Wine To Go and Jello Too

Diet and fitness aside, wine is the elixir of the Gods. It's one vice I don't intend to give up. Though requested to bring champagne,(it hasn't been a champagne year), we're taking our favorite house wine Woodbridge Sauvignon Blanc to Thanksgiving dinner--also my traditional jello mold. The first layer is hardening up in the fridge as I write. I wasn't going to make one this year, but my daughter in-law's e-mail pursueded me to wrestle with the task.

Jello molds really aren't one of my specialties. The layers don't stay together because I always get distracted doing something else and they firm up totally unmovable. The trick is to let the jello set till nearly firm and then add the next layer. I really never knew for sure how long nearly was. The second trick is to make them days in advance so the jello is really firm, almost like rubber by it's time to de-mold. Then it just slips out of the oiled mold as you hoped: Whole--with layers in tact.



My recipe is not my recipe, but a mix of my Daughter-inlaw's mom's and my mom's. Dorothy Devlin is responsible for the red. My mom is responsible for the white. If any of you ladies want to take on the challege, now is the time. Here it is:

Ingredients:

1 6 oz. pkg. Raspberry Jello; 1 3/4 Cups boiling water; 1 can whole cranberry sauce; 1 can crushed pineapple (thoroughly drained); 1 3 oz. pkg. of lemon Jello; 1 pint (16 oz>) sourcream.

Process:

Dissolve raspberry jello in water, add cranberries (de-can the cranberries in another bowl and break them up real good; the gell will dissolve faster) and crushed pineapple. Stir till fruit is evenly distributed. Pour half this mixture into your oiled mold and chill till NEARLY SET, (I set the timer for an hour) in which time I dashed off the drawing of the wine. Keep the remaining jello at room temperture.

Dissolve the lemon jello in 3/4 cups boiling water and add the sour cream. Whisk the mixture till smooth and gently pour over your first layer. Chill till NEARLY SET.

Pour the remaining Raspberry/cranberry mixture carefully over the white layer and chill for several hours--days would be better--till totally firm. De-mold before you go to the party, or if the party is at your house, alone in the privacy of your kitchen. If a disaster's going to happen and you have to serve the thing in a bowl, why should anybody know you didn't intend to serve it that way.

If you have difficulty de-molding the thing, wet a towel with hot/warm water and wrap it around the mold for a extremely short period of time--just enough time to let the jello melt a tad.

Jello molds may look like something you just whipped up, but they really aren't for sissies in the kitchen. Whole or in parts, enjoy.