Last year we celebrated Christmas in July. We enjoyed it so much that we did it again this July. I’ll share a video of some of the festivities later this week.
I expanded our menu from our last event. Instead of only making a pot of oyster stew The Deer Hunter cooked a deer ham and I added some fresh green beans, mashed potatoes, rolls, cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes from the garden, and a big bowl of ambrosia or fruit salad. I also made his favorite Sweet Orange Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread for dessert.
Many folks in the mountains of Appalachian don’t think it would be Christmas without Ambrosia.
Granny always made fruit salad for Christmas dinner. She calls it Heavenly Hash. As I got older I noticed other folks called their fruit salad Ambrosia.
According to John Parris true Ambrosia consists only of fresh coconut, oranges, coconut milk and sherry or rum (optional).
“Ambrosia at Christmas dinner is a long-time tradition with many mountain families. They consider the addition of bananas, pineapples, grapes, apples, and other fruits a heresy. They say such additions make it a fruit salad.”
—Mountain Cooking by John Parris.
The recipe I use came from Miss Cindy and it differs a whole lot from the one shared by John Parris and is different than Granny’s too. I’ve noticed the ingredients in people’s fruit salad or ambrosia varies greatly depending on who’s making it.
- 2 large cans of pineapple chunks
- 1 small can of Mandarin oranges
- 1 pint sour cream
- ¼ of a large bag of shredded coconut
- ⅓ of a bag of mini marshmallows
- a handful of nuts—I like pecans the best
- optional: a few spoonfuls or small jar of maraschino cherries (I never add them)
Drain all the fruit and mix with the rest of the ingredients. It’s better after sitting in the fridge for a while, but I can never wait that long to try it. All the ingredients can be increased or decreased according to taste and the fruit can be switched out to whatever fruit you prefer.
It’s been a while since I made the recipe and The Deer Hunter enjoyed it so much he said it needed to be made throughout the year not just at Christmastime or for our new tradition of Christmas in July.
Last night’s video: Lay By Time in the Garden, Harvesting Garlic, & Surprise Turnips.
Tipper
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I’m not fond of oysters, but I make a mean New England clam chowder; when our parents were alive, daddy got the lobsters ($4.99/lb in NE), and we made the sides; sweet corn, salad, and clam chowder; what a feast; such fond memories; I will see my parents again one day, bet on it.
I forgot to mention oyster stew! A favorite comfort food of mine that I have made every winter since I married! Until the pandemic! I have not been able to find Daufuskie canned oysters anywhere. Mom made it in a boiler with Daufuskie canned oysters, canned milk & butter! I’d add about an entire sleeve of saltine crackers with lots of salt & pepper. Sweet syrupy & dark tea or a Coke on ice was my choice of beverage! I think Daddy added Tabasco sauce to his. No one I know other than my brother, enjoys oyster stew. Definitely not my husband! Thanks for the memories!
Oh my dear! Ambrosia & orange bread! Yes! I grew up with the tradition of enjoying Pillsbury Orange Rolls on Easter & Christmas mornings. Other times too, but especially then. Mom usually prepared hot breakfasts or we kids had cereal or Toast Ems (❓) or Pop Tarts. I carried on the tradition & my 35 year old son carries it on in his family. Father’s Day evening last month he served breakfast for Sunday supper, another family tradition, with ORANGE ROLLS!!! Ambrosia was always served at our large family Christmas celebrations. Miss Cindy’s recipe, with smaller pineapple, sounds just like ours! As one who has a birthday & wedding anniversary, 43 this year, in December, I think Christmas in July sounds holly jolly! Thanks for sharing your family with us!
We called it heavenly hash as well. Very refreshing when served cold on a hot day.
Growing up, “ambrosia” was referred to as Angel Food Salad. Same ingredients, and loved by everyone but me! My mom always made it for family gatherings and holidays.
the sour cream is a nice thought. my family used no dairy in theirs, just the fruits including grapefruit, juice and shredded coconut. it was always too soupy sweet and bland for my taste.
