Pass the Jello Salad Please
In college, I had a roommate from Japan. I brought her to my parents’ house for Easter one year, thought she would enjoy the experience of a “typical” American holiday meal. I will never forget her perplexed expression when I tried to explain the Jello salad to her, “But there’s no lettuce!” she had exclaimed. Until that moment, it had never occurred to me that there might be something unusual about Jello salad. At every family holiday, at every potluck, and family reunion, for my entire childhood and even to this day, someone has always brought some sort of Jello salad. And I’m proud to admit, that like no-bake cheesecake, rice-krispie treats, and Kraft mac-n-cheese, I love Jello salad. I currently reside in, what may very well be, the most snobbish place on earth when it comes to food. With the climate here, great fresh food is available year-round, and I love that, I really do, but I also like a lot of things any self-respecting “foodie” would turn his or her nose up at in a jiffy. The thing is I love all good food, I’m not prejudiced, give me a good old-fashioned mid-western meal of steak, corn on the cob, baked potato and jello salad and I’m one happy camper.
With my favorite holiday fast approaching, I received an unanticipated request, to bring a jello salad to Thanksgiving dinner in SF. I shouldn’t really be surprised, about half of the attendants will be displaced mid-westerners, but I find it funny all the same. A few years back, we went to a wonderful Turkey Day celebration given by the same couple who will be our hosts this year. For that holiday, I prepared my family’s traditional holiday Jello-salad. This layered strawberry and sour cream salad was a specialty of my maternal grandmother. When I was a teenager and learned how to make this dish myself, I remember being a bit dismayed that there was a layer of sour cream between two layers of sweet jello, it just didn’t seem right. I’ve since gotten over that initial quibble, and love that jello salad dearly, but I’m not going to make it this year. It doesn’t travel well. The year we took it the city, the BART trip caused its carefully deposited layers to slip and slide, so it wasn’t as appetizing as it had been when we left home, but it still tasted good. I thought however, that I would share the recipe with anyone who reads this blog, should they feel like a traditional Cook family holiday dish.
Grandma Cook’s Strawberry Sour Cream Jello Salad
- 1 pkg Cherry Jello, large size or two small (strawberry works too)
- 2 cups Boiling Water
- 1 pkg Frozen Strawberries, sliced, sweetened, large size mostly thawed at least
- 1 can Crushed pineapple, tall size, drained
- ⅔ cup Mashed Bananas
- 1 pkg Sour Cream (12 or 16 oz size)
Directions
- Dissolve Jello in boiling water by stirring at least two minutes.
- To the Jello, add strawberries, pineapple and bananas.
- Pour half of mixture into 9×13″ pan and put in fridge until set (keep remaining mixture at room temp).
- Mix up sour cream until lightened, and spread on Jello layer.
- Top with remaining Jello mixture.
- Refridgerate until set.
- 2 cans Musselmans apple sauce (I use one medium sized jar)
- 2 boxes Cherry Jello (3 oz size) one large box will work
- 10 oz 7 up Soda
Directions
- Heat applesauce on low heat in heavy saucepan.
- Add dry jello and stir it till it bubbles and dissolved.
- Let cool a bit and add 7up. It will foam but will settle down.
- Set in refridgerator till cold and set overnight.
- Note: I’m going to try adding some extra interest with some strawberries added in.
- This Dish can be made diabetic friendly using sugar free and diet ingredients.
The Strawberry Sour Cream sounds yummy!
Thank you, April!
I am a closet Jello Salad lover. Maybe I’ve been in CA toooo long. =)
It’s worth mentioning that the strawberries should be the kind that comes already sliced and sugared, that are frozen in a lump with their juices. I’ve never tried the individual uncut berry type, but I think it would be very hard to do the layers as they’d be large lumps. Also, the strawberry lump should be unfrozen, you kind of break it up into smaller lumps, and it’s iciness helps the jello set faster.
Trust me, you never outgrow (or become too sophisticated for) comfort food.