NWR: Thankgiving food help!

petgal09

Hi there,

I apologize ahead of time if I shouldn't post this here, but I need some help with Thanksgiving.  My FI's Aunt just emailed me telling me to bring a Jello Salad as our dish...ummm anyone have a good one?  Everything I can think of is too "dessert" or too gross.  This is the first time I'm having Thankgiving dinner with his family...I don't want it to be icky

N

sunkissed212

I've never heard of a Jello Salad...?

boogerbearoriginal

I don't have a clue what jello salad is, but try allrecipes.com or recipezaar.com or just google jello salad recipes and see what comes up.

Good Luck!

Julz629

Maybe ask her for a recipe?  Or better yet, call her and tell her, "I make a great fill-in-the-blank for dessert/appetizer/whatever.  Is it OK if I bring that instead?"

Personally, its kind of odd that she called and told you explicitly what to bring.  I am all for pot lucks and figuring out who brings main dishes, desserts, etc.  But like you, I would be worried about screwing it up if I was told exactly what to bring.

nubiannqween

I have never made or eaten Jello Salad...but I Googled it.

Here is a link that I thought had a few good sounding recipes.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,jello_salad,FF.html

LISA R

Jello Salad? cant say I've ever heard

elkay

I work at the Culinary Archive of a history museum. Last month I catalogued a collection of gelatine company recipe booklets from the early 20th century. Many of the recipes then were for less-sweet gelled dishes than are promoted now, especially from Knox Gelatine who advertised "only pure gelatine to let the flavor of your food shine through, not sugar and flavorings as some others" (guess who they meant?)

Anyway, a lot of the "Salads" were variations of what we think of as cole slaw ingredients formed into a lemon gelatine mold. That is, finely chopped or shredded cabbage, carrots, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, orange sections, or tart apples mixed or arranged to your taste. Use lemon, lime, or plain gelatine with some salt and white vinegar or lemon juice.

Plan to unmold it even if your only mold is a round mixing bowl or a loaf pan - it will look very pretty on a plate. I prefer unflavored gelatine for these types of dishes. Sugar does not belong in the main course veggies.

One of the few remaining recipes from this era that Google should find is Perfection Salad. That will help you with amounts and proportions. GL!

terbear_86

My mom makes a great one ( If you like green jello and pineapple and cream cheese and cherries ) but we call it Jello Mold, hahah because it goes in this fancy schmancy mold that looks similar to an angel cake mold. I can see about asking her for the recipe if you still need something. It doesn't take too long to make ( The longest part is letting it set). Although-- if you have something else that would pass as a sweet, fruity treat you could put together any number of things which do not require a long recipe or special bowls and would kinda be the same such as:

Make your own new kind of "Jello Salad" the way you can buy it in stores- jello cups with peaches, strawberries in them etc ( make holiday colors, Green jello with strawberries, red jello with green grapes, orange jello (fall color) with orange slices

Make a fruit salad with a fun cool whip strawberry dip -- place it in a carved watermelon basket

Make a fruit pie (  or buy a good one--- haha- just transfer it from the foil pan into a glass one and pass it off as your own-- I know people who do this at EVERY holiday, haha)

Set up a dessert platter with mini eclairs ( you can buy em frozen a TON of places) some holiday cookies, some fruit candies etc

Ask if you can bring something else that you love and can make easily/cheaply and will transfer from home to visiting well.

ETA: if you still need that recipe: terbear_86@yahoo.com

petgal09

Thanks everyone.  I called my grandma finally and begged her to help me since I was so lost.  She makes a decent one but I guess I never really thought of it as a "Jello Salad".  So anyhow, went to allrecipes.com or somewhere and found "Love My Pear" salad...Lemon Jello, Cream Cheese, Pears, & Cool Whip...Hope it turns out, I'm going to make it Wednesday night...if it doesn't work then FI has agreed to play the "bad guy" and tell his aunt we "forgot" the dish in the rush of getting out the door, lol...his idea not mine!  Sometimes its his little suggestions like this that make me forget all the bone head things boys do sometimes!

Thanks Ladies!