Christmas Molds

Here are the molds I made for the office party at work. I have a three layer Jell-O mold with plain cherry, vanilla gelatin, and lime with pears. The other mold is an orange peach agar mold for the vegetarians at work.
Enjoy!
T

Three Thanksgiving Molds

To make up for the fact that I haven't made any Jell-O in a couple months now. I've made THREE molds for Thanksgiving. I just hit the wall with Jell-O eating. I still LOVE to make them. But I just couldn't eat that much Jell-O all by myself. I ended up wasting it. So I took a Jell-O sabbatical, and now I have returned with renewed Jell-O making vigor!

Here is another crown Jell-O mold, only I prefer the Food Librarian's version, to the Joys of Jell-O version.

And here is a recipe I made up on my own. You take 1 (3oz.) package apricot Jell-O and 1 envelope plain gelatin and dissolve in 1 cup boiling water. Then you add 1/2 can of condensed milk and a few drops of almond flavoring. Let chill until slightly thick. Add 1/2 can pineapple tidbits, 1 small can of mandarin oranges, and about 1/2 cup slivered almonds. Beat into Jell-O mixture with electric mixer. Whip until light and frothy. Pour into mold and chill until set.

And here is a boring plain red Jell-O lobster. Because some people like their Jell-O pure and unadulterated.

Happy Thanksgiving!
T

Mandarin Orange Gelatin Delight

Originally, this is the first Jell-O mold I ever tired making. It was the one that made me fall in love with Jell-O molds. And it's still one of my favorite recipes. It's from Betty Crocker's "Dinner for Two" cookbook. Of course I can never follow a recipe to the "t" so I always add an extra envelope of plain gelatin, and I threw the mandarin oranges into the Jell-O instead of serving them on the side. But still this recipe is great and you can't really go wrong. You can also try it with different flavors of Jell-O and icecream.
Enjoy!
T

Triple Layer Mold

Here's the magnificent mold I will be presenting for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow... funny they always ask me to bring Jell-O... It's a triple layer mold.



The top layer is almond gelatin:
3 packages gelatin
1/2 cup sugar
1 T. almond flavoring
2 cups boiling water.
Mix all until dissolved. Pour half of your gelatin into your mold and let it chill until partially set. Then arrange fruit, pour in remaining gelatin. Chill.

Middle layer:
1 package lemon Jell-O
1 package gelatin
1/2 jar coconut gel
1/2 cup coconut gel liquid
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 T. condensed milk
Mix all until dissolved. Chill until partially set. Pour in mold. Chill.

Bottom layer:
2 packages orange Jell-O
1 package gelatin
4 cups boiling water
mandarin oranges
4 T. condensed milk
Mix all until dissolved. Chill until partially set. Pour in mold. Chill until firm.

Enjoy!
T

Orange Shortbread Tart

This recipe is basically adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food recipe for "Fresh Orange and Yogurt Tart." Only, I didn't think her crust sounded that great, so I used shortbread instead. And since I don't like plain Greek yogurt, I substituted orange flavored yogurt instead. Also the next time I make this, I'm going to skip the plain gelatin and just use a box of orange Jell-O. With all those changes, it's a really delicious, simple and easy recipe:

Crust:
1/2 cup soft butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup flour

Mix together and pat into a pie plate.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 7 minutes or until edges are very lightly brown.
Let this cool to room temperature BEFORE starting the filling. Otherwise your filling will set before it's time to pour it on top.
(This crust would also rock with some super finely chopped walnuts added to it, about a 1/4 cup.)

Filling:
2 packets of gelatin OR 1 – 3oz box of orange Jell-O
1/2 cup half-n-half OR 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 whipping cream OR 1/2 cup milk
2 – 6oz packages of orange OR vanilla yogurt
2 or 3 medium navel oranges

If you're using gelatin, sprinkle it over about 3T. cold water in a medium bowl, and let it blossom while you're boiling your cream. If you're using Jell-O don't worry about it.

