Last Minute Fruit Salad

I had to come up with a last minute salad for a church function and had no time to get to the store to buy ingredients. Luckily, I had lots of fruit in the house and came up with this quick yet colorful and tasty salad. I feel almost silly sharing it, as it is really very easy, but I did get a recipe request and left with a nearly empty bowl. Cook time is actually chilling time.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

• 3 -4  cups  whole fresh strawberries, rinsed,dried,stems removed
• 4  kiwi fruits, unpeeled
• 2 (10 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained but reserve a few spoonfuls of juice
• 1 (15 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained but reserve a few spoonfuls of juice
• 1 (10 ounce) jar red maraschino cherries, drained,stemmed & de-pitted
• 2  teaspoons granulated sugar

Directions

1. If you have an egg slicer,us this to slice your berries thinly, otherwise, use a knife to slice into very thin slices.
2. Wash kiwfruit and pat dry.
3. Using a very sharp knife, slice kiwi thinly- leaving the skin ON.
4. Lay each slice of kiwi flat and use the knife point to cut a slit in the ring of skin left on each slice.
5. The remaining skin should easily peel off (if it is stubborn, just trace along the outer edge of the slice with your knife)- you'll end up with nice even slices of kiwi.
6. In a large decorative serving bowl,gently combine berries, kiwi slices, mandarin oranges, and pineapple chunks- don't stir too hard or you'll crush the fruit.
7. Chop cherries and add to the bowl.
8. Add just a couple of Tablespoons of each of the the reserved fruit canning juices to taste- not too much, just enough to moisten.
9. Add the sugar and gently stir to combine.
10. Cover& Chill at least 30 minutes.
11. Can be made up to 3 hours in advance- but don't make too early or the fruit will get soggy.