If you want a pretty salad for a special occasion, a family reunion, to take to a bereaved family, or to carry to a church supper, Miriam Bobo Templeton of First Baptist in Laurens has the dish for you.
We thank Miriam for sharing Frozen Fruit Salad with us. She says it is one of her prized recipes because everyone likes it, and a couple of people have told her it is the best salad they ever ate. That’s pretty good. Men like it, too, Miriam says.
Miriam grew up in Gray Court, went to Limestone College, taught home economics three years, and on June 19, 1942, married Jack Templeton. The next week, they both joined Laurens First Baptist and were immediately put to work. She has had many responsibilities at the church, including serving as WMU director for many years and on the Laurens Baptist Association Leadership Committee for WMU, as an officer in the senior adult organization, etc. Bev Kennedy is the current pastor.
Miriam Templeton
Miriam and her late husband Jack, former manager of the Laurens Electric Co-op, were blessed with two daughters. Nancy and her husband, Keith Stroble, have one daughter, Kent Stroble Brannon. Nancy and Keith have recently moved to Simpsonville, after living in Florida for a couple of years and in Indiana before that. Miriam and Jack’s daughter Anne and her husband, Richard Poole, have two daughters, Temple Poole Holland and Amanda Poole.
In addition to 32 years of teaching home economics, for about 20 years Miriam has been part of the Martha Franks Singers, a community choral group sponsored by Laurens First Baptist and the Martha Franks Retirement Center. Several years ago, after performing at Boiling Springs Baptist Church in Spartanburg, the group was served a meal, and one of the many delicious dishes was this Frozen Fruit Salad. Miriam thought it was so good that she kept hanging around the buffet table, waiting to talk to the person who came to pick up the serving dish. Miriam has served this dish many times since, and it’s always a favorite.
The recipe can be used as a salad on lettuce or as a dessert. For a salad, she says you could put a little dollop on mayonnaise on top. As a dessert, it would be pretty served on a glass plate with a couple of fresh, fan-sliced strawberries. If frozen in the paper cupcake liners, which she suggests in her notes, it is very pretty with the ruffled edges when turned upside down and the paper removed.
It will keep a long time in the freezer, she says, or as long as “you can keep your hands off it!” Make this salad some time this week, freeze it, then take it from the freezer about 10 minutes before serving it for … Sunday Dinner.
Frozen Fruit Salad
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
¾ cup sugar
1 10-ounce package frozen sliced strawberries and juice
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
½ cup chopped pecans
2 bananas, sliced
1 16-ounce carton dessert topping, thawed
Mix remaining ingredients and fold into cream cheese mixture.
Pour into desired container (such as a glass dish) and freeze, covering with waxed paper topped with aluminum foil.
To serve, cut into squares and serve on lettuce.
Cook’s Note — I made the following adjustments:
— I used 2 of the 10-ounce packages of strawberries.
— I used 3 bananas, cutting the bananas in half lengthwise, then crosswise into little half slices.
— I put the bananas into the drained pineapple juice to keep them from turning dark while working with the other ingredients. Drain the juice before mixing them with the cream cheese mix.
— I increased nuts to 1½ cups.
— I froze the mix in paper cupcake liners set in muffin tins to make individual servings. When frozen, remove from the tins and store in plastic freezer bags. These ingredients fill 36 cupcake liners.