Grandma Brown's Fruit Salad With Jello And Whipped Cream

 This was more from my father's side of the family.   Grandma Brown made a big bowl of this for every family gathering.  She combined fresh cut fruit with canned / jarred fruit, for lots of variety and a fresh texture.   We loved the festive pink color made by the combination of whipped cream and jello, and that is the one our family is most familiar with.  Sometimes the whole thing would be pink.   Sometimes, we would see more distinctive chunks of jello, it all depended on the mixing.  But you can use other colors/flavors of jello, if you wish.  This was a cool, refreshing dessert we all loved!   

Grandma Brown's Fruit Salad With Jello And Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

3 apples, peeled cored and diced (1/2-inch cubes)

2 cans (15 oz) fruit cocktail, juice drained

3 Bananas, peeled and cut in ½-inch slices

1 medium bushel (appx. 20 grapes) sliced in half

1 can mandarin oranges, juice drained

1 jar (10 oz) Maraschino cherries, juice drained

1 tub (8 oz) Whipped Cream

Strawberry or Cherry Jello (3 oz package) prepared according to directions in a LARGE bowl, and chilled to set

Directions:

1.        In a very large bowl, combine the apples, fruit cocktail, bananas, grapes, mandarin oranges, and cherries.  Very gently mix them together until combined.  Try not to mash up the bananas, or the canned fruit, as they are very soft.  

2.       Mix the chilled jello with a spoon, until it breaks up into very tiny clumps.

3.       Stir the whipped cream into the jello, until thoroughly combined.  

4.       Slice Jello in bowl criss-cross into half inch cubes. Stir them around getly to break them up. Pour Jello into the fruit bowl and blend very well (but carefully) with the fruit, again being gentle so you don’t crush any soft fruit.  Cover with plastic and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or until ready to serve.