October 6, 2006 - One Year Anniversary of Clay's Appearance on Martha Stewart's Show

*Sniff Sniff*...what's that I smell? Well, if I had the ingredients here at my house, it would be the smell of pineapple wafting through the air as the Aiken family recipe of "Hot Pineapple Salad" was cooking in my oven. I'd be cooking it in memory of Clay's one year anniversary of appearing on the Martha Stewart Show. Unfortunately, I'll just have to remember Clay, his grandmother, and Martha Stewart cooking it on her show instead.

Yes, its been one year since Clay appeared on the Martha Stewart Show, on October 6, 2006, to amaze us with both his cooking and vocal skills. If I'm not mistaken, the sale of canned pineapple tripled overnight after that appearance. In case anyone didn't get to copy the recipe down, here is the one I saved from last year.

Hot Pineapple Salad
recipe courtesy of Clay Aiken
serves 8 to 10

2 #2 cans of pineapple tidbits with juice
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons self-rising flour
2 cups grated medium-sharp cheddar cheese
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine pineapple, sugar, flour and cheese. Transfer to a 2-quart shallow baking dish.
3. Top with crackers and drizzle with melted butter.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes.


This is one of Clay's favorite dishes. Even with one cup of sugar, he says its not sweet enough to be a dessert! I guess that's why they call it a salad. So, if you're ever lucky enough to have Clay over to your house, now you know what to cook for him!

After you take this dish out of the oven, you can sit and eat a bowl of it and watch Clay and his grandma prepare it on the show. Here is that video from YouTube, in Parts 1 and 2. If you haven't seen it in a while, you will love seeing it again!






Of course, after our cooking lesson, Clay did what he does especially well, and that is, of course, SING!! He looked extremely gorgeous on Martha's show and sang A Thousand Days just as well! There just is not much better than walking down memory lane with Clay as he sings from his past appearances, unless its listening to him live!

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Here, for your enjoyment, is Clay singing A Thousand Days on the Martha Stewart Show. I'll bet you can't watch it just once! Happy Memories!!