Cherry Fluff Salad with Cherry Pie Filling {& a Peek at My Christmas Tree}
Quick and easy Cherry Fluff Salad with Cherry Pie Filling is a beautifully delicious creamy side or dessert salad, fabulous to enjoy on your holiday table or all year-round.
Merry Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas, everyone! I wish you all a wonderful Christmas filled with peace, joy, and happy times with your loved ones.
I decided to share this quick-easy-and-delicious Cherry Fluff Salad with Cherry Pie Filling today ... Christmas Eve day ... because it's color reminds me of the colors on my Christmas tree.
Hey, it's as good a reason as any, right?
While I may be sharing this Cherry Fluff Salad recipe at Christmas time, rest assured it's a great dish year-round!
But while I may be sharing this Cherry Fluff Salad recipe at Christmas time, rest assured Cherry Fluff Salad with Cherry Pie Filling is a great dish year-round!
Since the salad color reminds me of my tree colors, I thought it would be fun to share with you a look at my Christmas tree and some of my favorite ornaments that adorn it.
My tree has a somewhat eclectic Victorian-inspired glass-brass-and-pearls theme, accented with burgundy and pink ... like the burgundy and pink of this tasty Cherry Fluff Salad.
Many of the glass ornaments don't show up well in pictures, so the tree actually has more ornaments than it looks in the photo. The glass ornaments catch the light and sparkle just beautifully live! ... an effect that is lost in photos.
This tree has been decorated little by little over a very long time ...
See, I 'started' my tree way back in high school ... that's when I first started collecting glass and brass Christmas ornaments. And that collection has evolved into this tree, now almost 30 years {yikes!} later.
When my family would travel, I would buy an ornament or two for my collection.
I can still remember where I bought most of the ornaments ... Unpacking the ornaments and decorating the tree each year is like a wonderful trip down memory lane.
Each carefully-packed tissue-wrapped ornament I take out is a little memory-filled surprise that makes me smile as I think about where I was when I bought it ... or who made it for me ... or who gave it to me as a gift.
This tree has been decorated little by little over a very long time ...
See, I 'started' my tree way back in high school ... that's when I first started collecting glass and brass Christmas ornaments. And that collection has evolved into this tree, now almost 30 years {yikes!} later.
When my family would travel, I would buy an ornament or two for my collection.
I can still remember where I bought most of the ornaments ... Unpacking the ornaments and decorating the tree each year is like a wonderful trip down memory lane.
Each carefully-packed tissue-wrapped ornament I take out is a little memory-filled surprise that makes me smile as I think about where I was when I bought it ... or who made it for me ... or who gave it to me as a gift.
The pearl element of the tree came to be while I was in college, when my Mom came up with the idea of pearl swags instead of garland. And I just adore the look of the pearls.
Each carefully-packed tissue-wrapped ornament I take out is a little memory-filled surprise that makes me smile as I think about where I was when I bought it ... or who made it for me ... or who gave it to me as a gift.
One Thanksgiving weekend as our 'Black Friday project' {we don't shop on Black Friday ... we've always done a craft or baking project together instead}, Mom and I made the pearl swags you see on the tree. Mom designed them. And then we made them together.
Those swags are about 25 years old and still going strong! I can't believe it was so many years ago that we created those. Each year I carefully pack them away in a shoe box, gently laying them between layers of paper towels to keep them from getting tangled.
Those swags are about 25 years old and still going strong! I can't believe it was so many years ago that we created those. Each year I carefully pack them away in a shoe box, gently laying them between layers of paper towels to keep them from getting tangled.
My mother-in-law has added to the tree's pearl elements ... with gorgeous beaded Chrismons she meticulously makes by hand.
Chrismons are Christmas decorations and ornaments in the shape of or with Christian symbols on them. I'm fortunate to have a dozen Chrismons from her hand-made collection to grace my tree.
Chrismons are Christmas decorations and ornaments in the shape of or with Christian symbols on them. I'm fortunate to have a dozen Chrismons from her hand-made collection to grace my tree.
Here are a few of my favorite Chrismons:
Epiphany Star {this one is my absolute favorite}:
The Cross of Mary:
Rose:
The Parable of the Mustard Seed:
Aren't those Chrismons just gorgeous?
I can only imagine just how much time, patience, and hard work went into the creation of each one.
I can only imagine just how much time, patience, and hard work went into the creation of each one.
