#1  Did you know that St. Patrick wasn’t named Patrick at all, his real name was Maewyn Succat.

Creamy Green Jello Salad

1 cup water

1 small pkg. green jello

1 cup canned pineapple, drained

1 (8oz.) pkg cream cheese

Dissolve jello in boiling water.  Combine jello, pineapple and cream cheese in blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into 9×13 pan.  Refrigerate until firm.

We Always Eat Lucky Charms For Breakfast On St. Patrick's Day: My Kids Think They Are Magically Delicious, But I Am With the Chicken.

Now Go Make Some Green Jello and Have a Happy Maewyn Succat’s Day!

Orange Tapioca Jello

I may be an amazing jello super-heroine, but my great neighbors are always coming to my rescue!  Awhile ago I tasted a jello salad my cute neighbor made.  It was so yummy and I told her I really liked it.

A few days ago, she made some and brought it to me because she remembered I liked it.  Now isn’t that a nice and nifty neighbor!

We really enjoyed it.  I played around with the recipe a little bit and made two different versions.

Strawberry Tapioca Jello

Nice Neighbor Jello

1 (3 oz.) package orange jello (or another jello flavor of your choice)

1 (3 oz.) package cook and serve tapioca jello (she used the one in purple-ish box that is fat free) I usually avoid fat free things- a taste preference- but we used it as well since it is the only one the store had.

1 (3 oz.) package cook and serve vanilla pudding

1 small can manderin oranges, drained and cut in small pieces.  (When I made this with strawberry jello, I used 1/2 pound of sliced strawberries.  It would also be yummy to add half strawberries and half bananas.  You could do lemon flavor jello with canned pineapple tidbits etc.  You can adjust the amount and kind of fruit to your taste- let your imagination go crazy.)

1 cup liquid heavy cream, whipped  or 1 8oz. container cool whip (personally I like using real cream)

Put orange jello, tapioca jello and vanilla pudding mixes in a pan.  Add 3 cups water and heat over medium high heat stirring constantly until it comes to a full boil, stir for 3 minutes.  Pour into a bowl and let chill in fridge until set.

Fold in oranges (or fruit of choice) and whipped cream and chill.

Now Go Make Some Tapioca Jello of Your Own and Spread a Little Joy to Your Neighbors!

First there was Christmas Eve at the In-Laws, then there was a dinner on Christmas Day with my family- you guessed it:  I made jello for both occasions.  The following day was Sunday.  Sunday dinner at the In-Laws and what was I requested to bring?  Jello, of course!  Is there such a thing as too much jello?  Anyway, here is the yummy layered Jello I made on Christmas Eve.  I have been borrowing my Dad’s camera, but didn’t have it with me so we took some quick snap shots with another borrowed camera.  They aren’t the greatest pictures, but then any picture is an accomplishment for me since I am not technically inclined and do not even know how to turn on the television.

Christmas Jello Mold

1 (3 oz.) package raspberry jello

1 (16 oz.) bag frozen raspberries  (This is my addition as I am not a fan of plain jello; however, the original recipe does not call for raspberries)

1 (3 oz.) package lemon jello

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened (about 20 seconds each side in microwave)

1 (3 oz.) package lime jello

1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple

Dissolve raspberry jello in 1 cup boiling water.  Add 1/2 bag frozen raspberries and stir until thawed.  Add 1 cup cold water and stir.  Pour into a 10 inch fluted tube pan or 3 quart ring mold coated with non-stick cooking spray.  Chill until firm, about 1 1/2 hours.

Dissolve lemon jello in 1 cup boiling water.  Beat in the cream cheese until smooth.  Gently pour over firm raspberry jello.  Chill until firm.

Dissolve lime jello in 1 cup boiling water.  Drain pineapple well, reserving juice and add enough water, if needed to equal 3/4 cup.  Stir crushed pineapple and reserved juice into lime jello.  Gently pour over creamy layer.  Refrigerate until very firm or overnight.  Gently un-mold onto a serving plate.

This recipe is from Dorothy Duzynski at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Christmas-Gelatin-Ring/Detail.aspx

Now Go Have Some Christmas Jello Joy!

Christmas sleep deprivation- all you parents out there know what I am talking about.  The Mall and Toys-R-Us are open until 11:00:  shopping, shopping and more shopping and then there is all the wrapping, baking, cleaning, decorating etc. on top of everything else you usually do.  The following jello salad is evidence of this very brain stupor resulting from lack of time upon my mattress.  At Christmas what could be more appropriate and festive than a ribbon jello salad?  There are really endless color variations to a ribbon salad, so you can mix it up for any holiday or special occasion.  This particular salad was intended to be alternating colors of green, white and red; however, I did two layers of green in the middle and did not even notice until my last layer of red.  Oh, well it still looked good and tasted great.  Here is the recipe:

Christmas Ribbon Jello

1 (3 oz.) package lime jello

1 (3 oz.) package raspberry jello

1 (3 oz.) package lime jello

1 (3 oz.) package strawberry or cherry jello

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (we used Knox brand)

1/2 cup cold water

2 cups milk

1 cup sugar

2 cups sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Dissolve lime jello in 1 cup boiling water.  Add 1/2 cup cold water and stir.  Pour into a 9×13 pan coated with non-stick spray.  Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until firm.

