Amish Yum-Yum Salad

Three weeks to the wedding. The apartment is in a state of organized chaos — boxes of wedding favors in the hallway, garment bags hanging on every door, a stack of programs on the kitchen table that we need to fold. Megan has a list. The list has sub-lists. I follow the lists. I am a soldier in the army of Megan's organizational vision and I serve willingly.

We did the final walkthrough at St. Josaphat and the Polish Center this week. Walking into St. Josaphat was different this time — not as a parishioner, not as a kid, but as a groom. The basilica is massive and beautiful and slightly intimidating, with its dome and its light and its century of prayers echoing off the walls. I stood at the altar where I will stand in three weeks and looked down the aisle and tried to imagine Megan walking toward me and my chest got tight and my eyes got wet and the wedding coordinator said, "They all do that."

The Polish Center kitchen is ready for the pierogi. The freezer there can hold the entire five hundred dozen. We'll transport them the day before the wedding. Linda has a plan. Linda always has a plan. Her plan has a backup plan. The backup plan has a contingency. This is the woman who raised me, and this is why I am the way I am.

At the brewery, the head brewer gave me two weeks off for the wedding and honeymoon. We're going to Door County — not fancy, not far, just the cabin by the lake where we took our first trip. Megan chose it. She said, "I want to go back to where we started being us." She is dangerously romantic. I love her.

Made golabki for Tom and Linda — a thank-you for everything. The pierogi army, the kitchen, the freezer, the love. I brought the golabki to their door and Tom answered and I said, "Thank you. For everything." He looked at the golabki. He looked at me. He said, "You're welcome, kid." Then he took the golabki and closed the door. Kowalski men. We say everything in three words or fewer.

The golabki were the main event, but I never show up to someone’s door with just one dish — that’s a Kowalski rule I didn’t know I had until I broke it once and Mom looked at me like I’d shown up to Mass in shorts. I tucked a bowl of Amish Yum-Yum Salad alongside the cabbage rolls because it’s the kind of thing Linda has always kept in the fridge for when family comes by unannounced: cool, sweet, no drama, ready in minutes. Standing on that porch three weeks out from the biggest day of my life, handing food through a door with three words exchanged, it felt exactly right to let something this simple and honest do the talking.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes + 1 hour chilling | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained (reserve juice)
1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix, dry
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (15 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut (optional)
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, halved and drained

Instructions

Combine pineapple and pudding. In a large bowl, stir the drained crushed pineapple and dry vanilla pudding mix together until the pudding powder is fully absorbed into the pineapple. The mixture will thicken slightly — this is what sets the salad without any cooking.
Fold in the whipped topping. Gently fold the thawed whipped topping into the pineapple mixture until smooth and no streaks remain. Don’t overmix or you’ll deflate the fluffiness that makes this dish what it is.
Add the remaining mix-ins. Fold in the mandarin oranges, miniature marshmallows, shredded coconut if using, and maraschino cherries. Stir just until evenly distributed.
Chill before serving. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight if making ahead. The salad firms up and the flavors meld — it’s always better the next day.
Serve cold. Give it a gentle stir before spooning into a serving dish. It holds well in the fridge for up to 3 days, making it ideal for potlucks, family drop-offs, or a fridge full of wedding-week chaos.

Nutrition (per serving)

Amish Yum-Yum Salad — The Side I Brought Along with the Golabki