Food is my love language. If I love you or am trying to impress you, I will cook for you. When I was first trying to date the man that is now my husband, I made him homemade pizza dough for his birthday. A few days later, I invited him over for dinner and impressed him with jerk chicken. He was maybe more impressed that I was under the sink replacing the faucet when he arrived, but he knew pretty quickly that he wasn’t going to let me get away.
I pay attention to people’s food preferences and dietary restrictions. My Mother-in-law loves blueberries which means that when she’s coming to visit, I scour all of my recipes for the perfect blueberry dish to make for her. Usually it is some sort of dessert, but sometimes it’s as simple as homemade blueberry applesauce.
The last time they visited, I started menu planning a couple of days in advance to make. When I know guests are coming, I scour great-grandma’s recipes for something impressive to make. A lot of times these recipes require some planning ahead and the Blueberry Salad Mold is no exception.
I decided to honor my Mother-in-law further by putting this salad into a copper mold that I found for a steal at the thrift shop. It’s a fair question to ask why this would honor her. You see, my Mother-in-law is the queen of thrift shopping. Where there are bargains to be found, she is there. Road trips with her mean stopping at every known thrift shop along the way, or so we tease her. I’ve never been with her as she’s stopped, but I’ve heard stories. Anyway, isn’t this a pretty copper mold? 
It has a little round loop on one side for hanging and I have the perfect spot for it. Right above my sink with another piece from my Mother-in-law.
Back to this salad. It’s sweet (obviously), a bit tart, and creamy and delicious. As per usual, the kids were hesitant to try it because they are kids. But it turned out to be a perfect accompaniment to the meal. If I’m not careful I’m going to have to start rethinking my aversion to all things Jell-O. There are still plenty of concoctions I’ve made that aren’t as pretty as they should be, like Frosty Lime Salad and Cooked Cranberry Salad, but even the strange ones like Zippy Beet Salad are not as bad as I originally expected. And we all have to admit the Tropical Delight Salad was a hit. 
Someone please reassure me this doesn’t make me lose my cred. 
Love the mold. I’m going to after try my hand at some of these but I’ll be using sheets or powdered plain gelatin. You will never get me to use all the sugar, artificial flavor, and artificial color.
I can understand that. I even respect it. I think I’m going to need to do a round up post for the Jello recipes.
This would be fabulous on a hot day.
Jello doesn’t cost anybody their food cred, as far as I’m concerned. It’s quick and tasty – what’s wrong with that?
Except it’s not that quick. It takes more effort to get the fruit to set properly and not sink. I want it to be quicker than it is to do these properly. I always get distracted and it oversets.