Wednesdays with Granny

Nope, it's not another online baking group I've joined. It's just a little post about my my wonderful Granny, who passed away almost 10 years ago. Granny was (and still is) just about my favorite person in the world...she was definitely my mentor, and I miss her every day. She and I were inseparable! From the time I can remember until I was well into my teens, I spent every Saturday night with Granny and Grandydaddy, and she watched me on Tuesdays and Thursdays while my Mom and Dad worked. She and my grandfather ran a tiny little grocery store in Sulphur. I have so many fond memories of times spent with her, but cooking was not one of them! Granny didn't really cook, but man, she made good tacos! My mom and aunt always said that Granny's recipes looked like this:

Step 1: Open can with can opener.

Step 2: Place contents into saucepan and place on burner.

Step 3: Turn burner on HIGH.

Step 4: Boil, boil, boil!

Despite this fact, she cooked Sunday dinner for our whole family after church every single Sunday. Those were some of my favorite times. She also made mean roast beef. YUM! So, while Granny was a lot of things, she wasn't a fantastic cook. But there were a couple of things she made that we all loved, and this post is about one of them: Apricot Salad. My nearly 30 year old brain can get a little fuzzy at times, but I'm pretty sure that we had apricot salad with just about every holiday meal. This past Easter, I knew that I had to include apricot salad as part of my contribution to my husband's family's Easter dinner. They didn't know how much having that apricot salad meant to me, but every bite I ate reminded my of Granny and all those special times we had together! It's so simple to make, and so good! (And it requires boiling a liquid on HIGH!)

Granny's Apricot Salad

2 boxes apricot Jell-O

1 large can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup celery, finely chopped

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1 container Cool-Whip (not the really big one)

Mix the apricot Jell-O and the crushed pineapple together in a medium saucepan. Bring contents to a boil. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. In a mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, celery, nuts, and Jell-O/pineapple mixture. Fold in the carton of Cool-Whip. Pour into a 9x13-inch pan, chill, and enjoy!