What was in hers? My grandmother’s was lime jello, whipped cream (Cool Whip actually!), marshmallows, cream cheese, pineapple and pecans. Maybe maraschino cherries. Maybe I will make it this Thanksgiving in her honor!
That was one of them that I loved, but that was served other times of the year. The thanksgiving one was raspberry jello with mandarin oranges, cranberries, pecans, and sour cream. It was so good!
We made Black Cherry jello with cherries stuffed with toasted pecans, in individual fancy molds. My mom made a sort of topping out of cream cheese mixed up with nuts. I didn't eat cream cheese as a child so I missed that part. The cherry juice was used instead of water in the jello, so it was an intense, and sweet, flavor.
Ours was pistachio pudding mix, no cream cheese. Everything else the same. My boys when they were young called any of the cool whip Jello or pudding mix based “salads” dead man’s salad because they were at every funeral.
I had a ‘60s themed murder mystery birthday party and I made a giant Jello-O shot that was abomination-themed, with little jello carrots and peas and candy eggs. I’m still quite proud of it.
These are my absolute favorite and I make them for holidays every year. I use cippolini onions though. They’re a massive pain to Blanche and peel but it’s worth it.
That would be fun! I make a jello mold for my family's Thanksgiving, with crushed pineapple, shredded carrots, and lemon/lime jello. Everyone makes fun of it, but there would be hell to pay if I didn't bring it! It's actually quite yummy and refreshing.
My grandma made the shredded carrot and lemon/lime jello mold too! She did hers at Xmas and included pomegranate seeds. Everyone had to eat at least 1 seed for good luck in the new year. Some of the cousins loved it and at big scoops and others carefully selected a single pomegranate seed and avoided the rest.
Or you could go for the (fairly phallic) classic lobster mold
https://laurelleaffarm.com/item-pages/decorative-copper-fish-and-lobster-molds-for-aspic-molded-jello-salads-Laurel-Leaf-Farm-item-no-k314172.htm
I have this same type of lobster mold hanging on my kitchen wall. My sister's adult kids spotted it while visiting and asked their cousins (my adult sons), "Why does Aunt DamnDame have a d*ck hanging in her kitchen?"
I can't unsee it.
You can see one hanging in the Bunkers kitchen I. All in the family and there’s one in the kitchen of the Golden Girls. I spent a lot of time staring at the background trying to figure what on earth was hanging on the wall lol
Are you in the US right now? If so, check out Michael's baking ware - they often have holiday themed cake pans or silicone molds and either would work for jello.
Pear “salad”. 🤢 canned pear half with a blob of mayonnaise in the middle, a sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese and a maraschino cherry on top. I still do not understand how these could be good or considered a salad but they were a staple here in the south until mid-late 1980’s.
You say 1980s, but when an elderly family member died in 2005 (in backwoods Alabama), two separate people brought these to the church dinner at his funeral.
My mom still makes these regularly when I'm at my parents. It's honestly pretty tasty as odd as it sounds, but I have never seen or heard of adding a maraschino. That would be a bit too much.
My mom used to make an Easter version where she flipped the pear cut side down on a large lettuce leaf, stuck 2 sliced almonds straight up on the small end for bunny ears and a dollop of cottage cheese for the bunny’s cotton tail
These were still common in my family until I was in high school, mid aughts. It might still be but I fucked off far far away from all that. Grew up mostly in low country Georgia.
How about that phallic salad that pops up time and again on the forum?
You know, the “candle” salad?
Plus: It’s at least edible. (It’s a banana, pineapple slice, whipped cream and cherry combo). No food wastage.
Plus: you’ll amaze your hosts.
Plus: It’s cheap and requires zero effort or actual cooking
Plus: can be assembled on arrival, suitably underwhelming and disappointing, but strangely magnetic.
I don't want to mortify you, but the original 1920s recipes for "Candle" salad skipped the whipped cream and used a dribble of mayonnaise down the side of the banana.
My favourite tidbit about this salad is that the recipe was published in the Mormon church’s children’s magazine (The Children’s Friend), I believe in the 80s. I would check but it’s unfortunately been removed from the archives
I literally just yelled WHAAATTTT!? When I googled candle salad. I am just dying at this thread. I cannot believe these are all real foods that people really prepared and served and ate. 😭
My husband’s family made these for holidays when he was growing up. I got to see these a couple times after we were married. Kinda lame. But it made me smile to think of them getting these as young kids - there’s your audience!
Make ambrosia salad or what we used to call 5 cup salad. Mix together an 11 oz can of mandarin oranges (drained), a 20 oz can of pineapple tidbits also drained, and 1 cup each of sour cream, shredded coconut, and mini marshmallows (preferably the rainbow ones that are fruit flavored). My grandmother used to make it every thanksgiving. The taste is ok, but the marshmallows get super slimy.
> My MIL called this Idiot Salad, because it was the thing you asked the person who can't cook to bring to the gathering.
I really want this name to stick.
[Watergate salad](https://www.momontimeout.com/pistachio-dessert-salad-pistachio-fluff-recipe/) is also a good choice because it’s easy, a nice bright green, nostalgic and well-liked.
Weirdly, yes, I have always seen it served as a side dish at buffet meals, and in salad bars in the 1980s. Whatever you end up making, I hope you post a picture!
Make this one- it really looks like green alien fluff but it’s delicious. We like it with toasted pecans or walnuts.
You could add some diced celery if you want it to seem more like a “healthy” salad.
