Attractive Jello Salad Fail

Growing up, plain Jello was dessert, but if you added fruit to Jello then it became salad. Jello Salad was an important part of my family's holiday celebrations. Jello Salad also played a major role at our church potlucks. I didn't realize it at the time, but not everyone celebrates holidays with Jello Salad. Apparently that is a Lutheran thing.

Bananas, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, canned pineapple (never fresh, of course, because of the enzymes), and canned fruit cocktail were the most common fruits my mom added to Jello. My favorite was raspberries in raspberry jello, though pineapple in orange jello was a close second. And then about 10, maybe 15 years ago, Aunt Vickie (who is Lutheran also, and thus believes Jello + fruit = salad) served us Cherry Jello Salad for a holiday dinner. It might be a bit of an exaggeration to say it changed our lives, but not much.

Cherry Jello Salad is now a staple at family holidays. My sister makes it all the time, not just holidays. I don't think my mom has made any other kind of Jello Salad since. It is SO good.

My inlaws are not Lutheran, and thus did not know that Jello + fruit = salad. The first time I served them Cherry Jello Salad, they seemed a bit skeptical, but they tried it and gave it rave reviews. It is seriously delicious.

Fast forward to the next holiday gathering with the inlaws. I offered to bring Cherry Jello Salad. I usually keep the supplies on hand, but I hadn't replaced the cherry pie filling or cherry jello from the last time we made it. Not wanting to battle holiday crowds at the store, I made due with what we had on hand. Trevor LOVES blueberries and had somehow convinced me to buy blueberry pie filling (ugh) and blueberry jello (ugh) during separate trips, awhile ago. We decided that we could make Cherry Jello Salad using blueberry stuff instead.

Big mistake. While it tasted good, it looked AWFUL. 

It had a weird purple color to it, and the pineapple bits were an unnatural bright blue. The blueberry seeds were prominent. It was hideous.

When we got together for Easter, we brought the *real* Cherry Jello Salad!

Cherry Jello Salad

       
                            1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple                           1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling
                            1/2 c. water                                                               3/4 c. cola
                             1 pkg (6 oz.) cherry jello

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Boil pineapple juice and water. Add jello and stir until dissolved. Stir in pineapple, pie filling and cola. Refrigerate until set, approximately 3 hours.