Strawberry Sour-Cream Jello® Bites

With summer in full swing, cool, tasty treats are in high demand. At least with my kids they are. Not me, though. No no. I'd never admit to make these Jello treats for myself. Well, maybe I'll admit it. They are pretty tasty. It's been some time since I did a Jello recipe, too. Gotta keep up the Mormon stereotypes, don't I? I can see it now, “Tales of the Jello Eaters,” a new book by Clive Barker.

Heh, heh. Okay, maybe not.

This is a recipe I modified from Kraft Foods. I actually use a different brand of flavored gelatin, but most people know it as Jello, no matter who makes it. This one combines strawberry gelatin, sour cream, and fresh strawberries. We're going to break with tradition and put the fruit on top, instead of mixing it in so it can sink to the bottom. If you've every been to an LDS ward social, you know of what I speak. This way, is tastier, and more elegant. Who said Jello can't have class?

Equipment Needed

Kettle (to boil the water)

Mixing bowls

Measuring cups

Whisk

Ice cube trays

Ingredients

Cooking spray

1/3 cup boiling water

1 package (3 oz) strawberry flavored gelatin.

1/2 cup sour cream

5 fresh strawberries, stemmed and quartered.

Directions

Spray the ice cube tray with cooking spray and set aside.

Mix the boiling water with the gelatin in a large bowl. Whisk until completely dissolved, about 2 minutes. Add the sour cream. Gently mix until completely incorporated.

Divide the mixture evenly between the sections of the prepared ice cube tray. Refrigerate until very firm, at least 20 minutes.

In the meantime, remove the stems from the strawberries and quarter them.

When the gelatin mixture is firm, fill the sink about halfway with very warm water. Briefly dip the bottom of the ice cube tray into the water, and remove. This will loosen the gelatin and make it easier to unmold. Put a plate or small baking pan, upside down, on top of the ice cube tray. Invert them both, together, and give the bottom a quick tap on the counter to unmold the gelatin cubes. Place one quarter of a strawberry on top, and serve.

Most ice cube trays have about 14 sections, so you'll have two quarters of a strawberry left. Eat them before your kids do.

Jello is a registered trademark ® of Kraft Foods.

Ribbon Jell-O (Finally)

I realized the other day that it's been a long time since I talked about Jell-O. Many of you are, no doubt, wondering why. I mean, I'm a Utah Mormon. How can I not be sucking down tons of Jello? Or is it Jell-O? I think only Kraft Foods cares.

I found this Ribbon Jell-O recipe in a great old recipe book, “The Mormon Family Cookbook.” I borrowed it from a friend of mine and I've held onto it for some time. About two years, I think. I should probably give it back to him.

It's a recipe that promises to make a stunning Jell-O dessert, and it certainly does. It's also a pain in the butt and takes a long time to make. It's fun to see how people react to it, though, so you should try it at least once. It's pretty tasty, too, with all the different fruity flavors in there. Honestly, though? As tasty as it is, I'm too lazy to make this again any time soon.

Equipment Needed
Measuring cups and spoons
Whisk or hand mixer
Tea Kettle or some other way to boil water
Mixing bowls
Bundt pan, or other large decorative pan as a gelatin mold.

Ingredients
6 (3 ounce) packages flavored gelatin in 6 or 7 different flavors and colors
7 cups boiling water (Don't try and prep this before hand, okay?)
1 pint sour cream
whipped topping
cooking spray

Directions
Thoroughly spray the bundt pan or whatever other mold you're using, with non-stick cooking spray. That's mold as in gelatin mold, not the green fuzzy stuff that makes penicillin. Try not to get them confused.

Boil some water in the tea kettle. Take one cup of the boiling water, add it to one package of gelatine in a small bowl and stir to dissolve. Pour half into the bundt pan. Place in the refrigerator on a level shelf to chill.

Fill a large mixing bowl with ice and a bit of water. Pour the other half of the gelatine mixture into a small mixing bowl, preferably a stainless steel one. Put the small bowl into a larger bowl of ice. Wait for the gelatin in the refrigerator to set up, the gelatin in the pan will be syrupy. It actually doesn't take too many minutes, as the quantities are pretty small, but the time will vary from batch to batch so keep an eye on it. Add a heaping tablespoon of sour cream to the gelatin in the small mixing bowl and beat with a whisk or hand blender until well blended and smooth. Pour this mixture into the bunt pan (a.k.a. Jell-O mold), Smoothing it all out. Return the mold to the the refrigerator and let it set. Repeat the process with a contrasting color.

After the last layer sets up (overnight is preferable), un-mold the gelatin onto a serving plate. If it won't easily come out, dip the pan into a bit of very arm water for a few seconds. This will melt a bit of the gelatin and allow it to slide out of the mold.

Mix the remaining sour cream with the whipped topping and spoon into the hole in the center of the bundt pan, or spread over the top like frosting. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to cut into slices and serve.

Makes lots.

NOTE: Don't let each layer set up until it is completely hard. Is just needs to be solid enough to hold the next layer. If the bottom layer is completely hard, it won't stick to the next layer. Try and let the hot gelatin cool a bit before you pour it onto the previous layer in the bundt pan. The hot gelatin can easily melt the previous layer.

