John is one of five kids and the last time we were together they were reminiscing about favorite things their mother had made. One item was applesauce cake. We couldn't find the recipe in my MiL's recipe boxes, but we did find one in her Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I made it and they all confirmed that this is what they had remembered.
Another thing they fondly remembered was something the family just called "green Jello salad". I think everyone's mother made some sort of green Jello salad in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, but John's brothers and sisters couldn't even agree on ingredients. Some of them said it had a crushed pretzel crust, some said it had cream cheese mixed in and John's oldest sister was sure it contained cottage cheese. Without much guidance, I wasn't too successful in searching for green Jello salad recipes. I did find some that were clearly not what they remembered.
Here's hoping there is some actual good food in your weekend and not regrettable weird Jello!
Oh, I didn't realize there had been vegetable-flavored Jello! I think I'm glad that "trend" passed without notice from my mom. . . I remember many a Jello salad in my childhood. My mom actually made one with lemon-flavored Jello and cream cheese that was pretty tasty. It was such a staple at holiday meals that even my kids have fond memories of "Nanny's Jello Mold." I hope you're able to find (or re-create) the Becker family green Jello dish. XO
ReplyDeleteLOL - vegetable flavored jello is too much! I've never (thankfully) heard of that before. The only jello salad I remember my Mom making was a gelatin (plain, flavored with lemon juice) salad with mandarin oranges, celery, walnuts and apples in it. I still make it at holiday meals and it's very good. There was a lady who belonged to our church and we referred to her as the jello salad queen! She always included a jello salad with every dinner she served.
ReplyDeleteThis cracks me up! In The Beet Queen, which I finished a few days ago, there's a bit about how one of the characters always makes a Jello salad and put in things that no one likes -- things that really don't go with Jello!
ReplyDeleteWe never had Jello salad in my family, but my mother would occasionally make a lemon chiffon Jello ring (lemon Jello blended with Cool Whip). The Jello dish I have very fond memories of is the three-layer heart-shaped mold my grandmother would make whenever we visited my grandparents in Detroit. The top layer was red (I don't remember if it was cherry, strawberry, or raspberry) and plain, the middle layer was a cloudy white (I think it was unflavored gelatin mixed with coffee creamer or sweetened condensed milk), and the bottom layer was lime Jello with crushed pineapple.
Oh man. I am so glad that jello was not really a staple in my nana's house... and my mother could not cook... not even jello. True fact... I remember more than once when my mom tried to make jello and it never set up. Jello Slurry is about as appetizing as it sounds... lol. (Although my aunt made a pseudo-jello salad. Lime jello, cool whip, and canned crushed pineapple.... mix and serve. lol)
ReplyDeleteMolded jello salad was something my mom made quite a bit. There was a green one that had cherries and walnuts in it and it wasn't "clear" if that makes sense. It was delicious and my mom always served it on a piece of lettuce with a dollop of mayo on the side. I'm sure I have the recipe if this sounds like the one John's family enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteI would be happy to share my mother's green Jello salad recipe, Bonny. I will have to go through her recipes. I liked it. I think it had pineapple, cottage cheese, and a few other ingredients. I don't remember her making any other "salad" from Jello, but she often made strawberry Jello with bananas in it. I loved that for a snack when I was a kid. My MIL made a killer Jello salad for Christmas every year layered with cream cheese. I still love it, but I don't make it since no one will help me eat it, and I would eat the whole thing if I made it. And that is surprising since I do not particularly like Jello!
ReplyDeleteMy mother made one too. Red white and green. The red and green layers were Jello and the white was cream cheese...I think with walnut pieces. My aunt made a 'cut glass' Jello dish. She set the Jello in cake pans and when firm she cut them into cubes. She used green and red and then mixed the cubes together with whipped cream I believe. :)
DeleteOur "Jello salads" were usually of the fruit variety! Pineapple, bananas, strawberries. Celery & Mixed Vegetable flavors... WHO KNEW??
ReplyDeleteWe spent a summer or two in my high school years making elaborate Jello Parfaits! Half the Jello was poured into dessert glasses and put in the fridge for a bit to set. The other half was mixed with Cool Whip (of course!), poured on top and left to set. Finally, it was topped with a layer of straight-up Cool Whip. If we were feeling extra fancy, we'd tilt the glasses in the fridge!! Then, of course, when my kids were little, JIGGLERS were all the rage!! I still love Jello, and my kids still love Jigglers! ;)
My mother only made Jello salad for Thanksgiving. She used lime Jello and added halved grapes, walnuts, and shredded cabbage. We had it on our Thanksgiving table every year until she died, then we decided we'd end the tradition and keep the memory. The original recipe was one she cut out from a magazine in the 1950s.
ReplyDeleteThe 1950s was a prime decade for Jello salads! It seems that everyone's family has a favorite Jello salad recipe. I like your family's idea of retiring the tradition but keeping the memory. (Jello and cabbage don't sound very appetizing to me!)
DeleteMy family is from Kansas and Jello Is Big There. Our favorite jello "salad" was made at Christmas and we called it "stained glass jello." It starts with a graham cracker crust in a 9x13" pan. Then make big pans of jello in red, green, and orange. Once set, cube them (about .5"). Then make a mixture of lemon jello (only partly set) and fold in cream cheese (I think?) or maybe Cool Whip or possibly both. Then fold in the cubes of red, green, and orange, and spread all that over the crust. Chill AGAIN (this takes lots of fridge time and space). When you cut this, it really does look like stained glass and is quite pretty. It is one of those jello "salads" that tastes like dessert... the best kind, in my opinion. I probably don't have this exactly right because I'm not looking at the recipe, but it's enough to give you a visual if you're a Jello Enthusiast.
ReplyDeleteWe had something with the same name, but no graham crackers. lol
DeleteI remember them well and never really liked them. My sister makes a cranberry one, ugh!!
ReplyDeleteThat cabbage one sounds awful!!!! My mom was really into Jell-o. But, just made as dessert. She did pour milk on it though. That was weird, but strangely good.
ReplyDeleteWhen she was old, I called one morning and asked what she was doing. She was having breakfast - cereal with red jell-o. Jell-o for breakfast??? She explained she was out of fruit, but she had strawberry jell-o. Jell-o for BREAKFAST!
When she died and I cleaned out her house I brought home about two years worth of Jell-o. Thankfully, no cabbage.
Okay, in defense of my mom:), we had green jello salad (celery when available, or lime if not) and it was one of my favorite. It had cottage cheese, pineapple and was dotted with maraschino cherries. We also had green or orange jello with shredded celery (not easily done), shredded carrots, and something else in it (I think). We had jello every few days and I have so many vegetable jellos in my memory bank. There were a few sweeter recipes, too. I don't know many people who had jello as a kid, but I think it was more of a Utah thing. Green Jello is a Utah favorite and there was even a Green Jello Olympic pin for 2002!
ReplyDeleteThat salad John and his siblings remember sounds familiar to me, too - I'll ask my mom about it. and I think I've had something like what Debbie describes and it's more like a molded coleslaw .... and not at all yucky like it sounds!
ReplyDeleteOh Jello salads. Sometimes when my sister and I had our kids together we tormented them with all the kinds of Jello salads we remembered. My Mom and Grama used to make a green jello with cool whip, crushed pineapple, and butter mints. It was sickening sweet. They also made one that was slightly better - lime jello, cream cheese, and pears in the blender.
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