Jello!

[amilyn]

In preparation for (hopefully) writing a story that will amuse me like crazy, I have become curious about when and where people encounter the jello salad concoctions with which I grew up. I am also curious about who has and has not encountered these...creations.

Comments

[amilyn]

Oh, answer the poll anyway, just for the fun of it! :-D

Also? That sounds TRULY vile!

[mylittleredgirl]

So I had never encountered any of these weirdo forms of Jello until young adulthood, when my sister and I became BFFs with the local Mormon sister missionaries.

(Long answer - we grew up in a faith that really values pilgrimage, and so it seemed like they were on a pilgrimage and we were really excited to meet Christians who wanted to tell us about the Bible without telling us we were going to hell right off the bat. Short answer - there's very little to do in Aloha, Oregon.)

Anyway, my sister had recently invented a dessert concoction she called "Jello Surprise." It was legitimately delicious - basically a yogurt parfait with Jello (layers of red jello and yogurt and fruit - the "surprise" was the kind of fruit and sometimes the surprise addition of cheerios). Anyway, a whole bunch of Mormons were over and they all looked horrified when sis offered to make them Jello Surprise, and all refused straight off. We were completely confused. We assured them numerous times the surprise was not alcoholic! Wasn't Jello a thing in church?

[aj]

You should tell that story in a bar, if just to get the reaction of the person who walks in on the last line. PRICELESS.

[tylure]

I have had both ground beef and ham in Jello (and then there were some mystery meats in Jello that I didn't touch). I've had many, many types of fruit and vegitables in Jello (including green and black olives). Nuts in jello (mostly walnuts...almonds in the Jello was just...bad, and fortunately no one ruined cashews with Jello). Jello molded into interesting and sometimes pretty arrangements. Cheese in Jello (in a word, icky). Whole salads including lettuce in Jello (tomato in Jello is just gross as well). Single serving, regular baking dish, jelly roll pan, and full-sized, industrial sheet cake size versions. Rainbows of Jello with rainbows of ingredients. Oreos in Jello. Whipped cream mixed with Jello. Whipped cream layered with Jello. Jello in cake (I actually made that once, and the Jello didn't set into Jello but soaked into the cake in stripes and it could be done with pudding, too). Jello with ice cream or sherbet. I am surprised no one ever put chocolate chips in Jello and brought it to one of our potlucks, though

[labellerose]

Bless me o Jell-O guru for I have sinned.
I prepare and actually serve a peach Jell-O mold on Thanksgiving. I think the riot police would have to be called if I left it off the menu, so can I plead self-preservation?

[rachg82]

I've seen jello with cool whip, and possibly with fruit, but never nuts or veggies. Ew.

In my family, we ate the jello plain. The most we did with it was use cookie cutters to make "jello people." Hee. Sometimes we'd freeze the jello as well (popsicles).

[studiesinlight]

I have encountered these dishes, but never so many in one place as in your first photograph! They are unusual in my life; no one has ever made them in any household in which I've lived, but just encountered them at scouting/school/church potlucks, picnics, etc. In my experience, putting fruit in jello is pretty common, if you're going to put something in jello, but the other varieties you mention are rare or unknown.