Meanwhile in medium saucepan, sprinkle unflavored gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water.  Let it stand for about one minute.  Stir in milk and sugar.  Cook and stir over medium heat until gelatin and sugar are dissolved.

Remove from heat and whisk in sour cream and vanilla.  Gently pour about 1 1/2 cups white gelatin mixture over firm layer of green jello.  Chill about 30 minutes or until firm. (At this point I keep remaining amount of white gelatin in pan.  If it begins to thicken up before I use it for the next layer, I turn stove to simmer for just a few minutes and whisk gelatin until smooth and then turn off heat.)

Dissolve raspberry jello in 1 cup boiling water.  Add 1/2 cup cold water and stir.  Gently pour over firm white layer.  Chill about 30 minutes or until firm.

Gently pour about 1 1/2 cups white gelatin mixture over firm layer of red jello.  Chill about 30 minutes or until firm.

Dissolve lime jello in 1 cup boiling water.  Add 1/2 cup cold water and stir.  Gently pour over firm white layer.  Chill about 30 minutes or until firm.

Gently pour about 1 1/2 cups white gelatin mixture over firm layer of green jello.  Chill about 30 minutes or until firm.

Dissolve strawberry jello in 1 cup boiling water.  Add 1/2 cup cold water and stir.  Gently pour over firm white layer.  Chill about 30 minutes or until firm and enjoy!

This recipe is by Melody Mellinger at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Seven-Layer-Gelatin-Salad-2/Detail.aspx

Now Go Get Some Sleep and Have Jiggling Jello Dreams!

I love the Olympics.  I could just park my bod on the couch and watch it all day.  Of course, the Olympics and Jello go hand in hand.  The Salt Lake Winter Olympics had an abundance of Jello souveniers.  I think there are atleast 20 different Jello Pins.  It certainly doesn’t hurt to have a bowl of jiggly stuff to eat while you watch Shaun White do his stuff.

The Green Jello With Pineapple and Cottage Cheese pin was a popular one; even so, I doubt anyone under 60 years old has made it recently.  I guess we should give it a try.

Green Jello with Pineapple and Cottage Cheese

6 oz. Package Lime Jello

16 oz. (2 cups) Small Curd Cottage Cheese

20 oz. Can Pineapple Tidbits, drained well

1/2 Pint (1 cup) Whipping Cream

(Many recipes call for Cool Whip.  I recommend using fresh whipped cream whenever possible.  It tastes much better and only takes a few minutes longer- well worth it!  One cup cream that has been whipped is about four ounces.  So if a recipe calls for 8 or 9 oz Cool Whip, whip a half pint and that will give you about two cups which is a similar amount.)  Mix Cottage Cheese, Jello and pineapple in a bowl.  Place in fridge to chill.  Whip cream and gently fold into cottage cheese mixture.  Chill for several hours.

Whoever designed the Green Jello with Pineapple and Cottage Cheese pin had apparently never sampled, nor seen the delight, for when you add the cottage cheese it becomes creamy in color and rather bumpy.  Most recipes also call for Cool Whip or whipped cream which makes it fluffy.  It certainly does not have a cute little clump of cottage cheese and tidbit of pineapple encased in a little cube like the Jello on the pin.  If you don’t like this recipe, there are probably one hundred other versions out there.  Some with mayonnaise in place of the cottage cheese, which I wouldn’t recommend; some with cream cheese, but the pin is not Green Jello with Pineapple and Cream Cheese now is it?

Now go have some Olympic Jello Joy today!

It’s Jello Week and I am sure you are still involved with celebrating, but we must look ahead to Valentines as it is only a day away!  Eunice and I have been busy in our secret kitchen (not unlike Batman’s bat cave) working on a powerful potion to snare your sweetie.  Here is our version of a recipe to melt your honey’s heart.

Red Hot Jello

6 oz. Raspberry Jello

4 oz. Red Hots

1 Cup Boiling Water

2 Cups Chilled Carbonated Beverage (We like Fresca)

20 oz. Crushed Pineapple, drained well

Pop Rocks or colored sugar crystals

Pour 1 cup hot water Red Hots and Jello into a small pan.  Heat to boiling over medium high heat and continue to stir until completely dissolved.  Cool to room temperature.  (You can speed this up by placing pan in a sink of ice water.)  Mix in carbonated beverage.  Place pan in fridge until Jello is slightly thickened and then stir in pineapple.

Garnish serving dishes by dipping rim, ever so slightly (or it will run down the side) into light corn syrup.  Then dip into pop rocks or colored sugar crystals.

Carefully pour Jello into serving dishes.  Put in fridge and chill until set.  If that doesn’t heat up your love life, there may be no hope.

Now go have some Red Hot Jello Joy!