GRANDMA'S FRUIT SALAD

RECIPES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE THE SMARTEST, CLEVEREST AND MOST AMAZING COOK IN THE WORLD

This is one of those fruit salads that make me feel all nostolgic and sentimental because it's one that my mother used to make when we had 'company coming'. She loved to entertain and, in fact, was almost required to have business people come to dinner who worked with my Dad and who came from out of town. Dad wanted to make sure they had one of my mom's good 'home cooked' meals before they left and went back home. This was back in the days people traveled across the country by train and travel was difficult and time-consuming. Mother always made sure they were well-fed and entertained before they got back on the train to take their long ride back to Chicago or Pittsburgh or Miami or whever they came from. It was called 'hospitality' and, even though it was something she needed to do in order for my Dad to be successful in his job, she was very good at it and she also enjoyed doing it. I loved watching her and sometimes she would even let me help. My job was to open the cans of fruit and drain off the juice using a strainer. Sometimes she would let me slice up the bananas as long as I was careful with the knife, but my favorite was to lick the cream from the beaters when she had finished whipping it. She used an old-fashioned hand beater because she didn't really trust an electric mixer. She was always afraid it would whip the cream too fast and turn it into butter.

To make this salad, you will need:

2 cans fruit cocktail

1 can mandarin oranges

1 can pineapple tidbits

1 large apple, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks

1 C. sliced strawberries

2 cups small salad marshmallows (optional)

2 small bananas, cut into small chunks

1. Drain the juice from the fruit into a small bowl. Make sure the fruit is well-drained or your salad will be gloppy.

2. Put the apple chunks into the juice so they can soften while you do everything else

3. Put the fruit into a nice serving bowl, then make the dressing:

1 C. pineapple juice

3 T. lemon juice, squeezed from lemons

1 T. flour

1 egg

4. Put the above ingredients into a small saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until it comes to a bowl.

Immediately remove from the heat and allow to cool.

5. After it has cooled, fold in 1 C. whipped cream or Cool-Whip

6. Take the apples out of the juice and drain well, then add them to the other fruit in the bowl.

7. Fold in the dressing with the cream carefully.

Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Serves about 6-8 people. My mother used to make a 'lettuce cup' using iceberg lettuce on a small salad plate and put the fruit salad in the lettuce. You could also serve it in small glass serving bowls or however you want to do it. I'm always surprised how much everyone LOVES this simple salad that is so easy to make. Enjoy!