Neoma's Cranberry Salad

I must admit when I was a kid I never really liked cranberry salad but it was always something that got put on your plate for you to "try" ... just in case you remembered it wrong from the year before. LOL Got to love being a kid! 

I think that it is a salad that your taste buds have to grow into, because surprisingly I actually like cranberry salad now. I must say that of all the different cranberry salad recipes I have tried this one is still my favorite. Although we have made a slight alteration to it by adding an orange, which is an adaptation from my Grandma Alice's recipe. Now it has just enough citrus zing to offset the tart cranberries. It's like a party in your mouth!

-Jennifer Figgins

daughter of Jesse Figgins and Mary Bryan

Cranberry Salad

Aunt Neoma and Grandma Alice Bryan

Ingredients:

2 packages strawberry jello

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 can crushed pineapple

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped nuts

optional: 1 orange, finely ground.

Use a food processor to chop up the cranberries.

Dissolve jello in boiling water according to directions on packaged.

Add rest of ingredients and refrigerate.

Serves: 15

*Grandma Alice Bryan's recipe: add 1 whole orange, finely ground.

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This is another version of Aunt Neoma's Cranberry Salad that was sent to me by her son Mason. It is slightly different than the one I have of Aunt Neoma's but still sounds yummie! Thanks Mason!

Neoma's Cranberry Salad

Neoma Ridlen's handwriting and recipe.

Ingredients: 

2 cups ground cranberries

2 red apples ground

1 cup sugar

1 pkg jello dissolved 

zest and juice from one orange 

Mix all ingredients into dissolved jello.

Place in refrigerator to cool.

Brodie’s Favorite “Green Stuff”

To explain how this came about I first have to tell you another story. When Joel first moved to Iowa he went through a slight bit of culture shock. One of the things that perplexed him the most was our (Iowans) obsession with everything Jell-O. Apparently they don’t eat a lot of Jell-O in Illinois. As a result Joel received a few Jell-O cookbooks to indoctrinate him into our culture. He laughed and the cookbooks were set aside. A while back I decided that I would work my way through the different Jell-O recipes in his cookbooks to give him a sampling of what he has been missing out on all these years.

My idea was to make a new Jell-O dish every time we got together for something. On one of those occasions I had planned to make the Watergate Salad recipe. I don’t remember the exact circumstances, but for some reason Brodie was having a really rough day so I decided to distract him. It was a pretty simple recipe so I had Brodie make the first “Green Stuff.” It worked so well that the other kids got upset that they didn’t get to make a salad! LOL Go figure. You can’t go wrong with cool whip and mini marshmallows. It will win over any kid's heart!

Needless to say I haven’t gotten too many of the Jell-O recipes tried yet. Every time we have a get together Brodie requests that “Green Stuff, you know the kind with the tiny marshmallows!" LOL He gets really bummed if I don’t make it, so my distraction for Brodie has now become a family favorite and is made for most occasions!

- Jennifer Figgins

daughter of Jesse Figgins and Mary Bryan

Watergate Salad

Ingredients:

1 pakage (4-serving size) Jell-O Pistachio Instant Pudding & Pie Filling

1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, in juice, undrained

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1/2 cup chopped pecans 

1 1/2 cups (1/2  of 8 ounce tub) thawed whipped topping

Mix dry pudding mix, pineapple, marshmallows and pecans in large bowl until well blended.

Add whipped topping.

Stir gently until well blended. Cover.

Refrigerate 1 hour until ready to serve.

Jazz It Up: Serve this treat in small individual dessert dishes garnished with a maraschino cherry. 

Serves: 8 (1/2 cup servings)

Let the Fun Begin! 

Brodie starts by stirring the pineapple and pudding together.

Stirring is serious stuff!

Notice Drew in the background keeping a watchful eye.. he's waiting for his turn and the mini marshmallows! =)

Finally it's my turn! Brodie has already picked out his tasting spoon and is trying to be patient!

Silence is all the approval you need from these two!!

Have a great JELL-O filled summer!