Mother-in-Law Salad

My mom always made a fruity, fluffy salad every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Hubby always ate it and enjoyed it. I don't know that he ever said anything about it until the year it wasn't there and asked, "Where is the Mother-in-Law Salad?"

Well, my mom said there was hardly ever any eaten or she didn't think anybody cared or something along those lines, so she didn't make it that year. Hubby was crushed. Never again has he been without Mother-in-Law Salad when we've been in Arkansas.

Do you know I didn't even come up with the name of this salad and I still got in trouble for it!

For Thanksgiving in 2003, the kids and I went over to another family's house since Hubby was in Kuwait. The husband's dad and stepmom were there also. I took several dishes, including Mother-in-Law Salad. I made the offhand comment about putting it in the refrigerator and totally missed all of the action that was going on behind me. Apparently my friend's mother-in-law heard me and thought I wasn't being nice, she tensed up, her husband already knew what the salad was, as well as my friend's husband. Later at the dinner table they said, "Hey, Kayren, tell her why you call it Mother-in-Law Salad." Of course I wasn't aware of anything yet and just blabbered all about how it got it's name from my Hubby because he loved my mom's salad and just gave it a name. I found out later that day when my friend could whisper to me what had happened and how I had her mother-in-law all in an uproar, over nothing. The only good thing was that they all thought it was absolutely hilarious that she was all in a dither.

Mother-in-Law Salad
from my mom

1 small pkg of red Jello
1 can cherry pie filling
24 oz cottage cheese, drained
2 cans fruit (cocktail or tropical), drained
2 cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
2-8 oz Cool Whip, can use fat free or light
Marshmallows and Chopped Nuts, optional

Drain everything really good so that the salad will firm up well.

Start with the Cool Whip, cottage cheese and Jello. Mix together well before you add in the other ingredients. Add in everything else, stir together, and refrigerate. It will firm up some after you refrigerate it.

You can substitute other fruits and leave out the marshmallows and nuts. There is obviously a little room to play around with it, but if you like to stick with a recipe, especially at the beginning until you know what you're getting, do it this way (and with the tropical fruit!).