Fruit salad/ambrosia salad

[Ky hills]

My grandmother on my fathers side, always made what she called fruit salad for Thanksgiving and Christmas,
My mother carried on the tradition of making it.
My wife brought up the idea of making it for us over Thanksgiving. We couldn’t find the recipe that they used, but with googling the ingredients that I thought were used.
We found a recipe, it called it Ambrosia.
My grandmother’s recipe simply used heavy whipping cream, a little lemon juice, fruit cocktail, bananas, miniature marshmallows.
Other fruit and pecans, etc could be used too, as well as the consistency of the whipping cream mixture. Granny made hers more thickened liquid, and not as whipped.
Anyways this is one of my favorite things to eat it’s a real treat, I’d put some on my plate with my Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, then get seconds on my dessert plate.

 

[coachg]

My mom use to make something like that . Not sure if the recipe was lost with her or if we still have it . My wife says she doesn’t have it .

 

[mwj]

My mom use to make something like that . Not sure if the recipe was lost with her or if we still have it . My wife says she doesn’t have it .

I would wager that there was no recipe involved. Most cooks would make it with the ingredients that were at hand. Baking is about the only thing that is very scientific.

I once read a cookbook put out by a local church in the early 19 hundreds. It told the ingredients and how to combine and cook. The thing was there were no measures or amounts. I asked an old lady about it and she said that there were huge differences in family size and the cook would use the amounts needed.

 

[coachg]

The women folks in my family actually put a cook book together and all the females have a copy. Sadly no ambrosia salad

 

[coachg]

Here’s 2 that I found in one of my wife’s cookbooks. Top one sounds like what my mom made .

 

[Travlr]

View attachment 63702My grandmother on my fathers side, always made what she called fruit salad for Thanksgiving and Christmas,
My mother carried on the tradition of making it.
My wife brought up the idea of making it for us over Thanksgiving. We couldn’t find the recipe that they used, but with googling the ingredients that I thought were used.
We found a recipe, it called it Ambrosia.
My grandmother’s recipe simply used heavy whipping cream, a little lemon juice, fruit cocktail, bananas, miniature marshmallows.
Other fruit and pecans, etc could be used too, as well as the consistency of the whipping cream mixture. Granny made hers more thickened liquid, and not as whipped.
Anyways this is one of my favorite things to eat it’s a real treat, I’d put some on my plate with my Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, then get seconds on my dessert plate.

This is one of my wife's staples for Turkey Day and Christmas. It's taken a long time for me to appreciate it and I'm still not fully on board. Canned fruit has changed. It was once firm and had some chew, and you could taste the different flavors. Today it seems very flaccid and the individual fruits all taste the same. There were once big, plump, maraschino cherries, and now there are only hints with flavors that merge with everything else.

 

[Warren Allison]

Here’s 2 that I found in one of my wife’s cookbooks. Top one sounds like what my mom made . View attachment 63710

That first recipe for ambrosia is what my family always made, but added raisins to it, too.

 

[coachg]

This is one of my wife's staples for Turkey Day and Christmas. It's taken a long time for me to appreciate it and I'm still not fully on board. Canned fruit has changed. It was once firm and had some chew, and you could taste the different flavors. Today it seems very flaccid and the individual fruits all taste the same. There were once big, plump, maraschino cherries, and now there are only hints with flavors that merge with everything else.

That’s what I like about the top
One . Actually has some fresh fruit in it . I’ve never been a big fan of fruit cocktail.

 

[sstterry]

Ambrosia is a staple of every Southern Baptist potluck.

 

[Ky hills]

This is one of my wife's staples for Turkey Day and Christmas. It's taken a long time for me to appreciate it and I'm still not fully on board. Canned fruit has changed. It was once firm and had some chew, and you could taste the different flavors. Today it seems very flaccid and the individual fruits all taste the same. There were once big, plump, maraschino cherries, and now there are only hints with flavors that merge with everything else.

Yes, I thought the canned had changed as well. My grandmother would sort out some of the cherries and place them on top.

 

[Stonewall Joe]

Yes, I thought the canned had changed as well. My grandmother would sort out some of the cherries and place them on top.

Seems like the cherries in a can of fruit were always the most coveted part and it was always considered a big deal to get one of those. WhenI was a little kid I thought the perfect can of fruit would be all cherries

 

[Ky hills]

Seems like the cherries in a can of fruit were always the most coveted part and it was always considered a big deal to get one of those. WhenI was a little kid I thought the perfect can of fruit would be all cherries

I liked the cherries too, but the grapes were always my favorite. Least favorite was the hard pieces of pears.

 

[jltrent]

That looks good.

 

[farmerjan]

One of the "makers" has a fruit cocktail that has "lots of cherries" for cherry lovers. Not my favorite... I liked the grapes and pears... and yes, it seems to have gotten more "mushy", over the years... Different companies different flavors... I try to get the lowest of the syrups... less sugar, more fruit flavor....

 

[Travlr]

One of the "makers" has a fruit cocktail that has "lots of cherries" for cherry lovers. Not my favorite... I liked the grapes and pears... and yes, it seems to have gotten more "mushy", over the years... Different companies different flavors... I try to get the lowest of the syrups... less sugar, more fruit flavor....

This Thanksgiving we bought the "extra cherries" option and there were less than I've ever seen in a can. And the tiny amount that was there were chopped up to make smaller pieces.

I suppose the cans get filled from a huge vat, and the vat may have more cherries (maybe), so you might get more in a can, but you might also get a run of no cherries at all.