so how do you make that jello fruit thing

[buddie]

for the kids at thanksgiving i am going to make one of those jello things that has fruit in it. believe or not i have never made one before... how do you do it...

my real question is how do you get the fruit to float? do you chill the jello for a little bit first then put in the fruit????

i was thinking of just using strawberry jello and throwing in a can of fruit cocktail and some sliced bananas...

can you instruct further! THANKS!!!

[BevP]

Buddie, you're gonna hate me but....there's directions on the side of the box on how to add fruit and when. I am impatient and just add it from the start and sure enough, it sinks so follow their suggestions. Cans of fruit cocktail are great. The kids'll love it.

[mlou]

Ok, I tried to refrain and mind my own business but I just can't. When you read the recipe side, flip the box over and read the ingredients. Jell-o is sugar, food coloring, and ground up hooves & horns from the animals slaughtered by the meat industry. Then your going to add fruit cocktail which is just more sugar and a heavy helping of preservatives? Just wanted you to know. This is also a great food to encourage kidney stones! How about some custard and fresh fruit http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[BevP]

mlou, I'm looking at my jello box right now and please forgive my ignorance but...I'm reading:

Gelatin, adipic acid (for tartness), disodium phosphate (controls acidity), maltodextrin (from corn); fumaric acid (for tartness), aspartame (sweeterner [mine is sugarfree]) contains less than 2% of artifical flavor, acesulfame potassiou (sweetener), salt, blue 1, red 40

Where are the meat byproducts coming in? I avoid hot dogs and lunch meat but jello?

[sneezles]

So I immediately ran to the cupboard to check the list and didn't find any mention of hooves and horns so then I decided to look it up in the encarta, which says:

Gelatin, protein substance obtained by boiling animal bones and connective tissue containing collagen in water or dilute acid. It is colorless, transparent, brittle, odorless, and tasteless in a purified form. Gelatin dissolves in hot water and forms a gel or jelly upon cooling. It is insoluble in organic solvents, such as ether, chloroform, and benzene. When placed in cold water, gelatin takes up five to ten times its own weight and swells to an elastic, transparent mass.
Gelatin in its purest form is used as a constituent of foods, being highly nutritious and easily digested and absorbed. It cannot, however, completely replace other proteins because it lacks some essential amino acids. Gelatin is used in making jams and jellies, ice cream and marshmallows and as a setting for other foods in aspics. It is employed in photography in the preparation of film, plates, and paper; in bacteriology as a culture medium; and in medicine as a coating for capsules, pills, and some surgical dressings. It is also used in dyeing and in photomechanical printing processes.
Glue is an impure form of gelatin. A purified form of gelatin obtained from the air bladders of certain fishes, including sturgeon, cod, catfish, and carp, is called isinglass.

"Gelatin," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

So while it may come from animals, I don't think it is harmful as mlou's post seems to suggest. And I'm not about to quit eating ice cream, jams, jellies and marshmallows in my hot chocolate.

[This message has been edited by sneezles (edited 11-13-2000).]

[buddie]

Thanks for the responses!

it will go great with the rest of my meal for thanksgiving!

http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[noni liedtke]

hey Sweetie, drain and save thtee juice of the fruit cocktail adn use it for part of tthe liquid called for in the recipe. I'm just an old timer the hooves and horns haven't killed me yet in 72 years. keep trying, Grandmabear

[buddie]

noni liedtke

you crack me up! thanks... great idea with the fruit juice!

[SandyM]

This entire post just made me giggle. Buddie - I just wait until the jello has just started to solidify. I then mix in lite Cool Whip (probably a cup, I generally estimate) with an electric mixer. I stir in my fruit (mandarin oranges, bananas, grapes, fruit cocktail, whatever), pour in a mold or bowl, and let refrigerate until solid. It makes such a pretty dish in a mold inverted on a holiday plate. And kids love it!

I love the last line of your post, sneezles. You go girl!

[Kimba]

I do this in layers, too. I save about a cup of the liquid jello and put it aside. I chill the rest until it's soupy, then I add the fruit. I then mix the reserved jello with a cup of cool whip and pour it over the top. It's pretty, and it tastes pretty good, too http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif