This morning my Mother-in-Law called to invite us to Sunday dinner and of course she asked, “would you bring one of your great Jello salads?”  Ahhhh, the time has arrived to try my hand at a new congealed salad recipe.  What will it be?  I find myself pouring over my Jello cookbooks. Will it be a Rice and Fish Loaf? No, that would be an Entree of course.  Salad, salad… hum, what about Jellied Cooked Lettuce?  Cooked lettuce?  Really? Who cooks lettuce?  I’ll move on.  How about Old-Fashioned Cole Slaw?  Now there really is something “old fashioned” about coleslaw being suspended in gelatin.  Turkey-Souffle Salad?  That seems a little heavy as a side dish.  Maybe I should choose something from The New Jell-O Book of Surprises.  After all, this will be a surprise.  A blast from the past, bringing a new sensation for the palates of this decade.  Here is the surprise:  Jellied Tuna with Mayonnaise.

Inside the cover of said cookbook it reads, “And revel in this thought, as you serve your Jell-O surprise to an admiring family…that it is a treat for every single one of them…young or grown-up…for Jell-O is one of the easiest foods in all the world to digest.”  It also says, “with Jell-O your meals need never, never get monotonous.”  Fabulous!  We don’t want dinner at the in-laws to be monotonous now do we?  So here goes:

Is it just me or does that look like a "vomitous mass?"

Jellied Tuna with Mayonnaise

1 pkg lemon Jell-O                                          1 cup tuna fish, flaked

1 cup boiling water                                         1 cup peas, fresh or canned

1 cup cold water                                             2 tablespoons pimiento

2 tablespoons vinegar                                    1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water.  Add cold water, vinegar, and salt.  Chill. When slightly thickened, fold in remaining ingredients.  Turn into mold.  Chill until firm.  Unmold on crisp lettuce.  Garnish with additional mayonnaise.

Now go have some Jello Joy of your own!