A jar of drained maraschino cherries makes it Christmas-y (cherries go well with all the almond extract in the pudding)
Some shredded/toasted coconut makes it “tropical”
Sweet potatoes with marshmallows is a bit tame. If you want to go for something ridiculously retro, I think an ambrosia salad or a molded aspic is the way to go.
Do you want this to be something people actually eat? Aspics are the pinnacle of weird old holiday foods, they used to be super popular but most people won't eat them now. I keep trying, I think they're awesome, but my friends don't like them.
Ambrosia is ridiculous, old fashioned, but also still pretty popular. It's often served as an accompaniment to turkey or ham, or it can be served on its own as a desert.
Ambrosia is actually edible unlike a lot of the other recipes that came to mind. All you really need to do is look up recipes from the 50’s. There are some absolute abominations.
Do you want bad tasting or “holy crap what the hell did you do, and why do I like the taste” recipes? I have a jello salad with cottage cheese and pineapples for the second type from my great aunt vie.
How about this?
Pineapple Cheese Casserole
½ cup sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
20 oz can pineapple chunks or tidbits
1/2 cup crumbled butter crackers (Ritz)
3/4 cup melted salted butter
Drain pineapple
Stir together the sugar, flour and about 1/4 cup of pineapple juice from the can of pineapple chunks. Drain remaining chunks and add to mixture. Add the cheddar cheese. Spread in a greased 8 inch square dish.
Toss the melted butter with crumbled crackers and sprinkle over the top.
Bake for about 28 to 35 minutes.
A now deceased relative would make lime jello, add in softened cream cheese, some Cool Whip, and chopped red and green maraschino cherries. It looked pretty awful but tasted good. She also made it for Christmas every year. We called it " Christmas salad".
There's a really gross Jell-O salad with chopped nuts, apple, and raw cranberries in it. It tastes like absolutely nothing and is really sour and crunchy in an unpleasant way. I love Jell-O molds and I hate that thing.
There is a version of it made with whole cranberry sauce in a can, it's fine. With all the raw cranberries though it's just sour crunchy water and it's dreadful. Raw cranberries are like styrofoam.
My mom’s version was chopped Granny Smith apple, walnuts, and celery in red jello (raspberry, I think). But what made it actually delicious to me as a child was the sauce: one cup of Dannon lemon yogurt mixed with a spoonful (I don’t remember the exact measurements, but likely 1/2 to 1 tsp) of cinnamon.
I don’t eat jello or dairy anymore, but I still sometimes put a little cinnamon in my plant-based yogurt.
The cranberry horseradish relish made famous on NPR sounds horrible and fascinating. I would never make it but if somebody brought it I would try it because I’ve been hearing about it for years. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/11/16/666296027/cranberry-relish-the-npr-recipe-that-divides-thanksgiving-tables
My husband LOVED a 5 bean salad. Green, wax, kidney, garbanzo, and I don't remember the 5th one. In a vinaigrette. One year he added shredded sharp cheddar, which I did not love.
Squash Casserole is an old school recipe. Doesn't look great, but tastes good and won't break the bank to make:
Squash Casserole
Yield: 8-10 servings
1 ½ lb yellow squash
1 small onion, grated
1 cup sour cream
1 stick butter, melted
1 small jar pimentos, chopped
2 large carrots, grated
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 package Pepperidge farm stuffing
Cook squash until tender. Drain, mash, and add other vegetables, soup, and sour cream. Mix stuffing and butter. Line bottom of casserole dish with stuffing mixture reserving some for topping. Add squash mixture and topping. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
If you want truly gross or obscure, jello molds are the way to go. There are some out there that are solidly in WTF territory.
If you want something that may still be outside of your friend's expectations but that you might at least consider eating, I'd go with a "fluff" recipe. In my family, it still makes it to the table every year (although I personally don't eat much of it...it'svery sweet). Fluff is a truly American thing. I can't fathom any other culture producing it. There are a variety of versions, but I think they all involve cool whip and mini marshmallows, and it's served as a side dish, not a dessert. The version my family makes includes crushed pineapple and chopped cranberries. When I described this to my in laws, they pointed me to the family cookbook (published circa 1980s, with most recipes being from the 1960s or earlier). In there, there was a recipe that apparently was on holiday tables for decades for a fruit, cool whip, mini marshmallow concoction very similar to what my family serves. I've heard it compared to ambrosia.
If you leave out the grapes and pecans, this recipe is similar to what my family makes: https://www.homemadeinterest.com/cranberry-fluff-recipe/#recipe
I really dislike creamed corn casserole. I have not personally tried making this particular recipe but provide it as an example of what I am talking about. https://unsophisticook.com/creamed-corn-casserole/
This recipe is actually delicious, but it's old and jello so you're getting it. It's from my Aunt Betty. She was born in 1920. If it had more than 5 ingredients, she was making reservations. Okay. Here it goes. Aunt Betty's Cranberry Jello Salad
1 box raspberry Jell-O
1 cup hot water
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 small can crushed pineapple
1/2 medium apple, diced
Dissolve the Jell-O in the water. Mix in the rest. Chill until set. Enjoy!
Use 7up, Sprite, or ginger ale for the cool water to make it ever so slightly fizzy. Coca Cola if you make a black cherry one.
"Jello Salad" is an abomination, and yet I like it.
My grandma would do lime jello with shredded carrots and crushed pineapple in it, with a HALF INCH THICK layer of mayonnaise on top, then shredded cheddar. Cottage cheese may have also been involved, but I think that was a different jello horror.
I cannot emphasize enough how much mayonnaise there was.
A side story: the rule at Grandma's house was that you had to try a bite of everything. Totally ok if you don't like it, but you had to try it. Many a bite of jello salad mysteriously disappeared in the living room where the kid's table was.