In a small pan bring your cream or milk to a gentle boil. Don't just scald your milk, let it actually start to boil before you take it off. It will need to be hot enough to dissolve the gelatin. Just don't let it burn on the bottom.

Add your hot cream to your gelatin or Jell-O, and mix at least 2 minutes until dissolved.

Whisk in yogurt.

Pour over your cooled shortbread crust.

Slice the rind off of your oranges, and slice oranges into about 1/4 inch slices. Place on top. (I was hungry when I made this and ended up eating one of my oranges before I finished it. Unfortunately, it would have turned out better with more orange slices on top.)

And if you're feeling extra motivated you can make candied orange peel with your leftover orange peels.

Enjoy!
T

Candy Corn Jello Mold

I wished I had found this post a few days ago. It's made by the wonderful Food Librarian. (I'm always excited to see the next grand thing that's going to pop out of her kitchen.) And this month was no disappointment. Visit her blog here to view the full recipe.
Photos by Food Librarian.

Citrus Surprise with Whipped Jell-O

Really there's nothing surprising about this Jell-O mold. Which is exactly why it tastes so good. It doesn't have eggs, or veggies, or vinegar, or spam. It's made with just plain old Jell-O and canned fruit. It was also surprisingly easy to make. The top layer is simply whipped Jell-O, that you make by taking the stiff Jell-O and beating it like egg whites until it's thick and frothy. Then the bottom layer had orange Jell-O and fruit. I used Mandarin oranges for mine.
See the recipe below:





p.s. I know I've been a bad Jell-O blogger lately. But I just got two amazing new Jell-O cookbooks, so there will be more to come soon!

broken glass Jell-O

Here's a colorfully fun Jell-O treat perfect for the little kiddies, brought to us by The Food Librarian. Get the complete instructions here.
Enjoy!
T





(Photos by The Food Librarian.)

orange county pie

Behold!
The most delicious looking orange jello pie yet.
The Food Librarian brings us this fabulous (yet fake) treat. But nowhere on her blog can I find the actual recipe. hmmm...
As far as I can tell, it's one box of lemon jello mixed with a tub of cool whip. With orange jello chunks mixed into that and all poured into a no-bake pie crust. I suppose if you were feeling extra lazy you could buy pre-made orange jello cups too. Anyhow, it's a lovely pie.


(Photo by The Food Librarian.)
T

jump for jelly!

There's nothing more exciting that orange jelly made from Sure-Jell!
T

orange creamsicle

An orange Jello mold with one part boiling water and one part vanilla icecream.
See basic Jello mold recipe here.
T

orange gelatin: take two

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Well, I tried the orange juice gelatin again only this time I used half the amount of orange juice, a box of Jello and a can of mandarin oranges. And this time it turned out just the way I wanted it to. Only I haven't quite mastered how long to wait before adding the fruit so it won't float to the top.

On a side note: I must admit, I've very concerned. When I went to Safeway to buy the box of Jello, they had cut their Jello stock in half! They no longer have generic brands of Jello, hardly any of the small boxes, and only a limited selection of the large boxes. The extra shelving was filled with pre-made Jello cups and pudding cups. What's the world coming too?!? Don't people ever want to make Jello anymore in molds? Or make Jello cakes? Or any of the other wonderful recipes involving boxes of Jello mix? I'm afraid boxes of Jello will soon become one of those hard to find novelties, like Junket, Sprite in a bottle and carbon paper. I guess I'd better stock up.
T

the amazing jello goldfish

Here is The Amazing Jello Goldfish. The Amazing Jello Goldfish is made with orange D'Gari Gelatin Dessert from Winco and a can of Butterfly Fruit Cocktail from Fubons containing pineapple, guava, papaya and coconut gel. I also added an envelope of Knott's unflavored gelatin, just in case it needed some extra hold.
The Amazing Jello Goldfish turned out quite delicious...
Although, I guess there isn't actually any Jello in it.
T