Friday, June 11, 2010

Crazy Contest!


Things have been rather hectic lately and I've had to really limit my online time to focus on writing and edits. An Ocean Apart--the new name for my Summerside historical--and macro edits for Blood Covenant, book two in my Mission Hope series with Zondervan are both due by the end of the month. And of course, there is still school and ministry and everything else that comes up.

So for a crazy month, I thought I'd host a crazy, somewhat jiggly contest.

Jiggly, you say? Oh yes.

I've mentioned how much fun I've had researching the 1920s on both sides of the Atlantic, and since one of the things I enjoy is cooking, I thought I'd add a recipe to the back of the book. But I need your help!

Salads back in the early 1900 had always been a bit...messy. The solution? Pour your fruits, canned and cooked vegetables and even meats into gelatin. This brought about things like jellied tomato and pimiento salad, sardines in aspic, fruited Jello-salads, and jellied anchovy moulds.

Yum, I know.

But be honest. How many of you still love Jello? Okay, maybe not with pimientos and sardines, but the yummy fruit and whipped cream kind. My favorite growing up was lime Jello with pineapple with and shredded cheddar cheese. (Yes, really.)

Here's what I need from you. All you have to do is leave a comment below and include your favorite gelatin recipe. (One that doesn't include meat and fish products!) Not only will one of you win, but the rest of us will have some summertime recipes to choose from! The winner will have their recipe included in the back of the book with an acknowledgement and will recieve a complimentary copy of the book once its released in February!