No-Cook Peach Pie

While most people think of zucchini when they think of Utah food, the reality is we have great peaches. Do I daresay we have the best peaches in the U.S.? Yes I do. They're so good, we even have peach festivals every year in Brigham City and Hurricane. This is not home town (home state?) bragging, folks. There's just something about our water and climate that makes an incredible peach.

I love peaches. They're my favorite fruit. After eating my fill of fresh peaches off the tree, the foodie in me wants to make something more with them. The choice is obvious. Peach pie.

The trouble with peach pie is that it's cooked. I don't know what it is, but peaches change so much when you cook them, they seem like an entirely different fruit. Cooked and canned peaches just don't compare to the bright flavor of a fresh peach. It's a shame to have to cook these yummy things just to make a pie.

Ah, but we don't have to. My mother used to make a wonderful peach pie that required no cooking. It's so simple she was embarrassed by it. I love all kinds of pies, but this is my favorite peach pie. What makes it work is another Utah food favorite – don't laugh – Jello.

Use only fresh peaches with this, please. Save the canned peaches for something else.

Equipment Needed
Tea Kettle or Saucepan
Mixing Bowl
Paring Knife
Cutting Board

Ingredients
1 cup fresh peaches (or more), peeled and sliced into thin wedges
1 cooked pie crust or graham cracker crust
cooking spray
3 oz. package peach flavored gelatin
2/3 cup boiling water
2 cups ice cubes

Directions
Spray the bottom of the pie crust with cooking spray. This helps reduce the amount of liquid that can seep into the crust from the filling. Place the peach slices into the pie crust. Place them decoratively, or just spread them around and random. As long as they're more or less evenly distributed, and completely fill the crust, you'll be fine. How pretty you want then to look is up to you.

Dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water. Add the ice cubes and stir for about 2 minutes. Remove any ice cubes that haven't melted. Pour the gelatin over the peaches, just to the top. Don't drown them.

Place the pie in the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours, or let it set up overnight. Serve with whipped cream, or all by itself.

You don't have to use peach flavored gelatin. Orange or apricot flavored gelatin will work great.

Makes 8 servings.

Picture by Alaina Cherup Isn't it pretty?

Peach Gelatin Mousse Mold

Last Father's Day, my wife volunteered us to take a Jell-O salad to a get-together at her parent's house. What this really means is that my darling wife volunteered me to make a Jell-O salad for everyone on her side of the family. She hates cooking so I get volunteered a lot. I ended up making two salads, or rather two different flavors of the same recipe, just to make sure there was enough. They were quite a hit. I'm always glad when people enjoy a dish I've made, it's just that if they like it too much I'll be asked to make it again ... and again ... and again ...

Here's the variant I made on a recipe you used to be able to find at Kraft Foods. (I made that recipe for the get-together, too, in case you were wondering.) It's not the famous green Jell-O with pineapple or grated carrot that's so much a part of Utah Mormon food culture, but I like this one better.

Peach Gelatin Mousse Mold

(If you say that phonetically it sounds, awful, doesn't it? Who wants to eat mold? Okay, if it's in bleu cheese or gorgonzola I'll eat it, but I draw the line at penicillin.)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 (4 serving size) packages of Peach flavored gelatin dessert (or one 8 serving size package)
1 cup cold water
2 fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped.
1 8oz. tub of artificial Whipped Topping

Preparation

In a large bowl, mix the boiling water and powdered gelatin with a fork until completely dissolved (about two minutes). Stir in the cold water.

Place half the peach pieces in a 6 cup gelatin mold (I used a bunt cake pan). Pour 2 cups of the gelatin mixture into the mold, over the peach pieces, and refrigerate for about 35 minutes. The mixture should be firm, but not fully set. You can use more peaches, if you want. Just don't let it overwhelm the amount of gelatin.

In the meantime, refrigerate the remaining gelatin mixture for about 30 minutes, or until it has the consistency of raw egg whites. (Or, if you have children with head colds, the consistency of their . . . never mind.) Gently stir 2 cups of whipped topping into this mixture, along with the remaining peach pieces, until well blended.

Once the gelatin in the actual mold starts to get firm, pour (or spread) the whipped topping mixture evenly over the top, and refrigerate for about 4 hours, to let it fully set up.

Tips

To un-mold the gelatin, plunge the bottom of the mold (not the gelatin inside it), into some warm water for about 5 to 15 seconds, depending on how hot the water is. This melts the thin layer of gelatin that's actually in contact with the mold. Don't do this for to long. You want gelatin, not fruity flavored soup. Place a serving plate on top the mold, face down. Invert the plate and remove the mold. You may need to shake it slightly to get the gelatin to come out.

You can make this recipe with canned peaches as well, but you have to do a little more work. Cut the peaches into small pieces, and then wrap them in paper towels to get as much of the excess canning liquid out of them as you can. You may need to use a couple of paper towels. If you don't get the majority of the liquid out, the gelatin won't set up as well.

Enjoy!