A Bee in My Easter Bonnet {and Pink Fruit Salad}

Got some work-related funk and aggravation going on right now.  Bad mojo, podjo.
So I'll just keep it zipped and show you this fruit salad my mother-in-law makes for Easter

and some pictures from around my town.

Like a sunset over a crawfish field

Getting better already.

A Butterfly Iris from my yard

My dwarf azalea--a beacon on the front walk

And some pictures from a stroll around the neighborhood

Now back to this fruit salad.  I call it Pink Fruit Salad.  Betcha can't figure out why.

My mother-in-law told me the original recipe calls for maraschino cherry juice mixed with condensed milk, but she found that too sweet and thick.  She uses evaporated milk and some sugar to taste.


I skip the sugar.
'Cause you know me.  All healthy and crap.

My favorite part is the pink "juice."  Because it makes for a fruit salad that's different.  And, if you submerge your fruit in it

the apples and bananas will stay fine for a few hours.  No browning.  The fruit, especially the bananas, also start to soak up the flavor of the pink juice.

Just be warned.
More than a few hours and the bananas go from soaking up the juice to disintegrating in it.  Especially if the leftovers sit forgotten in the fridge for 2 days.
Yep.  Especially then.

My mother-in-law always makes this salad with banana, apple, mandarin orange segments, grapes, pineapple chunks, and maraschino cherries.  Use whatever rocks your socks.

The amount of liquid will be enough to cover 4 1/2-4 3/4 cups of fruit.  Given the right bowl (think tall rather than shallow and wide).

How to segment an orange


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Pink Fruit Salad
2 oranges, peeled and segmented (about 1 c)
1 banana, sliced (about ¾ c)
2 handful grapes, halved
heaping ¼ c pineapple tidbits, drained
1 medium-large apple, cored and chunked (about 1 ½ cups)
heaping ¼ c maraschino cherries
1 c evaporated milk
6-8 TBSP maraschino cherry juice
sugar to taste, optional

The amount of fruit should total roughly 4 ½ to 4 ¾ cups.  Place all of the prepared fruit in a bowl that will snugly hold the fruit.  Toss gently with your hands.  Mix the evaporated milk, cherry juice, and sugar (if using) in a separate bowl.  Pour over the fruit.   Press down on the fruit to submerge in the juice.  Refrigerate for 20 minutes up to about 3 hours before serving.  Serve in bowls with some of the liquid.

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