joys of jello

The colors you describe for contrasts - lime with carrots- are great, but the flavors together??? Gotta wonder sometimes. Love the pretty colors in your photos. They look so good I want to eat Jell-O.

I am definitely tempted in giving it a try... I don't know WHY, as I normally screw up making jell-o, but it is really thought provoking.

Though, what I hated most, was when the school cafeteria threw in soft fruits. These tended to.. er.. partially rot in the jell-o, or something. Quite nasty, vile, gross and evil! Evil, Evil, Evil.

Man, I could deal with some raspberry jell-O now...

rj - yes, the soft fruits were the worst. esp the bananas. ick.

want one of these technicolor recipes?? nah, stick to raspberry...or try the grape, made with half the hot water. oh, yum....

Very funny! I once had a similar "vintage" cookbook and the colors were so gross I couldn't get past them to enjoy the recipes. I think that one got accidentally left behind during one of my many moves.

This book was so successful it was followed up by The NEW Joys of Jello in 1973. If you think the photos were garish before, the NEW version showed groovy people having wedding receptions decked out with glorious Jello dishes and, happy teenagers assembling Jello creations. It's my favorite horror book.

All a sign of the times. Back in the 40's and 50's, they need cheap ideas, and man were these cheap!
Fun article - I love the pictures!

The colors in the pictures are truly inspiring! People used to really eat these things.

LOL thanks jessie, this was great. Birthday "surprise" indeed!!! Those pictures reminded me of James Lileks' Gallery of Regrettable Food.

Gelatin "salads" are somehow displeasing to me, but gelatin desserts can be a time-machine to a Minnesota childhood.

Okay, I LOVE lime Jello with shredded carrots and crushed pineapple. And it's a favorite of my ten-year-old daughter, too! And I even like a few Jello recipes that include Cool Whip.

Yes, I'm from Minnesota.

The recipes I can't quite get my head (or mouth) around are the ones that use plain gelatin and . . . fish. Just where IS that sort of thing popular? If you've had it, can you the experience to me?

That is, can you _describe_ the experience for me?

Another Jello variation that seems to have largely died out: elaborately layered Jello concoctions. This involved mixing one Jello concoction, pouring it into the mold, and allowing it to gel, then mixing a different concoction, pouring it atop the first and allowing it to gel, and then another, and perhaps another . . . The techincolor possibilities were endless, but it meant spending an entire day spent assembling--yes--Jello!

I have recently acquired an aquaintance and taste for Jello; anything red works for me. Also for me growing up in Minnesota, Jello was part and parcel of pot luck suppers, in all its many and vaired permuations. At home I would take Jello and mix it with mild and then drink the whole works down; basically, poor mans whip cream.
RKL

I remember my shock, the first time I attended a big family dinner in Duluth, at being offered "salad" as someone passed an enormous jiggling plate of red jello my way. This one in particular was cinnamon and apple, I believe. Not bad actually, but odd to have with the main course.

The worst jello recipe I have seen involved clear-ish jello with cocktail weenies and hard boiled eggs embedded in it. These were not the little red hotdog type weenies, but the canned "vienna sausage" variety that are all soft and mushy...sort of flesh colored. What the heck were those people thinking?

oh, lisa, that IS the worst! ick! ick!! were they trying to clean out their cupboard??

robert - poor man's whip cream, too funny! ick, ick, too!

jana - oh, you poor jello woman. ;) i'll see if i can find the fish recipe. bleah!!! you don't really want to MAKE it, do you? heh heh...

Yeah, but what about those "Jello Gone Bad" stories. You know, on those rare but unforgettable occasions when you take a bite and it has the consistancy of a Goodyear tire.

chris - sorry, that cottage cheese one has got to go. is it even good? or just "healthy" (how can it be? haha)...

sally and EB - i'd love to see the hippies grooving to the jello. what a hoot!! yes, this cookbook is someth else.

nancy and meryl - thanks!

julia - wow, i went to that website. ICK!! the corned beef and jello main dish was truly awe-inspiring. thanks!

george - can you even ruin jello? i had no idea!

The weenie egg jello concoction was in a recipe book - thank goodness I didn't see that first hand!!! I can't imagine what I would do if faced with that in real life. The horror!!!

On Easter a fruit jello mold is SOP in our house. Always red jello, and always filled with sliced grapes, cubed pears, slivered peaches, cut strawberry, plump blueberries. It's on the table with the ham and the homemade mac & cheese and the veggies. Like dessert with the main event, if you ask me.

Your pics are very Betty Crocker circa 55 - ish. I wasn't alive, of course (of course!), but anyway, Betty was (she was at a Tupperware Party with Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben).