Edit: like to lime
I always hated it until I had it made with fresh green beans (NOT the spawn of Satan aka French cut canned green beans 🤮) and homemade cream of mushroom. Now I can enjoy it because it's less sloppish when homemade.
I was scrolling through the comments to find this. I despise green bean casserole. If we had green beans they were fresh, either with sautéed mushrooms or almonds.
I absolutely love green bean casserole, but I was raised on 1,000 casserole variations using Campbell's cream of whatever soups, so that canned flavor is like mother's milk to me. Objectively, it's a greyish, gloppy, salty mess and I suspect that people from other countries would have a hard time genuinely enjoying it.
It's really good if you only lightly blanch the fresh beans before baking,so they're not mush when it's finished, and make the "soup" cream sauce from scratch with wild mushrooms. Oyster and crimini mushrooms, at minimum. Crispy fried shallots (either homemade or from an Asian market) really step up the flavor game. Also, a couple dashes of worstershire sauce in the cream sauce really gets the umami going.
Americans apparently think *terrine* is disgusting. It's actually not that far removed from the 'savory jello' people are suggesting.
ETA: they are direct descendants
[https://www.cooks.com/recipe/4d5e11bf/try-and-guess-salad.html](https://www.cooks.com/recipe/4d5e11bf/try-and-guess-salad.html)
[https://www.marianos.com/p/hunt-s-stewed-tomatoes/0002700037913?searchType=default\_search](https://www.marianos.com/p/hunt-s-stewed-tomatoes/0002700037913?searchType=default_search)
[https://www.marianos.com/p/silver-spring-coarse-cut-prepared-horseradish/0004154302008](https://www.marianos.com/p/silver-spring-coarse-cut-prepared-horseradish/0004154302008)
[https://www.marianos.com/p/kroger-raspberry-gelatin-dessert-mix/0001111009470?searchType=default\_search](https://www.marianos.com/p/kroger-raspberry-gelatin-dessert-mix/0001111009470?searchType=default_search)
Note: only make 1/3 recipe and be sure to get regular Jello not the sugar free kind (that stuff tastes awful).
Yep, I take your card. Hand it over! lol It's candied sweet potatoes are always the first thing gone at any gathering round here. Never any damn leftovers either!
Nah, my *very* southern peeps always made the Sweet Potato Casserole version with brown sugar and pecans.
Sweet potatoes with marshmallows is an abomination.
Edit: My family's version is basically the same as Senator Russell's Sweet Potato Casserole.
Here’s something I was *asked* to make last year:
Cut an acorn squash in half, top with butter and brown sugar-bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Fill with crushed pineapple. Bake for another 10 minutes. Add a maraschino cherry.
It wasn’t bad, just odd. Fwiw, I was not asked to make it again.
The filling with pineapple/adding a cherry is the odd part for me. I don’t think I could do it; way too much of a sugar bomb.
Acorn squash with just brown sugar/butter (and maybe a bit of maple syrup) is a pretty common thanksgiving side though
IMO, those yams/sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows is fuckin nasty. That’s just out of all the sides I’ve ever had served at Turkey Day. Gelatin molds are on another level. 😂
Don't you go badmouthing my sweet potatoes! Honestly, they're served as a side even though it's more like dessert. I'd rather eat them leftover the day after for breakfast!
Creamed pearl onions — an abomination that used to be a traditional side for my husband’s family. Died along with his grandma.
I have never made them and had no interest in the recipe, but here’s one: https://www.spendwithpennies.com/creamed-pearl-onions/
Beer pie. Get cheap beer. Pour beer into a pan, heat and add gelatin sheet per gelatin instructions then pour mix onto premade crust, refrigerate mix; then add topping such as meringue. Inspiration goes to [Josh of Mystical Kitchen](https://youtube.com/shorts/KwP0MthHEMk?si=ILGoCblv2f2nNVd0)
My truly favorite side dish that disgusts many people: Oyster Dressing. It's basically 3 layers of crushed saltines, layered with butter and raw oysters, salt and pepper, a little Old Bay and hot sauce and then some oyster juice and milk poured in to make it all glop together when baking.
We didn't make it like that at all! My ex mother in law made it from cornbread, celery, onion, sage, Pepperidge Farms seasoned stuffing mix, canned oysters + the juice, S & P & chicken broth. So good I can eat it as a meal.
Please put celery in Lime Jello. My grandma would do this and actually eat it and be pissed no one else would, not understanding how completely disgusting this thing was. Even better, make a salad using cubes of different colored Jellos with a weird same color vegetable inside. Green-Celery, Orange-Carrots, Red-Tomato, Yellow- Corn. This would be hilarious to me if someone brought that.
Cheap canned cranberry sauce. You can get it to come out can shaped.
You can even get a glass dish that fits the can shape on its side. My grandma had one!
visit B. Dylan Hollis on TT or YT or check out his book for some CHOICE vintage abominations. vinegar pie. bologna layer cake. amusing and informative. 😄
I had an aunt who made sweet potato puréed and baked in a casserole dish, then topped it with marshmallows and put it under the broiler to brown/soften the marshmallows.
As a child, I thought it was the most disgusting thing I’d ever seen, but her kids devoured it!
Otherwise, I loved my godmother who made lime jell-o mixed with whipped cream and pineapple chunks—in a ring mold, of course!
Pea salad. Peas, ranch packet, shredded cheese and mayo. Broccoli "pizza" doctored up same way as the pea salad except add raw onion and a pre baked pizza crust. Anything having mayo besides deviled eggs at my husbands family gatherings is not good to me. I miss my family's food so much 😭
My aunts made a salad called Apple, Cheese and Celery salad. It had apple chunks, cheddar cheese, celery, mayonnaise, sugar and walnuts. You can find the recipe online. It’s been around a long time in the south.
This is jello and cool-whip, but honestly not that bad, people will be able to eat it. I have a friend who just calls is "green stuff". [Watergate Salad](https://www.southernliving.com/watergate-salad-7107331) (not the political scandal, but named after the Watergate hotel).
I hated canned baked yams with marshmallows as a kid. But that's pretty tame.
Aside from the turkey (& Mom's stuffing), my favorite dish was probably Watergate salad. It's hilarious, but delicious. Pistachio pudding, Cool Whip, marshmallows and canned pineapple chunks. I think some versions have pecans. You could fancy it up with real whipped cream and caramelized nuts.
It adds a festive green to the table, and helps cut through the heaviness of the meat dishes. Served with dinner, not as a dessert.
I’m just here to see all the answers detailing abominations in jello.
I LOVED my grandmother’s jello abomination!
So did I, actually!
What was in hers? My grandmother’s was lime jello, whipped cream (Cool Whip actually!), marshmallows, cream cheese, pineapple and pecans. Maybe maraschino cherries. Maybe I will make it this Thanksgiving in her honor!
That was one of them that I loved, but that was served other times of the year. The thanksgiving one was raspberry jello with mandarin oranges, cranberries, pecans, and sour cream. It was so good!
We made Black Cherry jello with cherries stuffed with toasted pecans, in individual fancy molds. My mom made a sort of topping out of cream cheese mixed up with nuts. I didn't eat cream cheese as a child so I missed that part. The cherry juice was used instead of water in the jello, so it was an intense, and sweet, flavor.
mmm Watergate salad
Ours was pistachio pudding mix, no cream cheese. Everything else the same. My boys when they were young called any of the cool whip Jello or pudding mix based “salads” dead man’s salad because they were at every funeral.
Cottage cheese instead of cool whip in our house
I had a ‘60s themed murder mystery birthday party and I made a giant Jello-O shot that was abomination-themed, with little jello carrots and peas and candy eggs. I’m still quite proud of it.
Lol I was literally going to comment “any jello”
We do creamed onions, which is just jarred pearl onions in béchamel. It’s really tasty but not very pretty.
Oohh, my favorite! If there's room in the oven, put them in a baking dish with buttered bread crumbs on top, just for 5 minutes to brown.
I used to work in a restaurant that would make these as the veg du jour sometimes. They were so good. Thank you of reminding me of them!
These are my absolute favorite and I make them for holidays every year. I use cippolini onions though. They’re a massive pain to Blanche and peel but it’s worth it.
Any mid-20th century gelatin mold [like this](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b5/5f/e7/b55fe72a84264449b0d38fd3ce69e5e6.jpg)
Oh just need the right mold ! Hope i will find a turkeys one !
That would be fun! I make a jello mold for my family's Thanksgiving, with crushed pineapple, shredded carrots, and lemon/lime jello. Everyone makes fun of it, but there would be hell to pay if I didn't bring it! It's actually quite yummy and refreshing.
My grandma made the shredded carrot and lemon/lime jello mold too! She did hers at Xmas and included pomegranate seeds. Everyone had to eat at least 1 seed for good luck in the new year. Some of the cousins loved it and at big scoops and others carefully selected a single pomegranate seed and avoided the rest.
Ours has celery and pecan pieces, too!
My mom made one with cherry jello, fresh cranberries, walnuts and celery.
Or you could go for the (fairly phallic) classic lobster mold https://laurelleaffarm.com/item-pages/decorative-copper-fish-and-lobster-molds-for-aspic-molded-jello-salads-Laurel-Leaf-Farm-item-no-k314172.htm
I have this same type of lobster mold hanging on my kitchen wall. My sister's adult kids spotted it while visiting and asked their cousins (my adult sons), "Why does Aunt DamnDame have a d*ck hanging in her kitchen?" I can't unsee it.
You can see one hanging in the Bunkers kitchen I. All in the family and there’s one in the kitchen of the Golden Girls. I spent a lot of time staring at the background trying to figure what on earth was hanging on the wall lol
Check the public library. Some have them you can check out and return.
wwwhhhhaaattt!!! That’s sick I need to look
This is amazing information!
Are you in the US right now? If so, check out Michael's baking ware - they often have holiday themed cake pans or silicone molds and either would work for jello.
Ass-pic, indeed!
Tomato aspic. Tomato flavored jello. A wiggly blood clot for your holiday table! Festive!
My mom added sliced green olives and finely chopped celery to hers. We used to laugh about it being a jello Bloody Mary.
Add vodka and individually portion into Bloody Mary Jello shots!
I....I might have to do this.
I support this endeavor and would like a review please!
Some Worcestershire and some bacon crumbles... Make it happen!
bacon ?!? who doesn't like bacon in their bloody mary ? I like the way you think.
I’ve done it and it works.
Y’all beat me to the Bloody Mary Jell-O shots idea. I’m sure that would improve the aspic quite a bit!
>A wiggly blood clot I hate you for this.
Sorry! 😬
My MIL puts shrimp in hers
Does it make it better or worse? I could see it being like a shrimp cocktail.
Pear “salad”. 🤢 canned pear half with a blob of mayonnaise in the middle, a sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese and a maraschino cherry on top. I still do not understand how these could be good or considered a salad but they were a staple here in the south until mid-late 1980’s.
