Cranberry Gelatin Salad

It’s hard to believe that we are just 1 week away from another Christmas! It seems to me that 2017 has flown by faster than any other year!

My family has been scattered all over the world this year, so we have had no opportunity to get a family picture taken. I made this picture from ones we took throughout the year so that you can see how the family has grown.

Last night we had our church’s annual service of Lessons and Carols. I think that it is one of my favorite services of the year. I needed to take a dessert and a salad for the fellowship meal afterwards. My family has always enjoyed a cranberry gelatin salad at Christmas time, so I decided to make one for the meal. As usual, I didn’t follow a recipe, but just made it up as I went along. Many people liked it and asked for the recipe! I was shocked that it was really that good!  🙂

I think the trick to the flavor came from the wassail that I used in place of the cold water when I made the gelatin. It added an extra burst of cranberry flavor which did make it a delightful salad.

1 large box raspberry gelatin

2 cups boiling water

1 cup regular apple juice (no extra sugar added)

1 cup cranberry wassail

1 can crushed pineapple, drained

1 can whole cranberry sauce

Dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, stirring until completely dissolved. Stir in the apple juice and the cranberry wassail. Stir in the whole cranberry sauce so the gelatin melts.

Put a layer of the crushed pineapple in the bottom of your dish. Pour some of the gelatin over the top and refrigerate until set. Add another layer of pineapple and more gelatin; refrigerate until set. Keep doing this until you use all the pineapple and the gelatin mixture. Refrigerate for several hours or until firmly set.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

This past weekend was a busy time for my sweet sister and her family.  Her 3rd child  (1st son) got married!!

I was very excited to be able to be a part of all the festivities since the wedding was here and not out west where Anna is from!  My sister asked me to make a strawberry pretzel dessert for the bridal luncheon held on Friday.  Years ago I used to make this dessert, but somehow over time, I lost the recipe and then just forgot about it.  I am so glad to have the recipe again!  My family loves this three-layer dessert. It is a great recipe to let children help with. Any child will love getting to crush pretzels with a rolling pin!  It makes a wonderful dessert to serve with your Easter dinner!

Bottom Layer:

2 cups crushed pretzels

1 stick butter

3/4 c. powdered sugar

Middle Layer:

12 oz whipped topping, softened (not frozen)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

3/4 c. powdered sugar

Top Layer:

6 oz strawberry gelatin

1 lb. container of fresh strawberries, rinsed and sliced

I put the pretzels in a zip-close plastic bag and used my marble rolling pin to coarsly crush them, continuing until I had 2 cups.  Melt butter and powdered sugar in the microwave. Mix with the pretzels and spread in a  sprayed 13×9 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes.  Cool.

In a large bowl, mix gelatin with 2 cups boiling water and stir to dissolve. Add sliced strawberries and chill.  Do not let it congeal completely!!  It just needs to be cooled.

While gelatin is cooling, blend cream cheese, whipped topping and powdered sugar until completely blended. When pretzel layer is cooled (room temp) spread the cream cheese layer over it making sure to seal the sides so that the gelatin doesn’t get underneath.

Gently pour gelatin over the top of the cream cheese mixture, using a spoon to arrange the strawberry slices.  Refrigerate until completely set. Cut into squares to serve.   If desired, add blackberries or blueberries to the strawberries!

Fluffy Stuff

Here is a quick and easy recipe for when you want a light dessert on a hot summer day!  I used strawberries and strawberry gelatin in mine, but it would be great with any flavor gelatin and other fruits like crushed pineapple or mandarin oranges.

 

1 lg. container small curd cottage cheese

1 (8oz) container whipped topping

1 sm. box gelatin, any flavor

1-1/2 c. chopped fruit

In a large mixing bowl, combing the cottage cheese, whipped topping, and gelatin.  Fold in chopped fruit.  Spoon into individual dessert dishes and refrigerate until set.  Serve with your favorite home-made cookie!   Serves 6-8.

Creamy Gelatin Fruit Salad

Don’t you just love it when you get to the end of a day, and you can look back on the day and realize that you got a lot accomplished?  Today was a day like that for me.  I woke up fairly early and decided to just get up and get going!  I mixed up a batch of waffles for my 2 remaining guys.  Then I went outside and planted my tomato and pepper plants!  I love making fresh salsa during the summer months, so home grown tomatoes and peppers are definitely  a must-have!!  I also did some laundry, house cleaning, bread baking, errand running, and chauffeuring of Sam!  Ha! Who says life slows down when the nest begins to empty??  Not around here!

Today’s recipe did not come from a cookbook.  I was trying to decide on a recipe for our Sunday dinner dessert but just couldn’t settle on anything.  I really didn’t want anything too sweet since I really would like to shed a few pounds before Russ graduates from BMT at the end of May.  We’ll see how that goes!!  Anyway, I noticed a can of mandarin orange slices on my shelf and a box of orange gelatin  in my cabinet.  Then my brain began to click into gear!  With some extra whipped topping I had in the freezer and some fresh fruits in the fridge, I knew I could whip up a light but tasty treat!

As I was working on it I was reminded of a dessert my mom used to make.  Years ago my mom would  whip gelatin and layer it with whipped topping.  Someone, not sure if it was my brother-in-law or  my cousin, said the whipped gelatin looked like styrofoam.  The other one said that it looked like soapsuds, and that  the whipped topping looked like mashed potatoes.  So those crazy guys combined the words and called the dessert “Styrofuds.”  For a long time after that, Sunday dinner just wasn’t the same without Styrofuds!   My dessert is nothing like this because I combined my gelatin with the whipping cream to give the dessert a creamy texture!

1 small box gelatin  (I used orange)

1 c. whipped topping

1 (8-10 oz) can of mandarin oranges, drained

1 banana, sliced

2 cups sliced strawberries, reserve about 8 slices

3/4 c. blueberries (I used frozen)

 

Mix the box of gelatin according to package directions.  Let cool in fridge until partially set.  Using an electric mixer with a whip attachment, combine the whipped topping and partially set gelatin.  In a decorative bowl, layer half the strawberries, orange slices, and banana slices.  Pour half the gelatin mixture over the top.

Sprinkle remaining fruit over the gelatin.  Top with remaining gelatin mixture.  Sprinkle the top with the blueberries and reserved strawberry slices.  Cool in fridge until completely set.