Sometimes . . .

. . . things don't go the way they were planned!

When Dan and Betty Bryl received their cookbooks, I imagined that they were excited to see their daughter's inclusion. But when they opened their copies, they looked at each other and said, "What happened?" Then they emailed me.

"Where's the recipe? We got the memory, but where's the recipe?"

Uh-oh . . . Had there been a recipe, too? My stomach sunk to my knees. Where?

Eventually we figured it out. The first email Dan sent had two attachments---one for the recipe and one for the memory--but the corrected email only held the memory because that was all they had needed to correct. I got the email message that said it was the final one and didn't feel that I needed to read the first two. I ran with the one that said it was the corrected version. It only held the memory atttachment and I thought that was all she wrote. I deleted the other two so as not to confuse myself and sent the corrected one to where I stored the material for Memories Around the Table. And that, my friends is why only the memory ended up in the cookbook.

These things happen.

Well, I knew there was a way to remedy this. Here it is! Below is the recipe that goes with the memory for Jell-O. Jessica, I sure hope your parents will love me again!


Seven-Layer Jell-O

Not an easy recipe but worth the effort!

1 small box of each: cherry, orange, lemon, and lime Jell-O
2 packages plain Knox gelatin
1 pint sour cream
2 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Dissolve each Jell-O package in 1 cup HOT water then add 1/2 cup cold water (keep each flavor separate).

Bring to BOIL in sauce pan the milk and sugar, stirring constantly. Dissolve 2 packages of Knox in 1/2 cup COLD water, then add to milk mixture. Cool slightly (off burner), then add sour cream and vanilla. Blend with electric mixer at low speed.

In 13 X 9 glass pan, pour in first layer of Jell-O. When this is set, pour 1 1/2 cups of milk mixture on top very slowly so as not to break layer. Continue process, making sure each layer is set. If you put in the refrigerator, it takes at least 45 minutes for first layer to become set.

TIP 1: Chill glass pan before pouring first layer. Each layer will go a bit faster because of the chill. You can speed up by putting in the reezer, but you have to be very careful not to FREEZE! You must watch and pull before ice crystals form. Then put in fridge to finish chill. Be very careful!

TIP 2: You can make all the Jell-O at once and leave at room temperature. The milk mixture should be kept in a pan of hot water so it won’t thicken, but make sure to cool some before pouring layer. Pour first layer to chill before making milk mixture, but be sure to cool some before pouring on set Jell-O layer.

TIP 3: Layer for the Holidays. We put cherry and lime as top two layers for Christmas, and orange for Halloween. You can try other flavors, but we have found that these were the most complementary to each other.

Need a copy of Memories Around the Table so that you can read the memory that goes with this recipe as well as dozens of other recipes and memories? Order from here.