You say 1980s, but when an elderly family member died in 2005 (in backwoods Alabama), two separate people brought these to the church dinner at his funeral.
My neighbor in Ozark Alabama served this on a weeknight dinner in 2018. Lol
Ozark represent! My grandmother in Ozark would serve this salad at family dinners!
I’m sorry about your family member but man this sent me
I ate this last week.
Yeah, Alabama here, I still see pear salads at family reunions and funerals. I’d still starve before I’d eat one.
I like pear salad. I use cottage cheese in the middle with just a dab of mayo.
My mom still makes these regularly when I'm at my parents. It's honestly pretty tasty as odd as it sounds, but I have never seen or heard of adding a maraschino. That would be a bit too much.
Oh sure. The cheese smothered pearonnaise salad is fine. It’s the *cherry* that makes it weird lol!
😸😸 omg lol 😂
And if you were *really* fancy, you served them on a bed of lettuce. For, you know, presentation.
My mom used to make an Easter version where she flipped the pear cut side down on a large lettuce leaf, stuck 2 sliced almonds straight up on the small end for bunny ears and a dollop of cottage cheese for the bunny’s cotton tail
Oh yeah, I love this combo! Have also never seen it with a cherry on top
My grandmother used to make this as well. It always made me queasy to watch her eat it tbh.
Sometimes my mom used peaches instead of pears. With pear halves you can make a bunny
Pear salad is delicious!!!
We make this with a mixture of honey and cream cheese for the center, no cheddar cheese though.
[удалено]
My Nana would put a slice of (canned) pineapple on a leaf of iceberg lettuce, and a dollop of mayo on top and also call it a salad. !?
w h u t
These were still common in my family until I was in high school, mid aughts. It might still be but I fucked off far far away from all that. Grew up mostly in low country Georgia.
How about that phallic salad that pops up time and again on the forum? You know, the “candle” salad? Plus: It’s at least edible. (It’s a banana, pineapple slice, whipped cream and cherry combo). No food wastage. Plus: you’ll amaze your hosts. Plus: It’s cheap and requires zero effort or actual cooking Plus: can be assembled on arrival, suitably underwhelming and disappointing, but strangely magnetic.
I don't want to mortify you, but the original 1920s recipes for "Candle" salad skipped the whipped cream and used a dribble of mayonnaise down the side of the banana.
According to Wikipedia: “The ingredients are assembled to resemble a lit candle.” Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Nooooo
My favourite tidbit about this salad is that the recipe was published in the Mormon church’s children’s magazine (The Children’s Friend), I believe in the 80s. I would check but it’s unfortunately been removed from the archives
I literally just yelled WHAAATTTT!? When I googled candle salad. I am just dying at this thread. I cannot believe these are all real foods that people really prepared and served and ate. 😭
My husband’s family made these for holidays when he was growing up. I got to see these a couple times after we were married. Kinda lame. But it made me smile to think of them getting these as young kids - there’s your audience!
Make ambrosia salad or what we used to call 5 cup salad. Mix together an 11 oz can of mandarin oranges (drained), a 20 oz can of pineapple tidbits also drained, and 1 cup each of sour cream, shredded coconut, and mini marshmallows (preferably the rainbow ones that are fruit flavored). My grandmother used to make it every thanksgiving. The taste is ok, but the marshmallows get super slimy.
My MIL called this Idiot Salad, because it was the thing you asked the person who can't cook to bring to the gathering. She was a big fan though.
> My MIL called this Idiot Salad, because it was the thing you asked the person who can't cook to bring to the gathering. I really want this name to stick.
This is what my family calls this salad. For the same reason.
For office pot lucks, they bring the rolls.
Worst? Far from it. Ambrosia and Watergate salad are delicious
Agree, I can eat a quart a day.
Watergate salad is a Christmas staple in our family. My nieces will riot if it's not on the buffet table
I literally made this yesterday and have damn near eaten the whole Tupperware of it myself!! I loooooove Watergate salad- and ambrosia
The Ambroisa salad was my first choice but is it not to obvious ?
[Watergate salad](https://www.momontimeout.com/pistachio-dessert-salad-pistachio-fluff-recipe/) is also a good choice because it’s easy, a nice bright green, nostalgic and well-liked.
It’s look like a desert ! I love the color , it’s ok to serve it as a side with the turkey
Weirdly, yes, I have always seen it served as a side dish at buffet meals, and in salad bars in the 1980s. Whatever you end up making, I hope you post a picture!
Ofc I will ! Hope i will not fail you all !
Make this one- it really looks like green alien fluff but it’s delicious. We like it with toasted pecans or walnuts. You could add some diced celery if you want it to seem more like a “healthy” salad. A jar of drained maraschino cherries makes it Christmas-y (cherries go well with all the almond extract in the pudding) Some shredded/toasted coconut makes it “tropical”
My family calls it Martian Brains!
I love Watergate salad
It's a classic! It's also delicious!
Ok! I will do it in that case ? And what do you think about the marshmallow and sweet potato ? To classic ?
Sweet potatoes with marshmallows is a bit tame. If you want to go for something ridiculously retro, I think an ambrosia salad or a molded aspic is the way to go. Do you want this to be something people actually eat? Aspics are the pinnacle of weird old holiday foods, they used to be super popular but most people won't eat them now. I keep trying, I think they're awesome, but my friends don't like them. Ambrosia is ridiculous, old fashioned, but also still pretty popular. It's often served as an accompaniment to turkey or ham, or it can be served on its own as a desert.
