recipe I didn’t serve it on a lettuce leaf, and I skipped the fruit salad dressing, but they could be added if desired. I found this recipe in the same cookbook that contained the Fruit Salad Dressing Made with Honey that I made last week, so that dressing could be used to replicate the original recipe’s serving suggestion.
Porcupine Salad
For each serving:
1 canned pear half
sliced almonds
2 whole cloves
Insert the almond slices into the larger part of the pear half, then stick the two cloves into the small end for the eyes.
A Hundred Years Ago 
I vaguely remember canned pears turning into rabbits at Easter time, but this is a new one. It’s really cute, and it’s exactly the kind of “cooking” that can give little ones an introduction to the kitchen.
How cute!
How cute! Needs a little round chocolate chip yet for his nose.
Fabulous fabulous. Our little granddaughters are going to make this for our Fourth of July party. Thanks for coming to my rescue. What a joy.
Fabulous fabulous. Our little granddaughters are going to make this for a Fourth of July party. Oh what fun and what memories will make.
My grandson would love this!
That is absolutely adorable! 🙂
This one made my spine tingle. Fun!
What a clever idea. And so simple.
Old recipes are amazing, and the history behind them is always interesting 😊
This is absolutely stunning. Kids would love this!
So cute Sheryl! Wish I’d known about this when my kids were little. Well…there are still grandchildren to impress! 🙂
Oh, I love this, how cute!
Shouldn’t the pear half be facing the other way? That way, the fat end of the pear is the porcupine’s bottom, and the tapered pear top serves as the nose
hmm. . . maybe . . . These old recipes definitely are open to interpretation.