Salad Days: Dorothy Lynch Salad Dressing

Back when I lived downstate and was working for Ford, I visited a shock absorber plant for work in the middle of Nebraska, and the plant employed many farmer's wives.   They put together a cookbook for their 35th anniversary of the plant, and many of the ladies had crock pots bubbling away at their work stations, making lunch to share.   They gave me a copy of their cookbook, which has plenty of hearty down home recipes in it, including copper penny carrots, which is a carrot salad dressed with a local favorite salad dressing that is simply called "Dorothy Lynch".   When you go to a restaurant in Nebraska and order a salad, they will ask you what kind of dressing you want ....they have the usual suspects like Italian, Ranch, etc., but they also have "Dorothy Lynch".    I had to try it and it was delicious!  It's like French dressing with a kick. I understand there really was a Dorothy Lynch. In the late 1940s, Dorothy and her husband ran the restaurant at the local Legion Club in St. Paul, Nebraska. The Legion Club members were introduced to this delicious recipe, the legend of Dorothy Lynch began to grow and the dressing fast became a "must-have" favorite. Stories of local people bringing their own bottle or jug to town to have it filled with "that delicious Dorothy Lynch salad dressing" were quite common. It's now made commercially, but I've never seen it for sale here in Michigan.  

Don't be put off by the fact that it's got canned tomato soup in it, it is really good.

Dorothy Lynch Dressing

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

1 teaspoon dry mustard powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix tomato soup, vegetable oil, sugar, vinegar, dry mustard, salt, celery seeds, black pepper, and garlic powder in a large jar with a lid and shake...serve immediately or refrigerate overnight for best flavor.  To make the carrot salad:

Copper Penny Salad

2 lbs carrots, peeled, cooked whole and cooled, then sliced thin into coins

1 small green pepper diced

2 medium sized onions, sliced thin

Mix vegetables together, and dress with Dorothy Lynch dressing. 

Salad Days: Paprika Salad Dressing

Romaine lettuce, Ghost House Farm, Hancock MI

I have to admit, I have a fascination with the women’s sections of the old farming magazines.   As a result, I have a big collection of Farm Journal cookbooks that I have picked up at garage sales over time.    And I also have a collection of vintage Taste of Home cookbooks, which is what happened when publisher Roy Reiman realized he needed to create a cooking magazine which utilized the same philosophy of reader-contributed content as his farming magazines.  I first became aware of those magazines in the mid 90s when there were several of them laying around the ladies room at Ford.    As a working mom, I spent a lot of time in the ladies room lounge area pumping breastmilk and reading Taste of Home.   At it’s height, TOH had a test kitchen and a restaurant in its HQ In Greendale, WI.   The magazine was famous for not having ads, but when it sold out to Readers Digest, it totally changed and isn’t what it once was.  

I have the annual cookbook from every year the “old style”  TOH was published.  I  still love to read the corny head notes for each recipe.  Ladies are always promising great things from the recipes they have submitted.  A recipe for paprika salad dressing from 2002 caught my eye....Sharon Nichols from Brookings, SD assures me that "fresh greens really perk up with this zesty homemade dressing".    I decided to jazz her recipe up with some apple cider vinegar and honey and smoked instead of sweet paprika.   Plus more hot sauce. It is spectacular!

Paprika Salad Dressing

1/2 c sour cream

1/4 c mayonnaise

2 T steak sauce

1/4 t kosher salt

1/2 t smoked paprika

1/4 t celery seed

1/2 t Tabasco sauce

1 T. honey

2 T. apple cider vinegar

Put all ingredients in a jar and shake until well blended.  

Salad Days: A Proper Ranch

Spinach, baby kale, and lettuce from the hoop. Beets and carrots from the summer from Ghost House Farms Hancock, Michigan

April 14, 2026

"In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer" Albert Camus

Here we are, at the beginning of mud season here in the Keweenaw. I am so looking forward to fresh produce. I have never understood why many restaurants don't make salad dressings from scratch. They taste so much fresher and are relatively inexpensive to make. This spring, I am going to share some of my favorite salad dressing recipes. This first one is for ranch dressing - so much better than store bought. In winter, I use dried herbs that I keep stocked in the pantry. In the summer months, when fresh herbs are available, you can sub in 2 tablespoons fresh herbs for every teaspoon of dried.

Ranch Dressing

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/2 c sour cream

2 t dried chives

1 t dried dill weed

1 t dried parsley

1 t dried granulated garlic

1 t onion powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

1/4 - 1/2 c buttermilk

1 t lemon juice

In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients except buttermilk and lemon juice with a whisk. Gradually add buttermilk until the dressing is pourable consistency for salads, or leave it a little thicker for a dip. Add lemon juice and adjust salt and pepper, to taste.