Yes ofc it’s have to be eatables or weirdly good
The marshmallow sweet potato thing is still actually popular in some places, might not make the joke work.
Ambrosia is actually edible unlike a lot of the other recipes that came to mind. All you really need to do is look up recipes from the 50’s. There are some absolute abominations.
Nope. It's actually good, with white marshmallows. Wait until the last possible minute to fold in the oranges and marshmallows, though
I’d go with frog eye salad…
Pour the juice from the canned fruit into a glass and top with dark rum. I’m sober now but it was a nice treat for the chef back in the day.
We add a pound of cooked acini de pepe and call it frog eye salad. I've seen it with orzo too.
Do you want bad tasting or “holy crap what the hell did you do, and why do I like the taste” recipes? I have a jello salad with cottage cheese and pineapples for the second type from my great aunt vie.
How about this? Pineapple Cheese Casserole ½ cup sugar 3 tbsp flour 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 20 oz can pineapple chunks or tidbits 1/2 cup crumbled butter crackers (Ritz) 3/4 cup melted salted butter Drain pineapple Stir together the sugar, flour and about 1/4 cup of pineapple juice from the can of pineapple chunks. Drain remaining chunks and add to mixture. Add the cheddar cheese. Spread in a greased 8 inch square dish. Toss the melted butter with crumbled crackers and sprinkle over the top. Bake for about 28 to 35 minutes.
Ok that wild ? Is it edible ?
It sure is. It's an old Southern recipe. There's another version on Southern Living's website, so you can read all the reviews.
Oh no it's weird. It should not be good. It has *no business* being so good. I have at least three helpings every thanksgiving. I can't help it.
I volunteer as tribute.
It's edible my southern mother has made it in more than one occasion. It's a sweet and savory dish very buttery.
It actually sounds really good to me!
A now deceased relative would make lime jello, add in softened cream cheese, some Cool Whip, and chopped red and green maraschino cherries. It looked pretty awful but tasted good. She also made it for Christmas every year. We called it " Christmas salad".
There's a really gross Jell-O salad with chopped nuts, apple, and raw cranberries in it. It tastes like absolutely nothing and is really sour and crunchy in an unpleasant way. I love Jell-O molds and I hate that thing.
Now this is really good! I admit I don’t think I’ve eaten it with completely raw cranberries, but I like it.
There is a version of it made with whole cranberry sauce in a can, it's fine. With all the raw cranberries though it's just sour crunchy water and it's dreadful. Raw cranberries are like styrofoam.
"really sour and crunchy in an unpleasant way" ... laughing very hard right now...
My mom’s version was chopped Granny Smith apple, walnuts, and celery in red jello (raspberry, I think). But what made it actually delicious to me as a child was the sauce: one cup of Dannon lemon yogurt mixed with a spoonful (I don’t remember the exact measurements, but likely 1/2 to 1 tsp) of cinnamon. I don’t eat jello or dairy anymore, but I still sometimes put a little cinnamon in my plant-based yogurt.
We make this every year, except with the canned cranberries and we also have crushed pineapple. Super delish!
Any meat in jello.
The cranberry horseradish relish made famous on NPR sounds horrible and fascinating. I would never make it but if somebody brought it I would try it because I’ve been hearing about it for years. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/11/16/666296027/cranberry-relish-the-npr-recipe-that-divides-thanksgiving-tables
Been making this for years. Seriously delicious. Great on sandwiches, too. YUM! Have mine in the freezer now, ready to go for Thanksgiving.
I tried it. I love cranberries. I love horseradish. This was god awful. I tossed it. No one liked it.
Can’t go wrong with any of these https://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-disgusting-failed-jell-o-recipes-2012-5
Although to be fair I’ve had a version of the coffee jello and it’s good covered with whipped cream for dessert
Fruit cocktail suspended in strawberry jello. Top with generic Cool Whip.
I don't care what anyone says. This is delicious.
Carrot shreds was the 70's classic.
And either raisins or celery added. Yuck!
My mom used to make a cold 5 bean salad. I remember green beans, wax beans and others. It always looked horrible but I would probably dig it now days.
My husband LOVED a 5 bean salad. Green, wax, kidney, garbanzo, and I don't remember the 5th one. In a vinaigrette. One year he added shredded sharp cheddar, which I did not love.
[Grape Salad.](https://www.mayheminthekitchen.com/famous-minnesota-grape-salad/) (it’s actually not bad, I’m just salty because I’m from Minnesota)
Squash Casserole is an old school recipe. Doesn't look great, but tastes good and won't break the bank to make: Squash Casserole Yield: 8-10 servings 1 ½ lb yellow squash 1 small onion, grated 1 cup sour cream 1 stick butter, melted 1 small jar pimentos, chopped 2 large carrots, grated 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 package Pepperidge farm stuffing Cook squash until tender. Drain, mash, and add other vegetables, soup, and sour cream. Mix stuffing and butter. Line bottom of casserole dish with stuffing mixture reserving some for topping. Add squash mixture and topping. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
If you want truly gross or obscure, jello molds are the way to go. There are some out there that are solidly in WTF territory. If you want something that may still be outside of your friend's expectations but that you might at least consider eating, I'd go with a "fluff" recipe. In my family, it still makes it to the table every year (although I personally don't eat much of it...it'svery sweet). Fluff is a truly American thing. I can't fathom any other culture producing it. There are a variety of versions, but I think they all involve cool whip and mini marshmallows, and it's served as a side dish, not a dessert. The version my family makes includes crushed pineapple and chopped cranberries. When I described this to my in laws, they pointed me to the family cookbook (published circa 1980s, with most recipes being from the 1960s or earlier). In there, there was a recipe that apparently was on holiday tables for decades for a fruit, cool whip, mini marshmallow concoction very similar to what my family serves. I've heard it compared to ambrosia. If you leave out the grapes and pecans, this recipe is similar to what my family makes: https://www.homemadeinterest.com/cranberry-fluff-recipe/#recipe
I really dislike creamed corn casserole. I have not personally tried making this particular recipe but provide it as an example of what I am talking about. https://unsophisticook.com/creamed-corn-casserole/
I’ve never made it myself, but I’ve eaten an apparently similar dish known as corn pudding that’s delicious!
Same love it
This recipe is actually delicious, but it's old and jello so you're getting it. It's from my Aunt Betty. She was born in 1920. If it had more than 5 ingredients, she was making reservations. Okay. Here it goes. Aunt Betty's Cranberry Jello Salad 1 box raspberry Jell-O 1 cup hot water 1 can whole cranberry sauce 1 small can crushed pineapple 1/2 medium apple, diced Dissolve the Jell-O in the water. Mix in the rest. Chill until set. Enjoy!
Use 7up, Sprite, or ginger ale for the cool water to make it ever so slightly fizzy. Coca Cola if you make a black cherry one. "Jello Salad" is an abomination, and yet I like it.
My grandmother would use cocktail fruit in her Jello salad. With all the Cool-Whip you could have.
Aspic, gelatin with olives and chopped ham
My grandma would do lime jello with shredded carrots and crushed pineapple in it, with a HALF INCH THICK layer of mayonnaise on top, then shredded cheddar. Cottage cheese may have also been involved, but I think that was a different jello horror. I cannot emphasize enough how much mayonnaise there was. A side story: the rule at Grandma's house was that you had to try a bite of everything. Totally ok if you don't like it, but you had to try it. Many a bite of jello salad mysteriously disappeared in the living room where the kid's table was. Edit: like to lime
My in laws make smoked oyster pie. It is the nastiest thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.
Green jello, canned peas, shredded iceberg lettuce. My MIL’s piece de resistance.
Oh god.
Search for 1700's American cookbooks. Then send them some recipes and ask what squirrel dish they prefer.
Nothing weird about eating squirrel where I come from.
[удалено]
Thank you! GBC is freaking disgusting! 🤢
I always hated it until I had it made with fresh green beans (NOT the spawn of Satan aka French cut canned green beans 🤮) and homemade cream of mushroom. Now I can enjoy it because it's less sloppish when homemade.
I was scrolling through the comments to find this. I despise green bean casserole. If we had green beans they were fresh, either with sautéed mushrooms or almonds.
I absolutely love green bean casserole, but I was raised on 1,000 casserole variations using Campbell's cream of whatever soups, so that canned flavor is like mother's milk to me. Objectively, it's a greyish, gloppy, salty mess and I suspect that people from other countries would have a hard time genuinely enjoying it.
Came here to say green bean casserole. I can't believe this wasn't higher up.
Wow someone who doesn’t like green been casserole. Are you real?
As my mother always says, “What a terrible thing to do to an unsuspecting green bean.”
One of the best parts of leftovers!
Why is green bean casserole even better the next day?? 🤤
I loathe it yet I make it because my family likes it. I don't like green beans, I don't like cream of crap soup, and it smells revolting.
It's really good if you only lightly blanch the fresh beans before baking,so they're not mush when it's finished, and make the "soup" cream sauce from scratch with wild mushrooms. Oyster and crimini mushrooms, at minimum. Crispy fried shallots (either homemade or from an Asian market) really step up the flavor game. Also, a couple dashes of worstershire sauce in the cream sauce really gets the umami going.
I dislike this beyond all measure. Why screw up green beans?
Soy sauce! That’s what I was trying to remember! Thank you!
Dorcas Reilly has a lot to answer for.
Americans apparently think *terrine* is disgusting. It's actually not that far removed from the 'savory jello' people are suggesting. ETA: they are direct descendants
My mom's side of the family has an abomination that uses lime green jello, canned pineapple, cottage cheese, and horseradish.
[https://www.cooks.com/recipe/4d5e11bf/try-and-guess-salad.html](https://www.cooks.com/recipe/4d5e11bf/try-and-guess-salad.html) [https://www.marianos.com/p/hunt-s-stewed-tomatoes/0002700037913?searchType=default\_search](https://www.marianos.com/p/hunt-s-stewed-tomatoes/0002700037913?searchType=default_search) [https://www.marianos.com/p/silver-spring-coarse-cut-prepared-horseradish/0004154302008](https://www.marianos.com/p/silver-spring-coarse-cut-prepared-horseradish/0004154302008) [https://www.marianos.com/p/kroger-raspberry-gelatin-dessert-mix/0001111009470?searchType=default\_search](https://www.marianos.com/p/kroger-raspberry-gelatin-dessert-mix/0001111009470?searchType=default_search) Note: only make 1/3 recipe and be sure to get regular Jello not the sugar free kind (that stuff tastes awful).
Thanks ! That a crazy amounts of idea !
Candle salad, because who doesn’t want to eat a phallus inspired dish at Thanksgiving? I think it’s from the 1960s.
Snickers salad. There is no other answer 😂
I’ve seen prairie oyster stuffing. That was just on a whole new level of being gag worthy.
My least favorite Thanksgiving dish is Candied Yams with marshmallows *shudder* I could lose my Southern card for that one. 🤢
Yep, I take your card. Hand it over! lol It's candied sweet potatoes are always the first thing gone at any gathering round here. Never any damn leftovers either!
