Family Favorites - 24 Hour Salad

24 Hour Salad is the perfect dish for entertaining – you must make it a day ahead, it’s pretty, and everyone loves it. I often double this recipe to “tote”; I always bring home an empty dish.  It's perfect for holiday meals like Easter.
This is my version of 24 hour salad. I use more commonly found canned fruit and more variety than the old original recipe; you can use pears instead of apricots. Myrna’s daughter, Amy, says “You have to put this recipe on the blog”.
It isn’t 24 hour salad without making the custard part. If you don’t have a double boiler, make it in a saucepan over low heat and push it through a mesh strainer before using or make it in a metal bowl on top of a pan with hot water. Make sure the water doesn’t touch the top pan or bowl.
Save your drained fruit juices and add it to a Jello salad. This recipe is one of the few that I actually use Cool Whip in; it holds up better than whipped cream.
24 Hour Salad
8 servings
1 cup pineapple chunks in juice – drain and save syrup
1 cup apricots, canned – drained and diced (from 15 ounce can)
½ cup mandarin orange - drained (from 11 ounce can)
1 cup canned peaches – drained and diced (from 15 ounce can)
1 banana -- sliced
1 cup miniature marshmallow or cut-up regular ones
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 large egg yolks -- beaten
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon butter
1 cup Cool Whip, thawed or whipped cream
• Drain fruit well, reserve 1 tbsp. pineapple juice.
• In double boiler, add pineapple juice to egg yolks, sugar, vinegar, salt and butter. Cook over HOT, (not boiling) water until slightly thickened, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Cool to room temperature (put cold water in bottom of double boiler and set top pan in it to cool quickly).
• Combine with well-drained fruit, marshmallows and topping. Pour into serving bowl, cover and chill 24 hours.
• Add banana just before serving; slice the banana into lemon juice or orange juice, drain before adding to the salad.
• Add or garnish with Maraschino cherries, if desired.
• Save the fruit juices for adding to Jello, puddings, cakes or desserts, or dilute with lemon-flavored carbonated beverage and serve as punch.
May 2010 cost: 28¢ per serving or $2.12 for the recipe without cherries
Per Serving: 104 Calories; 2g Fat (13.5% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 23g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 54mg Cholesterol; 78mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Lean Meat; 1 Fruit; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.