My Mama always made what she called ‘frosted fruit salad’. It had two layers. The bottom consisted of lemon and orange jello, lemon juice, crushed pineapple, bananas, miniature marshmallows and pecans. Then you added a topping by cooking flour, sugar, egg, butter, and pineapple juice till thick. Then she folded in cool whip and spread on bottom layer. She sprinkled the top with coconut. It’s always one of my Dad’s favorite desserts. Yum!
Tipper, how does Granny make her ambrosia?
I forgot to say those surprise Turnips looked beautiful to me and in my mind I could just taste Mother’s stewed Turnips and then Matt had to mention Rutabagas. Oh me, Mother cooked the best in the world:) I’ve been eating tomato sandwiches, tommy toes are coming in like crazy, as are little yellow squash, and cucumbers will be ready to pick by Wednesday. I love my off side patio, planters. It is a delight to my eyes and nourishment to me as I pick its bounty. Hope you all have a great week!!
I also saw the turnips. Have you eaten fried turnips. They are sliced thin ,battered with meal and flour and then fried. Salt and peppered to taste. Really good
Yum, Yum, Ambrosia is delicious! Whew, took me some time to read this as I had my yearly heart dr appt so I jumped back at different times. Then saw your live feed and tried to watch it too. I tried to get in on the comments but I messed up somehow:)
On this video I had to laugh out loud when you asked Matt wasn’t he happy and I could see him saying to himself ??:) Then you said the cooler temps with low humidity. Well, we have the high temps and humidity here in SC PA. Oh my goodness, I think they said heat index can range from feels like 101 today, 105 tomorrow and might be 108 Wednesday. Suppose to cool down after that.
We are having the same weather and temps in SC. As I write this right now it is in the upper 90’s with a feel like temp of 105 but suppose to start cooling off a little bit after Wednesday. I am already counting the days until fall. Now I can’t go in this heat like I once could.
All the fruit salads mentioned can be found in every church cookbook printed in Appalachia. A summertime fruit salad would be refreshing on these hot days but for now I’ve got to get these tomatoes canned! Pray for rain and our country.
Christmas in July is a wonderful idea – celebrating life, family and good eats, as the bounty of gardening starts coming in. Ambrosia is a dessert I remember having often in the warmer months but it was usually made with canned fruit salad mix, with coconut. Sometimes if we had fresh cherries or other fruit from our few fruit trees, or berries, we would add a bit of that.
When I was growing up, Mama always made Ambrosia for Christmas. She only made it that one time of year. Here at home, my family enjoys other types of fruit salads. They are so good especially this time of year when it is so hot. I enjoyed your Christmas in July last year. I think it’s a really sweet tradition you have started. I look forward to seeing this year’s.
My mother made ambrosia and I loved it as a child, but when I make it, I don’t like it. I find it too sweet, too much mayo for my taste and, I guess, not what I remember. I’ve tried other people’s ambrosia as well, and I just seem to have lost my taste for it.
Ambrosia seems an odd recipe for Appalachia because of the tropical fruits. I wonder if its appearance is an outcome of tin cans, trains and mountain resort hotels. That is, preservation plus shipping plus ‘upscale’ menus. If anything to it, that would have been after about 1880 I think. A similar idea might fit oyster stew? Closest we ever came to your recipe when I was growing up was fruit cocktail without trimmings, maraschino cherry garnish on Mom’s special cake and Grandmommie’s pineapple upside down cake specialty. If I ever encountered it at church homecomngs, my memory fails me. I do know I won’t eat it unless I am alone or with somebody.
I have never restricted ambrosia to the holidays. I enjoy all year long
We always got a box of oranges from Florida each Christmas as a gift and my Mother would make ambrosia with coconut and sometimes pineapple ( but that was always canned since fresh not available then.