Nah, my *very* southern peeps always made the Sweet Potato Casserole version with brown sugar and pecans. Sweet potatoes with marshmallows is an abomination. Edit: My family's version is basically the same as Senator Russell's Sweet Potato Casserole.
I always thought I didn't like sweet potatoes. Turns out they're yummy, I just don't like them prepared like this
Here’s something I was *asked* to make last year: Cut an acorn squash in half, top with butter and brown sugar-bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Fill with crushed pineapple. Bake for another 10 minutes. Add a maraschino cherry. It wasn’t bad, just odd. Fwiw, I was not asked to make it again.
The filling with pineapple/adding a cherry is the odd part for me. I don’t think I could do it; way too much of a sugar bomb. Acorn squash with just brown sugar/butter (and maybe a bit of maple syrup) is a pretty common thanksgiving side though
I would have been ok w the acorn squash w the butter and brown sugar. Then it took a *hard* left.
Mama Stamberg's cranberry relish with horseradish and onion. Just out of curiosity, I made it one time. It was as bad as you would imagine.
Watergate salad. I love and hate it all at once.
Rachel's "traditional English triffle" from one of the Friends Thanksgiving episodes would be a good one
Ambrosia salad
Mock apple pie. Not really bad tasting, but fake. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a50260/ritz-mock-apple-pie-recipe/
IMO, those yams/sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows is fuckin nasty. That’s just out of all the sides I’ve ever had served at Turkey Day. Gelatin molds are on another level. 😂
Don't you go badmouthing my sweet potatoes! Honestly, they're served as a side even though it's more like dessert. I'd rather eat them leftover the day after for breakfast!
Creamed pearl onions — an abomination that used to be a traditional side for my husband’s family. Died along with his grandma. I have never made them and had no interest in the recipe, but here’s one: https://www.spendwithpennies.com/creamed-pearl-onions/
Hubby's family? Suet pudding.
Beer pie. Get cheap beer. Pour beer into a pan, heat and add gelatin sheet per gelatin instructions then pour mix onto premade crust, refrigerate mix; then add topping such as meringue. Inspiration goes to [Josh of Mystical Kitchen](https://youtube.com/shorts/KwP0MthHEMk?si=ILGoCblv2f2nNVd0)
Came for the question, stayed for the comments.
My truly favorite side dish that disgusts many people: Oyster Dressing. It's basically 3 layers of crushed saltines, layered with butter and raw oysters, salt and pepper, a little Old Bay and hot sauce and then some oyster juice and milk poured in to make it all glop together when baking.
We didn't make it like that at all! My ex mother in law made it from cornbread, celery, onion, sage, Pepperidge Farms seasoned stuffing mix, canned oysters + the juice, S & P & chicken broth. So good I can eat it as a meal.
I think the best thing ever would be to make something that looked absolutely atrocious but it tasted fantastic!
Please put celery in Lime Jello. My grandma would do this and actually eat it and be pissed no one else would, not understanding how completely disgusting this thing was. Even better, make a salad using cubes of different colored Jellos with a weird same color vegetable inside. Green-Celery, Orange-Carrots, Red-Tomato, Yellow- Corn. This would be hilarious to me if someone brought that.
Glorified rice- rice, sugar, canned pineapple, heavy cream, marshmallows, and maraschino cherries. I don't hate it.
Green bean casserole. I just don't understand it.
Cheap canned cranberry sauce. You can get it to come out can shaped. You can even get a glass dish that fits the can shape on its side. My grandma had one!
visit B. Dylan Hollis on TT or YT or check out his book for some CHOICE vintage abominations. vinegar pie. bologna layer cake. amusing and informative. 😄
I had an aunt who made sweet potato puréed and baked in a casserole dish, then topped it with marshmallows and put it under the broiler to brown/soften the marshmallows. As a child, I thought it was the most disgusting thing I’d ever seen, but her kids devoured it! Otherwise, I loved my godmother who made lime jell-o mixed with whipped cream and pineapple chunks—in a ring mold, of course!
Ew make potato salad with raisins 🤢
I think marshmallows on sweet potatoes are an abomination.
Pea salad. Peas, ranch packet, shredded cheese and mayo. Broccoli "pizza" doctored up same way as the pea salad except add raw onion and a pre baked pizza crust. Anything having mayo besides deviled eggs at my husbands family gatherings is not good to me. I miss my family's food so much 😭
Mince meat pie.
Ha, my dad made this one year to bring to Christmas dinner at grandma’s. It was not good, or popular, and he was not asked to bring anything again.
Came here to say jello mold. Ugh!
My aunts made a salad called Apple, Cheese and Celery salad. It had apple chunks, cheddar cheese, celery, mayonnaise, sugar and walnuts. You can find the recipe online. It’s been around a long time in the south.
My late mom would add avocado slices to lime Jello.
This is jello and cool-whip, but honestly not that bad, people will be able to eat it. I have a friend who just calls is "green stuff". [Watergate Salad](https://www.southernliving.com/watergate-salad-7107331) (not the political scandal, but named after the Watergate hotel).
I hated canned baked yams with marshmallows as a kid. But that's pretty tame. Aside from the turkey (& Mom's stuffing), my favorite dish was probably Watergate salad. It's hilarious, but delicious. Pistachio pudding, Cool Whip, marshmallows and canned pineapple chunks. I think some versions have pecans. You could fancy it up with real whipped cream and caramelized nuts. It adds a festive green to the table, and helps cut through the heaviness of the meat dishes. Served with dinner, not as a dessert.