A Little Jello Joy!

One thumbs up and twenty nine thumbs down.  Ok, let me back up to the preparation stage.  When my son Junior saw me preparing for Sunday dinner he said, “I thought you were making Jello.”  ”I am,” I replied.  He then surveyed the scene and asked, “then why do you have peas and tuna?”  Soon after he saw the recipe on the counter and said, “that is sick!  Tuna, peas and Jello?  Just think of the combination of flavors:  tuna, peas, Jello?  Mom, just think of it!”  ”Junior, have an open mind,” I said.

As I unmolded my creation, my hunky husband said, “Who ever thought this up?  Did anyone ever actually make this kind of stuff!”  ”Oh, believe me they did,” I replied.  There are hundreds of recipe books to prove it.”

We brought my Jello jewel in amid the hustle and bustle of 30 people preparing for Sunday dinner.  There were a few unsure looks exchanged.  I am sure my sweet Mother-in-law Florence was horrified.  What had I brought to her lovely dinner and where was my usual Jello salad?  After all, we had discussed the salad, that there would be a few extra guests and I might want to make a larger one than I usually do.  What had I done?  I had apparently put some thought and effort into this dish, after all who would go to the trouble of molding something into such a design if the intent was not sincere?

Dinner was served buffet style.  As children and adults alike made their way along dishing up food, they ever so gingerly took a small helping of Jello salad- not wanting to hurt my feelings, but also not sure what they would do with it once it was on their plate.  To everyone’s relief we eventually announced that we had played a Jello Joke on them.  Immediately my sister-in-law Norma blurted out, “oh my gosh, you scared the daylights out of me!”  Florence admitted that when someone asked if it was Jello, she was horrified and unsure of what to say.  Mildred a confirmed health nut decided that perhaps we had decided to attempt a healthier version of Jello.  When Thelma saw it she couldn’t help herself from asking “is that meat in it?”  To which Mildred replied, “I don’t know, but if (I) made it, it must be good.”

After we announced that it was all done in the name of a little Jello Joke, my Father-in-law Chevy was confused.  After all, his mother had made the same kind of dishes in his youth.  Why was this a joke?  His was the only thumbs up.  After all my effort, there were only a few brave souls who sampled it.  I of course was obligated to taste my creation.  And I must disclose my feeling that those folks who have said that “Jello is the easiest food to digest” have not tried Jellied Tuna with Mayonnaise!  Now go, have some Jello Joy with a Joke of your own- please send me your results.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent

Now Go Have a Little Jello Joy!