Tag: pineapple

Fresh Fruit Salad

We all use different techniques for relaxation. A good book is the choice of many while some enjoy a nice walk or exercise. I enjoy being in the kitchen with a new kitchen gadget, appliance, or tool.

I usually say that I have the least amount of storage space in this house than anywhere I have lived. In truth, it may be that I have more toys than I have ever had.

I try to purge and cleanout. I donate and throw away, but I am just a sucker for a new kitchen toy! I probably should have picked up on my obsession when as a newlywed, I asked for things such as Kitchenaid mixers and Cuisinart food processors for any occasion that would warrant me a gift. To this day, I can’t resist. The other day I ordered a new bread machine for those 3 loaves of bread I make annually!

What are your favorite kitchen gadgets, appliances, and tools? Is it the Instant Pot, the air fryer, or just your old handy dandy crockpot? I would love to hear from you. What is the favorite gadget or number one helper in everyone’s kitchen today?

This fabulous fresh fruit salad requires no tools other than a trusty knife. This salad is beautiful at a luncheon and very refreshing! The instant pudding and extracts give the fruit a sweet glaze that is irresistible. Try using different fruits but keep them fresh—no frozen or canned fruit in this salad.  Keep the same fruit ratio to pudding/extract amounts, and you should be fine.

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Fresh Fruit Salad

Course Salad
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 pound fresh strawberries hulled and sliced
  • 1 pound fresh blueberries
  • 1 pound fresh pineapple cut into bite-size pieces
  • 2 cups fresh mandarin oranges peeled and sections separated (I used Halos)
  • 1 cup red grapes halved
  • 3 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

Instructions

  • Combine all of the fruit in a large bowl. Sprinkle with pudding mix and extracts.
  • Stir and refrigerate for two hours.
  • Stir again before serving.

Grammy Salad

When I was growing up, on every holiday table, you were sure to find a congealed salad or a salad of some sort with cream cheese, whipped topping, and fruit, maybe even some Jello. Even as a child, it was always slightly odd that the big bowl of “salad” was right there beside the dressing and green beans. Who was I to tell the adults they were doing it wrong? It was an excuse to eat dessert first, in my opinion.

It seems the popularity of the salads has faded somewhat over the years. There is one, however, that I still love, and Wes could eat the entire bowl by himself if I did not insist on some of it myself.  That salad is what we call Grammy Salad.

My mom, aka Grammy, has made this salad as long as I can remember. Wes has been eating it his entire life and expects to see it on holidays. As it turns out, he and Ashley will be with her family for the big meal on Thursday. However, you better believe this delicious salad will be on my holiday table. Right there beside the dressing and green beans! If Wes is lucky, I will save him a little.

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Grammy Salad

Course Salad
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese softened
  • 1 (12-oz.) container Cool Whip thawed
  • 1 (10-oz.) jar maraschino cherries drained, reserving liquid, halved
  • 1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple drained
  • 1 (10-oz.) bag mini marshmallows
  • 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

  • Beat softened cream cheese with an electric mixer.
  • Add Cool Whip and blend.
  • Stir in cherries, pineapple, marshmallows and pecans.
  • Add a tablespoon or so of reserved cherry juice, if desired. (Just enough to turn the salad pink.)
  • Serve right away, or refrigerate until serving. Store in airtight container.

Notes

*You can substitute frozen sweetened sliced strawberries for the cherries.  Thaw and drain, reserving the liquid, and use as you would the cherries.