There's always room......

After thinking about the meals of Spam I consumed as a child, I was in a nostaglic food mood this week. Naturally, I thought of Jell-o.

Every meal consumed with extended family members included the wiggly stuff.

If we were at Aunt Vera's house, we were served her claim to fame...mandarin orange Jell-o. It started with orange Jell-o to which was added canned mandarin oranges and orange sherbet. It worked once. It worked every time Aunt Vera entertained.

Grandma thought, "What's not to love?" and added it to her "A list" as well. Grandma didn't entertain as much as Aunt Vera, but when she did, Mandarin Jell-o was there at the table, right along with Grandpa and Uncle Jim.

Aunt Dena made jell-o a staple as well. Hers was always molded into a fancy wreath-like appearance. If Martha Stewart had been around in Aunt Dena's day, she would have asked Uncle Harry for a subscription to the magazine for Christmas. Aunt Dena put a little extra in everything she did.

So we sat in their tidy little post-war bungalow in their tidy little dining room, eating Thanksgiving dinner that just had to include the wreath-like gelatin. The open center was then filled to overflowing with miracle whip. Looking back, it was something of a miracle I grew up at all. At the time, however, I didn't thing it got any better than lime Jell-o with gobs of Miracle Whip.

My mother's jello was lemon in color and filled with assorted chopped vegetables including, but not limited to carrots, green pepper, celery, and cabbage. I should clarify the term "filled". To say vegetables were added to the syrup before cooling is putting it mildly. Mom's Jell-o mixture was a little bit like eating slimy cole slaw. I loved it.

The picture I included this time is of a recipe called "Tuna Jell-o Salad." It has eggs and olives in it along with the tuna and celery. Fortunately, no one in my family ever heard of it.