24, 24 Hour Salad

In my head that sounded just like the Ramones at the beginning of “I Wanna Be Sedated.

You can sing along with me if you’d like.  “24, 24 Hour Salad, I wanna be created…”  I had to change the lyrics because there is nothing sedative about this creamy fruit salad.

It all starts with a cooked dressing. The recipe calls it “Fluffy Date Dressing”  It’s delicious even without the dates.  You may recognize this technique if you’ve ever made hollandaise from scratch.  You use a double boiler to keep the eggs at a constant , lower temperature so they don’t turn into scrambled eggs and just get thick and creamy and velvety.  If you don’t have a double boiler, just nestle a pyrex or metal bowl inside a pan with water in the bottom of the pan.

After you’ve added the lemon juice (I actually ran out of lemon juice and used a mixture of lemon juice and vinegar), salt, and sugar and cook it for a bit, it’ll thicken up and become about the viscosity of pudding before it sets completely.  After you add the whipped cream and dates, you have this amazing fluffy creation that could almost be eaten by itself.  Serving suggestions on the recipe are to put this on some fresh fruit or use it in 24 Hour Salad.  I opted for the latter since I was having company for dinner the next day. 

Cans of pineapple and oranges are available all over, but cans of white cherries are not readily available at every grocery store around here.  I used a can of red cherries instead. 

And that brings me to my gripe of the day.  I am rarely satisfied by the offerings at any one grocery store.  There is one grocery store in this town and it’s alright for meat and coffee and if we are in a hurry, but the produce is never what I want and things tend to be more expensive.  The other grocery stores within a 15 mile radius are all decent for certain things, but not everything that I use and not always at the price point I want.  I don’t have time to run to 4 different stores in my limited amount of time to keep my family fed properly.  So what is a girl to do?  I’m debating whether or not the online shopping solutions are worth it.  I just don’t know that I want anyone else picking out my produce.

Speaking of produce, back to the subject at hand.  Absolutely make this Fluffy Date Dressing.  Use the suggestions of fruit for the 24 Hour Salad, or come up with your own combination.  If you try it, comment and let me know what you think.  I love hearing when other people try out these recipes.

The Recipe:

For other great fruit salad recipes try Cranberry Fluff, Cooked Cranberry Salad, Tropical Fruit Salad, and Rhubarb Salad.

PS:  This is a grandma approved recipe.  That makes it extra good.  

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