Ambrosia

This dish means so much more to me than most of the other recipes I post on here.

It's not particularly complicated, or fancy.

But this dish is beautiful.

For me, this recipe symbolizes home. My mom used to make this "salad" (which is actually much more of a dessert to me) in the spring and summer time. It's a fool proof recipe, which means I can replicate it even if I'm about 2,500 miles away from my mom. We've started a tradition a couple of years back to always make at least one dish that's the same for Easter dinner, no matter how far away we were from one another. This year, I requested ambrosia. Having a physical connection, knowing my mom and dad are eating the same thing I am, enjoying each other's company like I am enjoying the company of my husband and friends, is a very comforting feeling.

I got to spend time with a local family and friends this Easter. Transitioning to living in San Diego has been very hard for me (you can read about my struggles on my other blog). For the first year or so, I really didn't have any community or friends that I felt comfortable with. Then, in an answer to prayer, I was taken under the wing of a lab mate, and included in her fellowship community. At first, I was awkward.

Well, I'm always a little awkward. Awkwardness comes naturally when you are a giant lady with red hair. But then, I became comfortable. And then I became happy. And then, after I had assimilated into a group of lovely, godly women, I became totally and tearfully joyful. There is no better feeling than knowing people have been hand picked and placed in your life. This knowledge keeps my faith strong.

Tony and I were so kindly welcomed into a friend's family household this Easter, I was nearly reduced to tears at the dinner table. I brought ambrosia, and even Tony, a self-proclaimed hater of fruit salad, cleaned his dish. Perhaps he sensed the weepy-ness and decided he better clean his plate to prevent the irrational "WHY DON'T YOU EVER LIKE ANYTHING I MAKE?!?!" waterworks. I felt like I was tapping into some underlying current of family, tradition and love by sharing my mom's dish.

I am so grateful for friends, family and ambrosia.

Enough of the story--enjoy the recipe with your own family and friends!

Ambrosia

(in my mother's words)

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 can pineapple chunks in juice, drained some liquid reserved

1 can fruit cocktail, drained

~8-10 maraschino cherries, drained and halved (used mostly to add color)

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup sour cream

1 cup miniature marshmallows (Kraft brand Jet-Puffed Marshmallows are the best)

1 cup chopped pecans (optional; delete if nuts are a problem)

1 can mandarin orange segments, drained

Drain juices from all the canned fruits, one can at a time, then dump each into one large bowl for mixing later. (Don't worry about getting the fruit "dry" -- you just need to get rid of most of the juice. But save a little of the pineapple juice for later if the mix seems too dry -- or drink it for breakfast or as a snack while you cook! )

Add the coconut, sour cream and mini-marshmallows to the bowl of fruit. Take a big spoon and mix gently with a folding motion, but mix well so that the fruits and other ingredients are evenly distributed.

Pour the mixture into your serving bowl (the bowl for mixing needs to be much bigger and will be "messy looking" after folding and stirring), and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but it tastes better made in the morning for serving that evening or even made the night before to let the flavors mellow and the marshmallows to "dissolve" a bit in the sour cream. You do NOT need to mix again before serving.

Garnish with cherries, mandarin oranges or anything else edible and pretty!

Corn and Black Bean Salad

This recipe is an original. There are, apparently, many corn and black bean salad recipes out there, but when I was making this...I didn't check to reference even one of them.

I think becoming comfortable in cooking is marked by various steps, such as not giving a hoot about measuring cups (unless your baking of course, then the rules should be followed rather strictly) and not having a panic attack when you've added a little too much of something. Another step in being comfortable in the kitchen is being comfortable with spices, and combinations of flavors. I'm definitely not there yet, but this recipe does mark a change in my confidence in the kitchen.

Thursday night I made beef enchiladas, which were a big hit with Tony. I won't bother posting the recipe, because I made it from the Old El Paso can (can I get a "woo hoo" for eating something that had 3x the amount of salt a moose should intake?). Anyway, the salad I made on the side, which, humorously, Tony interpreted as salsa, not salad, was a little bit more healthy.

All in all, I would say it's a tasty, quick dish that would probably impress people, even though it literally takes about 2 minutes flat to prepare. On a side note, 1 minute of the two minutes was used to get the dang can opener to work. This actually could be used as a salsa, or a garnish (kind of like pico de gallo), I just wouldn't have really thought of it had I not seen Tony dive in with a chip :).

Corn and Black Bean Salad

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly
1 can of niblet corn, drained and rinsed thoroughly
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 tsp onion powder (or use 1 small, chopped onion)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 TBS Chili powder*
1 TBS Tabasco Chipolte Sauce*
1/2 tsp dried cilantro (or probably 1TBS fresh cilantro)
1/2 TBS concentrated lime juice (or juice from 1 lime)
ground black peper
salt

*We like our food SPICY! Add a little bit at a time and taste to get the appropriate amount of heat that you enjoy.*

Procedure:

1. Toss everything into a medium size bowl, and gently combine all ingredients.

2. Revel in the simplicity. Watch some TV and wait for dinner to finish baking.

3. Enjoy!

Happy Friday!