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My Grandmothers Southern Ambrosia Salad Recipe

Ingredients

How to make it

  • Drain pineapple and orange segments.
  • In a large bowl, combine pineapple,mandarin oranges, banana, grapes,marshmallows,coconut and nuts.
  • In a 1-quart bowl measure, combine sour cream,
  • ( or yogurt) and brown sugar. Stir gently into fruit mixture.
  • Refrigerate, covered for 1 hour or overnight.
  • The longer you let it sit the better it gets!

Reviews & Comments 16

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  • Scrittore 10 years ago
    Make Helewes' "Nana's recipe" the day before and (of course) leave in the fridge overnight. This will do several things for the dish.

    First - it will increase the overall moisture of the dish (the coconut especially being dry to begin with will soak up the early liquid if served immediately) and leaving it overnight allows more moisture to build up from the combined fruit.

    Secondly - because of allowing for the flavors and the moisture to meld together overnight the overall taste is greatly improved as well as being more moist.

    Finally - couple of ingredients I don't see in your Nana's recipe that my family always added - was (1)-(2) tins of frozen strawberries (depending on the size of the bowl to be served).

    The strawberries not only add their own distinctive flavor but their added moisture (don't drain the can before combining with all the other fruit) will also contribute added moisture. A "Granny Smith" apple was also added and worked well too (and kept from darkening by the acid of the other fruits).

    In any case - ENJOY !!!!
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    " It was excellent "
    imhungry ate it and said...
    Man i love this stuff!!!
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    " It was excellent "
    midgelet ate it and said...
    yum!
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  • catbot79 16 years ago
    Ooooooh, I haven't had this stuff since I was a little girl and lived in Tennessee. Yum yum. How nice of your nana to give her recipe to you, and how nice of you to share with us! Thanks!
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  • itsjustjuwah 16 years ago
    Yummy! Yes, this does bring back childhood memories! My brother loved this when he was very young, but couldn't pronounce Ambrosia... he'd say "Pass the Sam Joseph, please!" Till this day, we can't let a holiday go by without ribbing him... "Hey Bubba, did ya bring the Sam Joseph?" HAhaHA
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  • auntieandie 16 years ago
    Yay! This one is just like my moms except she used homemade whipped cream and superfine granulated white sugar instead of sour cream and brown sugar. That made it very white. I am going to have to try it with sour cream and brown sugar. Thank you.
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  • maryeaudet 16 years ago
    So THIS is ambrosia. Hmmm...We had it every holiday. Yummy! Just had no name for it! LOL!
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  • sista 16 years ago
    Yum, my Mom makes something like this!
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    " It was excellent "
    pintobean ate it and said...
    dido """
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    " It was excellent "
    msbooch75 ate it and said...
    All the fruit sounds tasty. Been awhile since I had it so here goes.
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  • tpatti 16 years ago
    I am noticing that your grandmother had some great recipes. Thanks for sharing with us.
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  • cajunmom 17 years ago
    this reminds me of my grandmother's fruit salad, but instead of the sour cream, she placed a pint of vanilla ice cream on top of the fruit and placed it in the fridge and let it melt, mixed it up, then thoroughly enjoyed.
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  • dariana 17 years ago
    I hear you are working on a cookbook of your Grandmothers recipes. If you get it completed, I'd love to have a copy. Seems like our Grandmothers may have cooked a lot alike, lol. This one sounds yummy.
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    " It was good "
    dugger ate it and said...
    Oh yes this does bring back memories. As Lollya said it reminds me of my "Two Mom" (grandmother). She used to fix a similar dish. And mixed fruit in a can?... do you mean fruit cocktail? That's what she used.
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    " It was just okay "
    lollya ate it and said...
    I also grew up with this salad, minus the pecans and brown sugar and for some reason I think we used the mixed fruit in the can - needless to say, you've brought back fond mems of my Nana. :)
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  • ledwards1 17 years ago
    This is a simple make ahead recipe that pleases a crowd!
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helewes Newton, NJ

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