While gelatin has been around for a long time it wasn’t until JELL-O brand products were available on the market that it took off as a dessert. On its own, gelatin is a clear and unflavoured product used at the turn of the 20th century in a dish called aspic, which was a savoury dish. Prepackaged JELL-O was a flavourful and easy to make food.
My mother, a child or the 40’s and 50’s, was a big fan of Jello of all brands. It was a cheap and cheerful kind of product for those with a sweet tooth. She made jellied salads for special occasions and served Jello pudding regularly. One variation I remember is banana or vanilla pudding with sliced bananas. Another is red Jello, whatever flavour with fruit cocktail with the maraschino cherries and pineapple bits. And another was green or yellow Jello with thinly sliced carrots and celery in it. She didn’t like using jelly molds, just served then from her yellow, blue or green, Pyrex mixing bowl or CorningWare casserole dish. No Jello dessert or salad was complete without adding a dollop of whipped cream product like Cool Whip or Dream Whip.
One recipe that seems particularly mid-century to me is made with a mixture of Jello, cantaloupe chunks and Cool Whip poured into a cleaned and halved cantaloupe.
Creamy JELL-O Stuffed Cantaloupe
Ingredients:
One medium sized cantaloupe
3/4 cup of boiling water
1 package JELL-O brand gelatin any flavour (Green looks cool)
1/2 cup of cold orange juice
1/2 cup whipped cream
Directions:
Cut the cantaloupe in half and remove seeds. Scoop out pieces of cantaloupe until a centimetre or two of flesh is left on the rind. Chop the pieces of cantaloupe removed from the inside into small pieces.
Open the JELL-O package and pour into a large bowl. Pour boiling water into Jello and stir until it is dissolved completely. Stir in the orange juice. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. It should have cooled and thickened. Slowly stir in the whipped cream and add the cantaloupe chunks. Pour mixture into the cantaloupe shells. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. To serve slice cantaloupe into wedges. It is visually very striking.