I have started eating jello again with fruit in it, but I've never heard of it with veggies. And Lisa I am with you on the weenie and egg jello. Gross!!!! I like it with the 7 up in it also. It's easy, it's cheap. And don't forget about the jello jigglers!

lisa - ick, ick. you KNOW someone made it!!

KR - wow, your easter jello is a veritable treasure trove...;) gotta love betty...

lauris - how about with vernor's? it is a special michigan gingerale. yum, yum!

just plain jello with whip cream for me please.

I love jello with fruit, but like Laurie, never heard of it with vegies. Not sure if I am adventurous enough to give it a try:-)

We always had orange jello with crushed pineapple, mandarian oranges and grated carrots when I was a kid. I love jello and jello salads but my husband is not a fan of jello. I have this book and have often wondered if people really make these recipes.

there is definitely something about the midwest and Jello. As I stayed in Michigan for Thanksgiving during college, my dad's old college buddy would make the craziest jello every year -- and we would have to guess how many layers there were. I have attempted to recreate Bozo's jello ever since, but he has achieved a level of perfection that I think cannot be matched!

thanks, everyone! i know - my mom makes an amazing layered jello salad at xmas time - one layer red with raspberries, one layer green with pineapple, i think. it is gone in a flash. heather - you should see this book. they layer up to 5 layers of jello! i don't think i'd have the patience for that one....what a hoot!

The wierdest jello encounter I had was shortly after we moved to AZ. We were invited to Christmas Eve dinner at the parents' of friends, and their mom served...are you sitting down....green jello with jalapenos in suspended animation! Apparently it was a family tradition. I told my kids to "eat around it..." and promised that I would never serve it, unless they really made me crabby!

ok, gisela - that one takes the CAKE!!! ick, ick. hot and sweet. gotta love it. i don't think it would ever fly in MN. ;) unless ron hall made it!

Since my wife started to make Jell-o again I really feel like I am a child again. Nothing like the comfort food of childhood to bring back old memories. Now when my wife makes it, especially any red Jell-o, I wait long enough, just when the Jell-o starts to set. I like the Jell-o realy sort of slurpy. I have been known to eat an entire batch in one sitting. Great childhood comfort food. As of yet my wife has not discovered the joys of SPAM !

RKL

Jell-O. Vodka. Perfection.

I, too, have enjoyed the various 'salads' that can be created with Jello gelatin. I currently live in Vancouver, on the 'Wet' Coast of Canada, but grew up in a small, rural community (3300 pop.) on Vancouver Island, where time continues to stand still, and gelatin salads are still served on special occasions.

However, my favourite Jello is the pudding variety - especially those that must be cooked - specifically, chocolate, banana and coconut. Two of these figure largely in family dinners at Thanksgiving and Christmas - in the building of my version of Trifle. I make 4-cup batches each of the banana and coconut flavours of pudding Jello and set them aside to cool with plastic wrap right on the surface so that no 'skin' forms. Also involved is a home-made pound cake cut in half-inch-thick slices (no sissy angel-food or sponge cake for me !!), and various interesting fruits cut into thin slices (strawberries, kiwis, mangos, papayas, etc. I also don't use sherry - I use three different kinds of liqueurs. And finally, I do make up a 4-cup batch of Raspberry-flavoured Jello gelatin (with only half the liquid the recipe calls for) and then the layering begins.

A layer of cake to cover the bottom of a steep-sided glass or crystal bowl. A 2-3 Tbsp drizzle of one of the liqueurs. A matching 2-3 Tbsp drizzle of the (liquid) Raspberry Jello. A layer of one of the fruits. A layer of one of the puddings. Repeat - using a different liqueur and a different fruit and a different one of the cooked puddings for each layer of cake laid down - but always adding 2-3 Tbsp of Raspberry Jello after the liqueur is drizzled.

Finish with a layer of pudding, then add whatever garnish strikes your fancy: for instance, poufs of whipped cream around the circumference, with strawberry slices inserted in each "pouf". Or a 'flower' in the centre, the petals of which consist of any of the leftover slices of fruit that was used in the building of your masterpiece.

I find this 'take' on Trifle a LOT more interesting than the typical sponge cake, sloppy canned peach slices, sherry and custard version. It was the creation of my first ever Trifle more than 20 years ago (that didn't involve the traditional ingredients) that really lead to my enjoyment of creating special dishes for those I love - an enjoyment in food as "art" that has continued to this day.

To this day, I can still tuck into a lime Jello gelatin and shredded carrot and celery "salad" with fond remembrance of dinners past from my rural upbringing. But the once-non-traditional Jello pudding Trifle - has also become a tradition in my family, and neither Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner would be complete without it.

Wanda Mundy

Love looking at these old recipe books :)) Great buy !!! :))