So let me hear from you!!
~~~~

On another note, here are a couple places to connect with me on line.

I'll be chatting on the radio with John Gaessler who is with Solace Wealth Management today (Friday the 11th) at 10:00 AM central time here about Blood Ransom and life in Africa. This link goes to John's show page and you can call in and talk 1-347-855-8163. The show will be saved on John's home page about one hour after we end the show.

One of the things that I've been challenged by recently in writing An Ocean Apart is the spiritual theme which revolves around finding our identity in Christ. I'll be writing a post on this soon, but in the meantime, I'm a guest blogger on my agent's blog today where I talk about this topic. You can read the post here.


CONTEST: Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

20 comments:

  1. Oh well Lisa this is a contest I will have to pass up, received your newsletter and am so happy you have another book coming out, but I am not a jello fan, so I don't have a receipe. My Mom used to make a dessert with jello she called it jello whip and it was made and layered with vanilla crackers but for the life of me I can't remember how it was made. She used the jello straight from the box and whipped in into whipped cream, and then layered it in a bowl. It was very good. It was so easy no one thought it needed writting down but then our minds were sharp and not aged like mine is now.

    Have a great summer and may God bless

    mamat2730(at)charter(dot)net

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  2. Thanks so much for stopping by, Edna. That sounds yummy. I cook that way, though, a bit of this and a bit of that. Makes it difficult when I'm teaching my children how to cook. I actually have to use a recipe! LOL

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  3. Hi, Lisa! Here's a very easy recipe for you:

    Simply Good Salad

    1 small box jello (strawberry, cherry and lime are all good)

    1 small can (11 oz) mandarin oranges, undrained, well-chilled

    whipped topping

    In refrigerator dish, dissolve jello in one cup boiling water. Stir well so that powder is dissolved. Add undrained mandarin oranges and stir until combined. Refrigerate until set. Top with whipped topping to serve.

    If desired, you can substitute sugar-free gelatin and sugar-free whipped topping for a "lite" version.

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  4. Anonymous4:11 PM

    I like sugar free cherry jello with sliced bananas in it.

    CarolNWong@aol.com

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  5. Apparently Jell-o is coming back in style. I ran across this blog the other day.

    http://victoriabelanger.wordpress.com/

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  6. That is such a fun, colorful site! I'm suddenly craving jello, and know at least one of my children who would be thrilled. :-)

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  7. Anonymous12:02 PM

    Hi Lisa:
    My favorite jello recipe is a Jello cake. Bake your favorite white cake, bake in 2 round pans. Once it has cooled in the pans, poke a bunch of holes in each layer with a fork. Now comes the fun part, get 2 small packages of your favorite jello (1 for each cake pan, right now I would get blueberry and cherry) add 1 cup hot water to each package mix until dissolved and spoon over cake making sure to get it in all the holes-one box of jello for each layer. Chill in the refrigerator overnight. To get the cake out of the pan,I usually set it in the sink with an inch or 2 of hot water to loosen the jello. Then put one layer on a plate, spread cool whip on top, then add the 2nd layer and frost with the cool whip. This makes a colorful cake, very light and delicious! Hope you and the kids enjoy!! Jeanne Corrigan

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  8. I love this cake, Jeanne, but it's been so long since I've had it. Now with the recipe here, we'll have to make it!

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  9. Anonymous1:35 PM

    Hi Lisa, this is an old favorite and very pretty.
    Dissolve a pkg. of jello in one cup hot water, stir in one carton of cottage cheese. The cottage cheese will separate into layers that make different shades. Chill in refrigerator. Enjoy.
    Ermalee

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  10. Anonymous12:57 PM

    Hi Lisa,
    I can't eat red and yellow coloring so I use unflavored gelatine. Here is a recipe from a 1960 Knox Gelatine book that I really like:
    1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatine
    1/4 C sugar
    1/4 tsp salt
    3/4 C canned pineapple syrup or juice
    1/4 C orange jice
    1/4 C vinegar
    1 C well-drained canned crushed or pineapple bits (I like unsweeten)
    1/2 C drained orange sections (cut in small pieces) Sometimes I leave this out.
    1/2 C coarsely grated raw carrots (You can leave out carrots and substitute 1/3 C chopped nuts or just add nuts and carrots!)

    Mix gelatine, sugar, salt and pineapple juice in small sauce pan. Over low heat, stir until gelaine is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in orange juice and vinegar. Chill to unbeaten egg white consistency. (I just put the pan in a large bowl of ice cubes.) Fold in canned pineapple, orange secions and carrots. turn into mold and chill until firm.
    Grandpa Dunkin said this was the best way to eat carrots! Aunt Phyllis

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  11. Both of these sound great and I like the idea of adding carrots. Definitely better than cooking them. :-)

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  12. Cherry Coke Salad

    1 20 oz. can cherry pie filling
    1&1/2 cups water
    1/2 cup sugar
    1 12 oz. can coke, room temperature
    2 small boxes cherry jello

    Mix pie filling, water, sugar. Bring mixture to a boil. Boil until mixture is no longer cloudy (I generally boil 10 min.) Remove from heat. Add jello. Stir & cool. Add Coke. Pour in bowl (mold or buntt cake pan) refrigerate until firm.

    Abi Buening
    ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com

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  13. Yum, Abi. As far as I'm concerned, anything with cherry pie filling has to be fantastic!

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  14. Anonymous2:08 PM

    Here is another one Lisa: And again it depends on the holiday what flavor to use:
    3 ½ cups flour
    1 tsp Baking Powder
    1 ½ cups (3 sticks) butter or margarine (softened)
    1 cup sugar
    2 pkg (4 serving size each) JELL-O Brand Gelatin, any flavor (depending on holiday!)
    1 egg
    1 tsp vanilla


    PREHEAT oven to 400ยบ. Mix flour and baking powder; set aside. Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add sugar and 1 pkg of the dry gelatin, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well blended after each addition.

    SHAPE dough into 1-inch balls. Place, 2 in. apart, on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with bottom of clean glass. Sprinkle with remaining dry gelatin.

    BAKE 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from baking sheets to wire racks. Cool completely. Makes: 5 dozen cookies! Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature.


    NOTE: For best results, use the same flavor of JELL-O Gelatin for both cookie dough and for sprinkling on top

    Enjoy!

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  15. Love this idea! Never thought about using JELL-O for cookies. Going to try this one as well. Thanks for sharing!

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  16. My aunt taught me a jello recipe a few years ago.

    Make a white cake according the box directions. After it is cooled, poke holes in the top (a lot of them). Mix a box of jello according to directions, a darker colored one usually looks the best, but you can use which ever one you'd like. Don't let it set up yet. Pour the jello mixture over the cake. Put in the frig to let the jello set up. When ready to serve put cool whip on top. It is cool and refreshing on a hot day.

    I didn't like cool whip until I started eatting this recipe.

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  17. Yum! Thanks for sharing Anita. I LOVE cool whip so I know this will be fantastic. :-)

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  18. Yummy salad and good way to get the kids to eat beetroot (umm, beet to the Americans I think?):
    Make up a packet of rasberry jelly (jello) with slightly less water than usual and add shredded beetroot from a bottle. Set it in a mould. Slice to serve. Nothing like a dark red bunny in the middle of the table to make the meal look festive.

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  19. Jackie1:07 PM

    I always liked the Strawberry Jello with miniature marshmallows in it that my grandmother made....back in those days Jello came wrapped in a sort of waxed creme-colored paper that she let my sister and I l have so we could lick off the last little grain of Jello...oh, the good ol days!

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  20. Jackie, you just brought back memories that I'd completely forgotten about. My grandmother also made Jello (I remember it being red) in small glass custard cups with those same miniature marshmallows sprinkled on top. Good ol days and good memories!

    Thanks for sharing!!

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