A funny thing happened this morning. I didn’t get to watch last night’s video until this morning. I was doing laundry as I sat down to watch the video and began hearing a clicking sound somewhere in the house. I paused the video and went to check to see if there was a problem with the washer, the refrigerator, maybe the air conditioner. Couldn’t find anything clicking so I resumed the video. Come to find out the clicking sound was Matt hoeing along the beans as you were talking about the mother beans. It did make me laugh, but I was mostly glad there was nothing going “haywire” with something in the house.
My momma called it Heavenly Hash.
Tipper, your “Christmas in July” celebration sounds lovely. Thank you for sharing it with us.
P.S. My dear mother included ambrosia in her Christmas menu. She made it with commercially canned mixed fruit, small marshmallows, sweetened shredded coconut, and Miracle Whip. As a young child I was required to eat it, but I gagged on every bite. I always left the vile stuff on my plate until everything else had been eaten, then I smeared as much as I could around and around my plate so as to reduce the amount of ‘goo’ I had to swallow. In the many, many years that have passed since I was young my opinion of that celebratory food has not changed.
I make mine like Tipper’s except I use half sour cream and half sweetened whipped cream (or Cool Whip if I am in a hurry). I have to make a batch without the shredded coconut for those who refuse to eat the version with coconut. I have had the classic ambrosia but I like this stuff better. We called it five cup salad and it seems to me that this first appeared in our family holiday dinners in the early 1960s. Before that we had “fruit salad” at Christmas and Thanksgiving the way my grandmothers made it: cut up peeled and seeded oranges with all the section membranes removed (a time consuming and tedious task I do not enjoy), peeled and diced tart apples, diced bananas, and sometimes sweetened shredded coconut – depending on the preferences of the crowd, plus enough orange juice to keep the apples and bananas from turning dark. They never added nuts or marshmallows to this fruit salad. I like both kinds, but it sure is easier to pop open a can of mandarins than to process fresh oranges.
I enjoy a good ambrosia. I agree with the Deer Hunter, it’s good anytime!
In northern Minnesota we enjoy this salad also but much more in the summertime when the weather is warmer! We call it fruit salad! I’m with Matt it’s delicious and should be enjoyed year round! I look so forward to the video this week of “Christmas in July”!
My mother in-law always makes a fruit salad at Christmas and family gatherings, which she called Ambrosia Salad. It’s not like Jim’s recipe or your recipe. Her’s uses lime green jello mix, mini marshmallows, some canned fruit and maybe cool whip, but honestly I’m not sure what else. I tried it, but never cared much for it. Your version and Jim’s versions of the recipe both sound good. I think the only family members that ate my mother in-law’s recipe of the salad was her husband and her younger son. Her sister’s ate it at a family reunion or if they came by for Christmas but that’s all I ever remember seeing eat it, well besides her. It does look pretty, and tasted okay, but just not something that I enjoyed eating. I might try yours or Jim’s version of the recipe one day just to see if my family would like it or maybe at a church gathering so others can try it too. Thank you for sharing yours and Jim’s recipes.
I will pass on this, I am not a fan of most of the ingredients except for the pineapple, pecans and the the maraschino cherries, I will eat the whole jar of them. My wife and now my son makes a simple cherry salad from pineapple, cool whip, pecans and maybe cherry pie filling, that we and other family members like. My Daddy would make a fruit salad from apples, peanuts, oranges, red grapes or raisins and maybe a banana and mix mayonnaise in it. For many years our church gave out bags of fruit at Christmas and he would use whatever was in the bag.
It’s been a long time, but I have made ambrosia/heavenly hash for family dinners around the holidays. My recipe was about like Miss Cindy’s but I got it from my mother who is from eastern Ky. I added the maraschino cherries because I love them and most of the rest of the family liked them too. I also made Watergate Salad. You combined Pistachio Jell-O instant pudding mix, crushed pineapple – in juice. miniature marshmallows, chopped nuts your favorite – I usually use pecans, and Cool Whip. It made a pretty salad at Christmas time.
