This one is easy. This one is good. This one can be made ahead of time for your Sunday feast.
This one is also an old recipe. There are a lot of things that are old and good: the King James Version of the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, the incandescent light bulb.
This one isn’t quite as old as those. It is shared with us by Carolyn Dellinger of Westminster Baptist Church in Westminster, and in case you were asleep the day your class studied South Carolina geography, the town is in upstate Oconee County. One good sneeze and they would all be in North Georgia.
Carolyn has not been retired for very long from the laundry and dry cleaning business she operated for 22 years in Seneca. Her husband Larry is with Community First Bank in Westminster.
They have been members of Westminster Baptist for 30 years or so. Their pastor is the Rev. Randy Keasler, who has served the church for 15-plus years. Sunday morning worship attendance is around 60-70.
Carolyn is involved in several church groups. She is a member of the choir and helped with the recently completed VBS. Although there are no mission study groups, Carolyn attends the quarterly WMU meeting. She is also part of the Seniors Group. They do a monthly covered dish luncheon. She also enjoys walking for health, but usually does that in early morning before the South Carolina sun is too high.
Carolyn and Larry have two children. Their son Jeff, his wife Kim and their daughter Kylan live in Chesnee. Their son Craig and his wife Candace live in Mt. Pleasant.
People in the Upstate “of a certain age” will recognize the names of Carolyn’s family. Her grandfather was Jim Erskine, longtime sheriff of Anderson County. The Strawberry Salad recipe was given to Carolyn by her mother, Olga Erskine Ivester.
The recipe lists frozen strawberries, but with the fresh strawberries now available she and I think you could slice the fresh berries, add a little sugar, let them rest about an hour, and they would be a good replacement for the frozen ones.
You could, I think, use whipped heavy cream instead of the Cool Whip.
This recipe for Strawberry Salad is pretty, and can be chilled in a mold and unmolded onto a glass plate on the buffet. Carolyn had served it that way, but most often she prepares it in a glass baking dish and cuts it into squares for serving. Do try it this weekend. Carolyn and I both know you will enjoy it for … Sunday Dinner.
Strawberry Salad
2 3-ounce packages strawberry gelatin
2 cups boiling water
2 10-ounce packages frozen strawberries, thawed
1 small carton (8-ounce) dessert topping
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple
2 large or 3 small bananas, mashed
1 cup finely chopped nuts
In bowl, mix the boiling water and strawberry gelatin. Let sit a few minutes, stirring occasionally until gelatin is dissolved. Stir in the thawed strawberries, crushed pineapple (do not drain), bananas and nuts.
Pour half the mix into a glass dish or salad mold. Refrigerate until congealed. Leave the remaining half of strawberry mix at room temperature. When refrigerated half is firm, spread over it 1 cup of the dessert topping, then gently pour the remaining half of the strawberry mix on top of it.
Allow mixture to congeal, then spread with the remaining half of the dessert topping to serve. Serves 6-8.