Holiday Recipes

I don’t know if anyone else cooks as crazy as I do but I never fix things the same way twice. It’s not done on purpose and this probably explains why I’m not as good of a baker as I am a cook, baking has to be more precise. When you live far from a grocery store and have to depend on what you can pick up at the dollar stores or what is in your pantry or freezer, you sometimes have to make substitutions.

My Holiday Fruit Salad (correct version)

1 box red gelatin (I prefer strawberry but cherry or raspberry would also work)

1 cup hot water

1 can whole berry cranberry sauce (you can use regular canned sauce or even homemade sauce)

*note: if you use homemade sauce be aware that you may need to cut back on liquids.

1 4-6 ounce can mandarin oranges, drained

1 12-16 ounce can pineapples (drained) or frozen pineapple

1 apple chopped

1 celery stalk chopped

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup dried cranberries

½ cup chopped pecans (optional)

Medium bowl

In medium bowl (I use the same one I plan to serve in preferably glass) mix hot water and gelatin until completely dissolved. Add in cranberry sauce, mix well but don’t completely integrate. Stir in fruit and top with nuts. Cover and refrigerate until firm.

This year I wasn’t sure if we’d even be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner due to Covid exposure. I had half my planned groceries but not everything I usually purchase. So for my Holiday Fruit Salad I had to improvise.

I had strawberry gelatin but plain cranberry sauce. I had dried cherries but no celery. I thought I had pineapple in a can or frozen but no, I had frozen mango, so I tried it with mango. It was fantastic. I didn’t top with nuts this year but who knows what I’ll do for Christmas.

Do you have a favorite holiday recipe? Do you improvise or does it have to be made a certain way?