In reply to:

Mom's famous Christmas Eve punch.

Recipe, please!

I'll probably get nailed for this one, but this is such a great salad (primarily because of its name) that I'm gonna go ahead and post it--I am a really rotten cook, by the way, but I feel as though I've done something pretty wonderful when I make The Ruby Salad, which is easy even for rotten cooks like me:

RUBY SALAD

I just love it when someone says, "Are you going to make the Ruby Salad?" It's just so evocative. Here's how you make it:

1 pkg. Bing Cherry or Black Cherry Jell-O (I can't remember which..but I think it's Black Cherry; regular cherry doesn't do the trick)
Celery diced really, really tiny (about 1 cup)
Walnut chopped pretty small,but not tiny (about 1 cup)
1 can of jellied whole cranberries (normal sized can--not really big and not really small)

Just make the Jell-O, let it gel halfway, sortof pretty much thickened up, but not solid yet.

Mix in the jellied whole cranberries; add the walnuts and celery.

Then pour the Ruby Salad into whatever kind of bowl or mold you want and refrigerate till The Ruby Salad is solid. It is really good with fowl.

As I said, the best part is telling people it's The Ruby Salad. Make sure you kind of lift your eyebrows as though presenting a great mystical gift when you say "The Ruby Salad." Otherwise, it'll just appear that you're presenting just another one of those ubiquitous congealed salads that aren't really very exciting at all. And one final point: the jellied whole cranberries are essential.