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!

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