jell-o day

Yesterday was Jell-O day.  My sister-in-law makes a very cool Jell-O salad that always goes over very well at potlucks and large family get-togethers, so I decided to give it a try at our back-to-school picnic.  This very cool salad is super-easy to make, but a little time consuming.

First, you must assemble your ingredients:  Jell-O, sour cream, and water.

Dissolve the first color in boiling water.  Mix half of it with sour cream.  Pour into glass dish and chill.  While it chills, put together a freezer meal (which, by the way, calls for MORE sour cream) for your friend at church who just had a baby.

While you're at it, make extra so that your family can have it for dinner, too.

When the sour cream layer has chilled, pour the plain Jell-O on top of the sour cream layer.  Chill.  While it chills, drive matchbox cars with your 6-year-old.

Repeat all steps for the next color of Jell-O.

 While it chills, paint some rocks with your 6-year-old.

Repeat for the next color.

While it chills, spell words with magnetic letters on the bottom half of the refrigerator with your 6-year-old.

Admire the photos on the top half of the fridge.  Brainstorm more places for photos, since the fridge is more than full (there are more pics of family and friends down below these).

Repeat for the next layer.  And the next.  And the next...

While the last layer is chilling, deliver meal to tired mommy friend.  Come home and pop your own dinner into the oven.  And your Jell-O now looks kinda-sorta like this:

I wish I could show you a picture of what it looks like after someone has taken a spoonful or two out of the dish - the layers are much easier to see - but it was quickly consumed at the picnic, and I have nothing left to show you.  I'm secretly elated.  I love going to a picnic and coming back with empty dishes.

Renee's Rainbow Jell-O
1 box grape Jell-O (all boxes are 3 ounces)
1 box berry blue Jell-O
1 box lime Jell-O
1 box lemon or pineapple Jell-O
1 box orange or apricot Jell-O
1 box raspberry, strawberry or cherry Jell-O
1 box strawberry kiwi or watermelon Jell-O (I couldn't find either of these, so I just picked another red flavor)
1 pint (16 ounces) sour cream or plain yogurt

Repeat the following process for each flavor of Jell-O:  Add 1 cup boiling water to box of Jell-O, stirring until dissolved.  When Jell-O is dissolved, take 1/2 of this mixture and add it slowly to 1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt.  Stir together until smooth and then pour into a 9 x 13-inch glass pan.  Chill for 25 minutes.  Add 2 tablespoons cold water to the remaining half of the Jell-O mixture.  Pour on top of the chilled sour cream layer.  Chill 15-20 minutes.

Bonus recipe - my mom's potatoes (I made some honey ham and added these potatoes and a salad for my new baby meal):

Potatoes Lorna
1 2-lb bag hash browns, partially thawed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup onion, chopped (left this out for baby meal - onion and breastfeeding don't mix)
1/4 c. butter, melted
2 c. cheddar cheese, grated
2 c. corn flakes
additional butter, melted

Combine all ingredients except corn flakes and additional butter.  Spread in greased 9 x 13-inch pan.  In a small bowl, combine corn flakes with enough butter to make crumbly (about 1/4 cup).  Spread crumbs on top of potato mixture.  Bake, uncovered, 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees.