Pineapple/Apricot Layered Salad
A wonderful recipe that I inherited and have pinched, pulled, and tweaked until it is just perfect for us! My family's favorite jello salad but typically only made on Thanksgiving. Part of the change to the recipe was increasing the custard layer (and thus the calories!) so I substituted sugar-free jello and fat free Cool Whip to 'sort of' balance it out. Oh, and if you don't like orange jello? Well, neither do I, but it is perfect in this recipe.

After making this for this past Thanksgiving I was going to take a picture of it for the site, but unfortunately there was an accident and the only picture possible would have been titled "What this dish looks like after Billy drops it on the floor". Looks like I'll be making it again for Christmas!

1 6 ounce package sugar-free orange Jello
2 cups boiling water
16 ounce can apricots packed in juice
20 ounce can crushed pineapple in own juice
Miniature marshmallows (it takes about half of a 16 ounce bag so you can reserve the rest for your yams!)

Drain the cans of fruit and reserve juice. Juice should total 2 cups. I usually squeeze the liquid out a bit and also drain the fruit in a wire mesh colander and have plenty of juice. If you do not, you can make up the extra with water or canned juice. Apricot nectar is good to add if you need the extra juice. Mash apricots with fork and set aside.

Dissolve jello in boiling water in a 9 x 12 dish. It's nice to use one that has a cover. Add the mashed apricots, pineapple, and 1 cup of reserved juices to the jello and blend well. Add marshmallows in a single layer (tedious but it doesn't work to just dump them in!) Refrigerate to set.

Custard Layer:
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp. flour
remaining cup of reserved juice
2 eggs, beaten
4 tbsp. butter (I've never made this with margarine)

Mix all of the ingredients for the custard layer in saucepan on low heat until the butter melts. Turn up heat and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened. Once it starts thickening it happens pretty fast. Cool and spread on marshmallow layer and refrigerate.

Topping:
Cool Whip (I use the fat free but use any type you like. I've never used real whipped cream but I've thought about it a lot!)
Finely shredded mild cheddar (yes, cheese. Sounds a bit strange but it really needs it in my opinion. Give it a try!)
Spread whipped topping on custard layer and then sprinkle cheese on top. Refrigerate until serving time.

NOTE: The moisture content of the apricots and pineapple seems to vary. Because of that sometimes the jello is more firm, sometimes less firm, sometimes just right. BUT it is always good! I don't know if using regular jello instead of the sugar free will make any difference in consistency. I've been making this a long time and to the best of my memory I've never made it with anything but the SF.

Enjoy!