Grams Fruit Salad

There are some recipes in life that are so simple and adaptable it doesn't seem right the results are so fantastic. Grammy's Fruit Salad is one of those recipes. Don't have fresh peaches, used drained canned. Don't like bananas, leave them out. Want a berry salad only, go ahead. Grammy's Fruit Salad is more of a starting platform than an exact sequence.

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 heaping teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup sweetened coconut

1 large Granny Smith apple, diced (with peel)

15 oz can peaches (in juice), slices or halves, well drained

15 oz can pineapple (in juice), pieces or chunks, well drained

28 oz can Mandarin oranges, well drained

1-2 cups red grapes, whole

1 cup walnuts, finely diced

1 small jar Maraschino cherries, halved

Instructions:
Whip heavy cream and sugar to soft fold. Add remaining ingredients and toss gently.

Scaled for Likability: Great

As a child, Grammy's fruit salad varied with the season to reflect fresh fruit. Do you remember that fruit was only available at the produce section when it was in season? Strawberries were for a few short weeks of the year, peaches from the hill country lasted a month and half or so, and the list goes on. Now fresh fruit is available year round although not near as good as when it ifresh from the tree, the bush, the farm. C'est la vie.

Gram's fruit salad is very flexible. However, there are some don'ts. Frozen fruit cannot be used as it contains too much water. The same holds true for just canned fruit. Some fresh fruit must be used to offset the canned fruit. Strawberries can only be used if served the same day. If made the day before, leave out Maraschino cherries and add directly before serving to keep the cream from turning red. And for the love of everything holy, DO NOT use frozen dairy whip cream. Make your own.

Gram's fruit salad will store in the fridge for about two days before the water content saturates the cream and the salad becomes a soggy mess. Still good as a soggy mess just not pretty and fluffy. Enjoy!

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green be

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add potatoes. Cover and reduc

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese and did not contain enough onion, garlic,

Eating Waffles

Search This Blog