..so maybe add some liquid. But any casserole with ritz crackers sounds kinda icky. let us know what it tastes like.

..cheddar cheese and pineapple?..or cheddar cheese and craisens. I cant make up my mind. Please let us know how it turns out. It may be like Mama Stanburgs cranberry salad....cranberries and horseradish....looks the color of Pepto-Bismol... but really tastes pretty good.

pineapple and dried cranberries are so different in texture and volume, I don't know if the cranberries would be the best thing to substitute in that recipe. Maybe try Googling "recipes using dried cranberries" ?

They don't sound as though they would interact very much with the other ingredients. Maybe they would be an interesting addition?

I've put craisins & apple cubes & nuts in a cold mayo/ sr cream based chicken salad, worked well.

with apple juice. Might even soak them for a while. Oh and for the nay-sayers refer to the mock-apple pie recipe with ritz crackers.

The only difference is we use cubed bread instead of bread crumbs.

I have never met anyone (including me) who didn't react with revulsion when hearing the recipe. I've never met anyone (except my grandson who won't eat anything) who doesn't love it. We serve it often with ham.

Having said that, you can't substitute Craisens or even cranberries for the pineapple. There would simply not be enough moisture. You could add some in addition to the pineapple, but a one-to-one substitution won't work.

Coleslaw - grated cabbage and carrots, craisins, add ranch dressing

Tuna salad - good quality canned tuna, drained well, chopped celery and apple, crasins and mayo, season with a few shakes of pepper, A little chopped raw onion is good if you plan to eat all in one meal.

Chicken Salad, same as tuna salad

Best of all, chewy oatmeal cookies - I have a good recipe that I have used for years, I usually split the batch, one half, I add chocolate chips, other half add dried fruit such as raisins, craisins, freeze dried pineapple, leftover candied fruit from fruit cake baking, chopped nuts, just depends what I have on hand. If you don't have a good oatmeal cookie recipe, I would be glad to post mine. I got it from my late sister in law in the 1960's and have baked hundreds of batches of cookies using this recipe. It makes 6 or 7 dozen cookies.

My favorite oatmeal cookie recipe,. The cookies keep well, I usually store them in a tin lined with waxed paper.

Oatmeal Crispies

Cream together:
1-cup butter
1-cup white sugar
1-cup brown sugar
1-teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Sift together and add to creamed mixture:
1 ½ cups flour 1-teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon 1-teaspoon soda

Stir in 3 cups oatmeal and 1 cup coconut
Note: Use the “Quick” oatmeal, not the old fashioned kind.


At the point, the cookie dough is ready and you can bake the cookies. They make a great cookie; crispy and chewy. But I like to "trick them out" and load them up with more tasty goodness, At this point, I divide the dough into 2 parts. One part, I add a package of milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips. The other part I add about 2 cups of dried fruit, such as raisins, dried cranberries and freeze dried pineapple. I have also used dried mincemeat if I have some on hand. You can add some pecans too. I used to add nuts, but found I liked the cookie better without the nuts.

Drop on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 400 degrees about 8 to 10 minutes. Watch these because they brown very fast. Let stand for about 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Makes about 7 dozen.