Tami's Really Cool, Tasty and Delicious Pretzel-Jello Stuff

I've eaten this jello salad that Tami, my niece-in-law (niece-in-law?), makes; and it is really yummy! I know, pretzels with jello might make you think twice, but you should think a third time and just try it.

I missed out when she took it to Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house, because I spent Turkey Day at my in-laws. But Tami graciously gave me the recipe, and now I am going to propel her to culinary fame by posting it here, on my cookbook blog. ;-)

TAMI'S PRETZEL-JELLO SALAD

CRUST:
2 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cubes melted butter
FILLING:
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
8 oz cool whip
JELLO:
6 oz jello pkg.
water
2 cups cold orange juice (optional)


CRUST:
Mix the crushed pretzels, 2 Tbsp. sugar, and butter together.
Flatten the mixture into a 9x13 inch pan; bake at 400* for 10 minutes, then cool completely.
FILLING:
Mix the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar together until smooth; blend in the Cool Whip.
Spread over the cooled pretzels, making sure to seal the edges so the Jello mixture won't leak through.
JELLO:
Make the jello according to package directions, substituting the 2 cups juice INSTEAD of the 2 cups cold water, if desired.
Slowly pour the jello over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Do this slowly and carefully so you don't pour a hole into the cream cheese. [Refrigerating the cream cheese stuff first might help; it might harden it up a little. Maybe also letting the jello cool to room temperature before you pour it—Loralee].
Refrigerate until jello is completely set.
EAT:
Serve to your family and friends at the next big gathering (like New Year's Eve).
It's yummy, but don't eat it all by yourself!

Strawberries

The Strawberry Bouquet the other night was truly spectacular. I even had one friend who said she thought it was made of real roses. I grant you, she forgot her glasses that night; but still . . .
The roses were made of chocolate-dipped strawberries and strawberry candies, which were all skewered and set into a styrofoam block. The greens really are just silk plants (you can't eat those!)—to make the whole thing look nice.

I think that if I had some good marketing skills a basket of these roses could easily sell for $75 (which works out to be about $1 per "flower"). But you, you lucky readers, can make your own for substantially less. [Although, if you don't want to take the trouble, I will happily make you one for $75—if you live in Salt Lake
County. ;-) ]

And not only is it beautiful, it is really tasty, too!

STRAWBERRIES

a handful of slivered almonds

green food coloring
1 cup finely chopped nuts (I use blanched almonds)

1 cup shredded coconut

2 (3 oz.) pkg. strawberry jello

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla

red sugar (cookie/cake sprinkles)

green sugar

In a sandwich baggie, toss the slivered almonds with green food coloring until they are green all over. Let them dry on paper towels.

In a small bowl, combine nuts, coconut, jello, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Mix thoroughly [I find it easiest to knead it by hand.] Pinch off a little of the dough and mash, roll and pinch it into a strawberry shape. Roll it in the red sugar, then dip the top end in a little of the green sugar. Insert a green almond into the top for a stem. Voila! Strawberries!

Very cute, and tasty! [Sounds like what Bruce says about me. ;-) ]

Popcorn Balls

These are soooo easy to make and the kids LOVE them! And, since they are made with Jello, you can make different colors to suit the seasons: Tonight we made orange for Halloween, but you could make red and green for Christmas, pink, purple or yellow for spring--Oh! The possibilities are just endless! :-)

JELLO POPCORN BALLS

9 cups popped popcorn [I prefer air-popped, with no butter, but microwave popcorn will work.]

1 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup sugar

1 (3 oz.) package jello, any flavor

Put the popcorn into a bowl large enough to hold all of it.

In a heavy saucepan, bring corn syrup and sugar to a boil. Add the Jello and stir until dissolved. Pour over the popcorn and stir in well. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. [I learned the hard way that the balls just won't stick together if you try to make them while it's still hot. Besides that, you will burn your hands!] Lightly butter your hands--just like putting on lotion. Now scoop up handfuls of the popcorn goo and make it into balls.

When you're all finished making the popcorn balls, give your kids some spoons and let them clean up the bowl for you.

This recipe makes about 18 balls the size of tennis balls.

Ring Around the Tuna

Have you ever come across a recipe that was so fantastic you could hardly believe it? I don't mean fantastic like, "wow" or "so cool," but fantastic in it's more original meaning: "very strange" or "highly improbable." Well I have a recipe here that is definitely far-out, like from outer space.

This recipe is from an old Jell-O cookbook, called Joys of Jell-O, which was probably printed in the late 60's. I've never made it, but when I came across the recipe I just had to share it for your enjoyment. I am copying it here word for word:


RING-AROUND-THE-TUNA
A beautiful jewel-like entree salad for your luncheon or buffet table.
1 package (3 oz.) Jell-O Lime or Lemon-Lime Gelatin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup cold water
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons grated onion
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup diced celery*
2 tablespoons chopped pimiento*
2 tablespoons sliced stuffed olives
1 can (7 oz.) tuna, drained and flaked

*Or reduce celery to 1/4 cup and substitute 1/2 cup chopped tomato for the pimiento

Dissolve Jell-O Gelatin and salt in boiling water. Add cold water, vinegar and onion. Chill until very thick. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into individual ring molds or a 1-quart ring mold. Chill until firm. Unmold on crisp salad greens. If desired, serve with additional tuna, and top salads with mayonnaise. Makes 3 2/3 cups or about 4 entree servings.


Mmmm--Mmmm! Now, how could you resist putting something like that on your luncheon or buffet table?

The Legend of the Green Jello

Actually my sister, Melanie, tells this story better than I do.

When I was about eight or nine years old I made Jell-o for the first time. I made lime jello to have with dinner but, this being my first experience, it didn't turn out right. That's putting it nicely. I boiled the water, stirred in the powder, added cold water, mixed it, and poured it into a dish to set up in the fridge--all according to instructions. But I didn't completely dissolve the gelatin, so at dinner-time there was about a 1/4-inch layer of gritty, rubbery stuff on the bottom and a kind of thin, slimy, syrupy layer over the top of that. (Yum!) To save my feelings, my family heroically ate it anyway. Even I could tell it wasn't good, but finally Mark (about 7-8 years older than me) said, "Mmmm! This is really good!" That heart-felt statement did Melanie in (she's 5 years older than me). She started laughing and so inhaled some of her tasty treat. As she coughed and gasped, Mom, who has a little tendency to over-react, started saying things like, "She's choking!!" (to the family, in general) "Put your arms up!" (to Melanie) "Slap her on the back!" (to Dad), and a lot of other similar stuff, which made my sister crack-up even more. Finally, just as Melanie was starting to regain control Mom yelled, "Take her outside and squirt her with the hose!!" At that, Melanie nearly died from laughing--and breathing Jello--and so prolonged both her agony and my mom's.

Since you want to avoid this kind of trauma in your family, heed the moral of this story: Make sure you completely dissolve your gelatin before adding the cold water!