Cranberry Fluff "Salad"

 Jell-O salads always feel more like wonky desserts to me. I like them for the most part, I just don't tend to put them on my dinner plate. I do, however, insist on calling them Jell-O salads and not the dreaded C word (congealed) which appears to be a regionalism down here. 

A refrigerator mishap led to me making the Jell-O salad for Christmas dinner this year.  Grandma E's boxes have something like 14 different gelled salads, so getting to pull them out was an exciting prospect. There's really quite a range in gelled dishes. Historically, gelatin was rendered from the hooves of ungulates and mixed with clear broths to make a savory dish or with fruit juices and wine to make a lightly sweet one.  The process was a laborious one though and was a status dish that typically indicated a household had a large kitchen staff.

The introduction of instant gelatin made the dishes accessible to home cooks and Jell-O published many "Jell-O salad" recipes to promote their product. Based on my Grandmother's recipe boxes, it would appear that these recipes were very popular through the 1950's through the mid-1980's. 

Out of the 14 different gelled salads, I chose "Cranberry Fluff" to try for two reasons. First, gelled salads can ether be clear or opaque and it's been a very long time since I've had an opaque one. The second reason is that I actually vaguely remember my grandmother making this one.

The dish came out a little lumpy, mainly through my inexperience with gelled dishes and not because of the recipe (I'll do better next time). That aside, it was absolutely scrumptious but intensely sweet. The blend of cherry, cranberry, and sour cream was delightful.

Cranberry Fluff Salad

• 1 (3 oz.) pkg. cherry Jell-O
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (we like pecans)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 can (16 oz) whole cranberry sauce (I used the fully smooth jellied kind and it came out well. Don't get too fussy about the can size - 14.5 oz is fine.

Dissolve Jell-O in hot water. Chill until slightly thick. (Keep an eye on it, it will happen faster than you expect.)

Beat cranberry sauce with the sour cream and mix into the thickened Jell-O. You can do this by hand, but a hand mixer is much, much easier on your arm. (If the Jell-O started hardening on you at the edges, use the beater to mix it all in.) 

Stir in nuts and celery. Pour into a bowl or mold and let set in the refrigerator. (This takes several hours)

*this doubles well. I used full sugar Jell-O and full fat sour cream, but it would work with the reduced versions of either. The texture wouldn't be quite as luscious I expect.