The sky, a perfect empty canvas, offers clouds nonetheless. They shift and drift and beg interpretation… such is the nature of art
Jeb Dickerson

I started the”Knit the Sky” project a few weeks back and finally have settled into the routine of knitting two rows a day at various times, in the morning, afternoon and evening for the best color variations.  However after 4 days of overcast, cloudy, dark, rainy days I find that I am quite bored with the dreary colors knitted in and will wait for hopefully brighter skies this afternoon or a pretty sunset this evening.  I find that the two rows are just the right amount since I’ve spent more time separating and untangling yarn than I have spent knitting.  Oh well…

A beautiful new favorite or should I say old-fashioned treat, an updated and fresh Ambrosia as my contribution to a wonderful Easter dinner.  I recall tasting someone’s years ago and cringing at the sweetness, but this version was fantastic neither too sweet or tart given the amount of grapefruit called for in the recipe.  I thought that I would add some fresh cored pineapple  and after adding a few chunks and blending it in, I tasted a piece not as ripe as I would have like I finished with just the canned chunks…I guess the store was in a rush to make Easter tourists happy with fresh cored pineapple and didn’t pay attention to the ripeness:( lesson learned, taste the fresh before adding.  It was too late to try to fish out the chunks, but not that much went into the mix.  All in all a great recipe…I found the fruit in the cold produce section rather than in canned foods and of course if you would like to prepare fresh by all means try it, but what a lot of work!

Make ahead…I prepared all of the fruit the night before, drain juices, place in colander over a large bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.  The next day whip the sour cream sugar and  heavy cream…

Elite’s Easy Ambrosia – slightly adapted
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sour cream, regular or low-fat
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Two 7-ounce jars grapefruit, drained (one regular grapefruit, one ruby-red if available)
Two 11-ounce jars Mandarin oranges, drained
Two 15.25- to 20-ounce cans pineapple chunks, drained
One 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries, drained and halved
2 smallish apples (preferably one green and one red), chopped
1 cup lightly salted pecans, toasted and chopped, blend some into the mix and save some for garnish ( think candied pecans would be fantastic)
1  cup miniature marshmallows and a few more to garnish
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut and a little more to garnish

Chill a glass or metal bowl or the bowl for your stand mixer for at least several hours, add the heavy cream, sour cream, and sugar to the bowl, beat with an electric mixer or your stand mixer on medium speed until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the grapefruit, mandarin oranges, pineapple, cherries, apples, pecans, marshmallows, and coconut into the whipped cream mixture.  Cover and let the flavors of the ambrosia come together in the fridge for at least a couple of hours or overnight.