I enjoyed your video last evening, “Lay By Time in the Garden, Harvesting Garlic, & Surprise Turnips.” As for my garden here in southern Virginia, it is in a sad state. The deer have eaten just about everything except a few tomato plants that my husband covers every night. We have gotten three ripe tomatoes from the plants so far. We do have a lot of concord grapes on the vines. I put paper bags on them, and it seems to keep them from being eaten. I had described this in an earlier posting. I have apples and pears on the trees and so far, they are intact.
Sour cream sounds good. I like the cherries for the color. Homemade marshmallows are superior to what you buy in a plastic bag at the store.
To each his or her own, but sour cream or mayo in fruit salad just doesn’t taste good to me at all! If I was to make this salad I’d have to use whipped cream and I do recall (after reading the comments) how the old gals would put mayo on fruit salad and to me it’s just a sour taste that wrecks sweet fruit. Ambrosia sounds good and it’s fun to say. Christmas in July sounds interesting indeed. I’ve always said REAL Christmas is in the SPRING when new animals and plants burst into life and the crucifixion had to have been in the bitter winter with its desolation and cold. Btw, how does Good Friday and 3 days end up being Easter Sunday? It would be MONDAY to make 3 days or what here???? Lol have a great week and as for me Christmas has become NO FUN and a chore and a tax.
It is calculated by using the Jewish way of reckoning days. For Jews, a day begins at sunset of the previous day – not at midnight, as we reckon the start of a new day. Observant Jews throughout history have observed their Sabbath from sundown on Friday till sundown on Saturday. Jesus died on a Friday. As Jews, Jesus’ followers were anxious to get His body into a tomb by sunset Friday because the Jewish Sabbath started then. So sometime Friday afternoon they hastily put his body into the tomb. That Friday afternoon was reckoned as day 1 in the tomb. Saturday started at sundown and Jesus’ body lay in the tomb all of Saturday – day 2. At sundown Saturday, the Sabbath ended and Sunday began – day 3. The Bible does not tell us what time of day 3 the resurrection occurred, but by the time the women came to the tomb to anoint His body the tomb was empty and Mary Magdalene encountered His glorified, resurrected body.
Imagine a world without clocks or calendars and it’s not hard to understand the Good Friday/Easter conundrum. Imagine a world where the common man only had mornings, evenings, days, seasons and years, no seconds, minutes, hours, weeks or months.
Ambrosia anytime of the year is great by me! My late Mother made it all year round which our family truly enjoyed. She used canned fruit cocktail drained well, mandarin orange drained well, sour cream, marshmallow & coconut. Some extra pineapple and no nuts because of a family members allergies but we loved it just the same. My youngest brother called it Armadillo as a child for some silly reason and the name has stuck all these years. My mom was from Harlan County Ky and said this was a Christmas staple for her family as it was for her family and now has become for mine. I love continuing these recipes as tradition. It kinda makes me feel connected to those before me in a different way.
Have a blessed week from Ohio!!
Sadie, long ago the Jewish method of counting days was not the same as ours is now. Click on this link to learn more: https://answersingenesis.org/jesus/resurrection/three-days-and-nights/ .
Heavenly Hash! I haven’t thought about that since I left home at 17, 60 years ago. My mother never used sour cream, just mayo/Miracle Whip and for sure no coconut because none of us liked it. But there were maraschino cherries in the can of ‘fruit salad’. It’s truly special!
We made something similar, but used pistachio pudding and cool whip. I used grapes and mandarin oranges for sure. It’s been so long ago that I can’t remember what else I added.
I’m sure ya’ll had a great time. Great memories!!
A long time between reading and posting…me and Dr appts we are close. However, on the brighter side, I am alive and kicking. Always prayers for Granny and you guys. God Bless