Golden Carrot Salad

I was in a really bad mood a little while ago, but writing about food and going through my favorite recipes has certainly lightened my mood!

This is an old, old recipe that I have on a piece of paper that my grandmother wrote. Very cool to have her handwriting saved. She died at 87 in 1987 and is my step-dad's mother.

This strikes me as a depression-era recipe that probably came out of some women's magazine. I have no idea. Every once in a while I stumble upon someone who also grew up eating it. We had it at every post-church-Sunday-dinner, along with her cooked-to-death roast, jello salad (UGH!) on a lettuce leaf, and a dessert of some type. Of course, we ate around 1 pm, and my dad retreated to the couch to continue "working" (workaholic chemical engineer) while the women (that would be the rest of us) cleaned up then played card games all afternoon. My mother hated every minute of it, but it is a very fond childhood memory of mine. It was predictable and safe. Except for the jello salad.

If anyone knows the origin of this recipe, please post it. I would love to know!

2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced and blanched
1 large onion, sliced
1 green pepper, cut into strips
1 can tomato soup, not diluted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Mix together and refridgerate. This salad seems to last for weeks!

I make it anytime my sister comes over for a meal. She lives here in Atlanta, too. Most of the rest of the family is back in Pittsburgh.