Day One Hundred Three

IT HAPPENED AGAIN.

SERIOUSLY.

I went through the Starbucks drive thru this week, and ended up having the exact same conversation with the exact same barista almost exactly seven years after the last time I had it. That barista has worked the drive thru at that Starbucks for as long as I've lived in Pittsburgh, which I think means she deserves a very big award. She has handed me a lot of cups of happiness by now.

ANYWAY. The repeat of that conversation reminded me that I had posted about it before, and it just so happened to come along with a recipe that is very well times.

It's fate, right? The recipe below is a repost from July 2013.

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I am the very definition of random, so it's not at all surprising that I recently found myself stuck in a Starbucks drive thru talking about picnics. It was a meandering sort of conversation (just like every freakin conversation I have), so it started out making sense, but before long, I was listening to a barista tell me about how she is a terrible cook, so she takes her "signature dish" to every event. Her signature dish happens to be potato salad, which somehow made me think of my mom's so-called signature dish.

Fruit salad.

My mom's thing wasn't exactly THAT, but rather a twitch-inducing simile. Any time we were invited anywhere, she made a fruit salad out of canned mixed fruit, vanilla pudding mix, and rainbow marshmallows.

I won't lie. It was goooooood. It was terrible in most every way, but still so good.

I decided I needed to make a variation of it that involved fresh fruit. I also kicked out the rainbow marshmallows because the green ones are gross and you can't convince me otherwise.

It turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. As an added bonus, it was rather festive when I served it at our 5th of July party this past weekend.

5th of July Fruit Salad

2- 8.5 oz cans sliced pears (You can use the ones packed in juice or syrup. Both work.)
1 pint blueberries, cleaned
1 pound strawberries, cleaned and sliced
1- 3.4 oz. package instant vanilla pudding (or make your own)
1 cup mini marshmallows

1. Dump the pears and their syrup into a large bowl. If you want the pears cut up smaller, go for it.

2. Add the vanilla pudding. Stir until dissolved.

3. Add the blueberries and strawberries. Stir.

4. Throw some marshmallows on top.

5. Put it in the fridge for at least half an hour so that the pudding has a chance to thicken a bit.

6. Prepare to be asked what the white fruit is in that bowl. I guarantee at least one person won't recognize the pears outside of their native surroundings.