Christmas Salad or Grape Salad has been served at almost every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner that I can remember growing up. I have no knowledge where the recipe originated. This salad is actually more of a dessert and is very simple, using only 4 main ingredients: seedless red grapes, pineapple tidbits, mini marshmallows and whipped cream (the real stuff only). A fond memory is that during the 2+ hour road trips to go to family holiday dinners, mom would sit in the car, working to halve and deseed the grapes for this salad as there were no seedless grapes available back in the 1960’s. What a mess, but it had to be done so the grapes and pineapple could sufficiently drain. The heavy cream would be whipped and sweetened at the last minute, just before serving to ensure that it was as fresh as possible. Any remaining Grape Salad was highly coveted to accompany the obligatory turkey sandwich and other leftovers later in the day. I hope you and your family enjoy this simple recipe, whether you decide to eat it as a salad or a dessert.

Special Kitchen Tools Needed

Ingredients

• Red Seedless Grapes – start with one pound of grapes and adjust as desired for the number of people who are eating
• Pineapple Tidbits – one 20 oz. can in juice, drained well. Note: if you cannot find tidbits, as happened to me recently, use pineapple chunks and cut in half
• Mini Marshmallows – 10 oz bag. Start with approximately 2 cups. I prefer Jet Puffed brand marshmallows but use any brand that you like.
• Heavy Whipping Cream – 1 pint
• Granulated Sugar – approximately 1/4 to 1/2 cup (to your taste)
• Vanilla – 1 teaspoon

Directions

1. Wash the grapes thoroughly.
2. Place the colander inside the bowl.
3. Cut each grape in half and place cut grapes in colander to drain.
4. Drain the canned pineapple tidbits and place pineapple in the colander along with the grapes. Place the colander and bowl with the grapes and pineapple inside the refrigerator to drain for about an hour or until ready to serve.
5. Just before ready to serve, whip the heavy cream into medium to stiff peaks, adding the sugar and vanilla just before the cream reaches the desired consistency. (Writer’s note: the trick to getting cream to whip up quickly is to make sure the bowl and beaters being used are very cold. I usually put my bowl and beaters in the freezer at least 15 minutes before whipping the cream.)
6. Discard the juice from the drained grapes and pineapple, then rinse the bowl.
7. Empty the grapes and pineapple into the bowl.
8. Add the mini marshmallows, approximately 2 cups. I usually just eyeball the amount. Use more or less, according to your taste.
9. Add the whipped cream to the grapes, pineapple and marshmallows then stir gently just to combine.
10. Return the Christmas/Grape Salad to the refrigerator if not quite ready to serve.
11. When time to serve, transfer the Christmas/Grape Salad into a pretty, festive serving bowl. Make sure to include a large serving spoon.

Note: Leftover Grape Salad will be good for a day or two, if it lasts that long. Store any leftovers covered in the refrigerator.