I am convinced that ambrosia is one of those things that people pretend to like in an ironic fashion, in order to camouflage the fact that they actually like it.  Since it's not cool to admit that you like ambrosia salad, you have to pretend like you're eating it with ironic intent.  Everyone mocks ambrosia salad, but let me tell you, whenever I bring it to a potluck or group function, I always come home with an empty bowl.

There are two kinds of ambrosia salad: molded (or jumbled up with Jello) and mixed.  Molded salads take a lot more work (relatively speaking) and of course you have to have an attractive gelatin mold.  Who has the time or the gelatin mold collection, I ask you?  

Furthermore, although the molded salad is the most traditional form, the last time I tried to feed it to people, they were confused and angered by it.  We as a society have long since moved past the 1940s and 1950s craze for aspics.  (They put just about anything in an aspic back then, in much the same way that we today will put just about anything on a pizza.)  Many people find the prospect of slicing off a cold wedge of jiggling gelatin "cake" to be off-putting, to say the least.

Instead, if you want that colorful burst and flavor boost of Jell-o, I recommend that you make the Jell-o separately and then mix it in.  Simply make a batch of red Jell-o (cherry, blackberry, and strawberry are ideal) in a 9x13 pan.  After it has set, cut it into small chunks about the size of dice, and mix in with your salad.

An annex in the halls of ambrosia salad is the "Watergate salad."  This is a pale green, pistachio flavored salad made with mini marshmallows, pistachio pudding powder, crushed pineapple, chopped pecans, and a tub of Cool Whip.  Just mix together (do not reconstitute the pudding powder, simply mix it in) and serve!  

Technically, Watergate salad is 1970s fare, although its pale pistachio color is delightfully 1950s, if you ask me.  The earliest example of Watergate salad turned up by the kind folks at FoodTimeline.org dates from 1975.  (Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal in August, 1974.)  

The modern form of ambrosia salad is similar to Watergate salad, except that it eliminates the nuts and the pistachio pudding powder, and adds maraschino cherries for color and taste.  The basic ambrosia salad recipe is equal parts crushed pineapple, canned or fresh mandarin orange slices, shredded coconut, and mini marshmallows, held together with a dairy mixture.

Most recipes call for a dressing (such as sour cream or Cool Whip) plus a liquid dairy addition (such as milk, heavy cream, or half and half) to amend the texture.  Noted overachiever Alton Brown instructs you to whip your own whipping cream, but surely this is overthinking the situation.   I have also made ambrosia salad with just sour cream, which does a nice job of balancing out the sweetness of the other ingredients.

Ambrosia salad is, above all else, a flexible dish.  It adapts well to whatever you have on hand, and can take almost infinite substitutions while still remaining edible and recognizable.