Ambrosia salad

[jd]

One of the dishes from my childhood is the ambrosia salad: it's a kind of fruit salad very popular in the South. It's great family reunion food, and works well at get-togethers like Thanksgiving. I'm borrowing this recipe from Allrecipes because it's real easy to make and yields a lot:

• 1 (8 ounce) container whipped topping, thawed if necessary
• 2 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 (8 ounce) can fruit cocktail, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
• 3 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

After you've gathered all the ingredients, combine them all in a large bowl (We had to use a four-liter bowl). Mix together well and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Note: You can also substitute fresh fruit for canned, and if you don't drain the cherries, the red syrup adds color and flavor. Colored marshmallows can add some visual impact. Also, the fruits can be pretty flexible, so try mixing it up a bit with your favorites. We used fresh Asian pears instead of fruit cocktail and fresh tangerines instead of canned (and left out the walnuts entirely).