Here I Go Again

Today is the one year anniversary of The Adventures of Ken and McKenna!

As a special treat for all of my loyal gentle readers, I present to you two gelatin recipes.

As Mother of Ken would say, "I just can't tell you how good these sound."

Mother of Ken sent these recipes to me a while ago from my hometown newspaper, The Parsons Sun, and I have been waiting for just the right moment to post them on the blog.

First, Pearl's "Mystery Salad," which I mistakenly referred to as "Jell-O Surprise" in my previous post. My apologies to Pearl.

I scanned the recipe as printed in the paper to prove that this is real, because I know it is difficult to believe that someone would be proud enough of this recipe to submit it for publication. It is a little hard to read in the scan, though, so here it is in larger font:

2 3 oz. pkgs. lemon gelatin
1 c. boiling water
2 10 3/4 oz. cans chicken noodle soup (undiluted)
1 c. mayonnaise
4 tablespoons finely chopped green pepper
1 can water chestnuts

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir till dissolved. Add the chicken soup.

Let cool but before it sets add remaining items. Cool till set in refrigerator. Serve one lettuce leaf if desired.

I haven't changed a single word--clearly Pearl is an economical writer, if not the world's best proofreader.

That said, I wish that she had shared how she came upon this recipe or if she made it up herself. I cannot imagine how one would come to the conclusion that lemon gelatin, chicken noodle soup, mayonnaise, green pepper, and water chestnuts would a) taste good together and b) have a texture that would not induce vomiting. Please, Pearl, we are dying to know!

Never fear, gentle readers, I have yet another gelatin recipe for you--anyone think that these ladies could have been inspired by Sandra "You-can-use-anything-at-all-that-you-have-in-your-pantry" Lee of Food Network fame?



Again, for your convenience, I have retyped the recipe below.

1 can crushed pineapple opened and pour in pan.
2 pkgs. of 3 oz. jello or 6 oz., pour in jello and bring to a boil, let cool, add 2 cups buttermilk and stir; fold in 1-9 oz. cool-whip.

Refrigerate; let set; cut and serve. Pour in 13x9 inch pan.

Once, again, I have not changed a thing. Regina, like Pearl, is a woman of few words and few proofreading skills. She also demonstrates a healthy appreciation for the semicolon, which; is an; underused punctuation; mark; as far as; I am concerned.

Reading these recipes reminded me of the time that Brother of Ken and I were at Grandmother of Ken's house (Mother of Ken's mother) when she made one of her gelatin creations. Grandmother of Ken hopped on the Jell-O bandwagon from day one and never looked back. She was always experimenting with Jell-O, sometimes with good results (cherry Jell-O with bananas) and sometimes with unfortunate results. At the tender ages of approximately 10 and seven, Brother of Ken and I were summoned to Grandmother of Ken's kitchen, where she wanted us to sample a new dish that she had made. Eyeing the suspicious pan of jiggly white stuff with lumps in it, we politely asked what it was. She hadn't thought of a name since it was experimental, but I'll call it Ranch Jell-O That Made us Retch. It was plain Jell-O with ranch dressing, shredded carrots, and chopped celery. Suffice it to say that Grandmother of Ken, by her own admission, is not much of a cook. The woman can sew circles around me, skip circles around me at the age of 91, and make the best freaking divinity and fudge that you have ever had, but everyday cooking is just not her thing.

I hope that you have enjoyed these gelatin recipes--at first, I wished that I had photos of the finished dishes for you, but then I decided that it is safer for everyone's stomach that the newspaper only published the written recipes.

Here's to another year of The Adventures of Ken and McKenna--thanks for reading!