This homemade Thousand Island dressing is "seriously out-of-this-world and in a class of its own"

This is my step-mother’s recipe for Thousand Island, her much loved and prized dressing made famous because it was the dressing served at Jimmy Faughn’s, a family-owned and operated institution of a restaurant located in Carolyn's hometown of  Hattiesburg, Miss. Although the restaurant has been closed for a few decades, people still speak of it and remember this delicious dressing.  

Regular, bottled Thousand Island was the dressing of my childhood; Thousand Island poured over cold, crisp iceberg lettuce along with a few thinly cut veggies made up our family’s green salad for the majority of my youth.

It was probably not until I was in the seventh or eighth grade that Creamy Italian and Catalina made it to our dinner table, and it would be even further into my future before Ranch would spread like wildfire across the country in the mid-1980’s. Grocery stores were simpler in the 70s, and Thousand Island, French and Italian were about the extent of what was available. (There could have been bottled Bleu Cheese, but we would have passed on that, regardless.)  

As tastes and preferences changed over the years, those old stand-by’s — Thousand Island, French and Italian — were replaced by unnamed, unfamiliar dressings as restaurants and home cooks leaned toward more complicated salad creations that included many different types of greens that were showing up in some of the larger, nicer grocery stores, as well as, nuts, seeds, berries or other sweet fruits and ingredient combinations once unthinkable.

Honey Mustard and vinaigrettes of all kinds dressed these unique medleys, and the Big Three, along with Bleu Cheese, which I did not try until I was practically grown, were relegated to traditional steakhouses and Mom & Pop home-style restaurants. 

So many foods and flavors from the past are popping up again, though, and Thousand Island is one that is making a strong comeback. For some, it never really left. I mean, it is the “special sauce” for that hamburger chain, and it has always graced a Reuben. And if you frequent diners, Waffle House or a good “meat-and-three” home-cooking restaurant, Thousand Island was never out of your reach. 

But there is Thousand Island, the familiar tasing, unremarkable, strangely orange-colored dressing/sandwich spread; and then there is this homemade version. The two should not even be compared.

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Carolyn’s Thousand Island is seriously out-of-this-world and in a class of its own. It is an inviting shade of pale salmon pink, delectably creamy, slightly tangy, and you will be amazed by your desire to add it to almost any food you have in hand. If this dressing is in your refrigerator, you will find yourself thinking, I bet some Thousand Island would be good on this, and off you will go to fetch it. 

Of course, it is great simply as a salad dressing, but we love it as a dip and eat it most often as an appetizer. Set out in a bowl surrounded by raw veggies and an assortment of crackers. it is impossible to stop dipping and nibbling. In fact, before you realize it, you will try it on pretzels and chips, pieces of cheese, deviled eggs, potatoes . . . even pizza!

There is no limit to the possibilities. Anything savory placed out as a nibble is fair game to dip.   

For the last thirty-five years, as long as Carolyn has been our step-mother, my sister (who is seriously obsessed with this dressing) and I have been privileged to have what we believe is the best homemade dressing/dip ever. When Carolyn made it for the restaurant, Jimmy Faughn’s, she made it in huge quantities, so we never knew how to adjust it all down to an amount suitable for just our family.

Thankfully, we got a lesson during out last visit, and now, without further ado, I am sharing this most treasured recipe with you. Once you try it, I bet you will feel as honored as we do for finally getting it for ourselves after all these years.