Helen's Fruit Salad

Hi All....sorry it took so long to make my first post. I have lupus, which comes and goes. On my good days, I will be here as often as possible. Anyway, this is a recipe from my mother-in-law, an amazing cook. She is now disabled, so I like keep alive her great love of cooking by passing along her recipes. This is her exact recipe, but you can easily adjust it to fit what you have in your pantry. And although her recipe calls for bananas, I don't always use them as they tend to brown quickly. Also, this is the recipe that my friend brought to a large party. There was a caterer there and she now uses this recipe for her parties. Pretty cool, huh? Well...here goes...my first post...be kind....lol...

• Ready In: 15 mins
• Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen strawberries, with juice,thawed
• 1 (29 ounce) can  fruit cocktail-juice
• 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice
• 1 (10 ounce) bottle maraschino cherries, without juice
• 1 (11 -22 ounce) can mandarin oranges, without juice
• 2 -4  bananas, sliced
• 1  stalk celery, diced
• 1 (6 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding

Directions

1. Mix all the fruit, fruit juices and celery in large bowl.
2. Sprinkle the box of dry pudding mix over everything.
3. Stir together.
4. Refrigerate about an hour before serving.
5. The pudding will thicken with the fruit juices-- and the celery adds a little crunch!
6. Yummy!