I also love this glass nativity scene. It's so simple and so pretty. This is one of the ornaments that, unfortunately, I can't quite remember it's origin. I'm pretty sure my grandmother gave it to me ... but not 100% positive.
And then there are these adorable wooden sleds.
I have a dozen of these little wooden sleds on my tree. And they hold a very, very special place in my heart.
I have a dozen of these little wooden sleds on my tree. And they hold a very, very special place in my heart.
Because they were hand made by my grandfather. Whom I adored.
For many, many years, my grandmother made and sold dolls ... in fact, she was known in her town as 'The Doll Lady.' She and my grandfather would sell her dolls at craft shows all over our region.
And quite often, I would go with them and help out. I'm sure in my younger years, I was more of a nuisance than I was of help ... but as I got older, I truly enjoyed helping set up gram's booth, talking with customers and helping sell the dolls, collecting money, and totaling up the sales. Gram would even let me sell little items I had made myself.
And quite often, I would go with them and help out. I'm sure in my younger years, I was more of a nuisance than I was of help ... but as I got older, I truly enjoyed helping set up gram's booth, talking with customers and helping sell the dolls, collecting money, and totaling up the sales. Gram would even let me sell little items I had made myself.
My grandfather made wooden doll cribs and mini wooden table and chair sets to sell, too.
And he made these little wooden sled ornaments. By the hundreds. That he sold for $1.00. They were painted bright red with a white cord ribbon for hanging.
I love that these wooden sleds made by my grandfather's hands some 30+ years ago still adorn my tree each and every year.
After my grandfather died of cancer when I was in the 7th grade, I asked if I could have some of the sled ornaments he'd made. They stayed stored away in my cedar chest for years and years ... until my Christmas tree made it's debut in my college dorm room.
My tree was very small then. And it's Victorian glass-brass-and-pearls theme wasn't yet fully developed. But the bright red sleds made by my grandfather's hands were one of the very first ornaments to adorn it.
Mom and I later repainted the sleds to a more burgundy-red color to be more in line with my tree's Victorian color scheme ... and changed the bright white cord hanger to an ivory ribbon.
And I love that these wooden sleds made by my grandfather's hands some 30+ years ago still adorn my tree each and every year. I smile every time I hang them on the tree and every time I look at them on the tree throughout the Christmas season.
And I love that these wooden sleds made by my grandfather's hands some 30+ years ago still adorn my tree each and every year. I smile every time I hang them on the tree and every time I look at them on the tree throughout the Christmas season.
Another of my favorite ornaments with a 'family history' is this pink glass hummingbird.
This ornament was inspired by a very similar hummingbird ornament that was always on my aunt's Christmas tree.
Instead of hanging on the tree like most ornaments, the flower part of the ornament clips onto a tree branch. The hummingbird then extends out on a wire and hovers over the flower, dipping it's beak toward the flower as though about to take a drink of the flower's nectar.
When I would go visit my aunt at Christmas time, I was enthralled with her hummingbird clip ornaments ... she had three or four, if I remember correctly. To me, they were so unique, and I loved how the hummingbird hovered as though in flight.
When I came across one in a small gift shop, I of course had to buy it.
So, with the pink and burgundy hues of my ornaments, can you see why the Cherry Fluff Salad's colors remind me of my Christmas tree?
But unlike my tree, we get to enjoy Cherry Fluff Salad's beauty all year-round.
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for stopping by . We'd love to have you back soon!
Yield: 10-12 servings
Cherry Fluff Salad
Quick and easy Cherry Fluff Salad with Cherry Pie Filling is a beautifully delicious creamy side or dessert salad, fabulous to enjoy on your holiday table or all year-round.
prep time: 10 Mcook time: total time: 10 M
ingredients:
- 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (21 oz.) can cherry pie filling {I use the premium one with extra cherries}
- 1 1/2 c. miniature marshmallows
- 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, well drained
- 1/3 c. chopped pecans {optional}
- 1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip
instructions:
How to cook Cherry Fluff Salad
- Combine sweetened condensed milk, cherry pie filling, marshmallows, pineapple, and pecans; stir until well mixed and uniform in color.
- Add Cool Whip, stirring gently until well mixed.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
TRACEY'S NOTES
- While pecans are optional, we love the flavor combination of the cherries and pecans, and love the little crunch pecans lend to the salad.
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