Jello 1-2-and a Half?

Does anyone remember this stuff?

Jello 1-2-3?

I think my mother bought a couple of boxes of this when I was a kid – probably with a coupon – and she tried it once.

This stuff is the coolest Jello-ever!  😯

You add water, mix it up, and it magically makes three layers.

Jell-o is just cool.  😀

And I am speaking as someone who lives within spitting distance of the Jello Museum.

Yeah.  Jello 1-2-3 was some neat stuff, and I have no idea why they discontinued it.  😕

However, Kraft, the parent company of Jello, has developed a faux Jell-o 1-2-3 recipe, which, while not quite the same, is darned close to the level of original plasticity and cultish goodness.  😆

And it only costs a box of Jell-o and a tub of (light) Cook Whip.

How cool is that, right?  Add to one box of Jello (I prefer red – any red) 3/4 cup of boiling water.

Many years ago, when I was waitressing, our Jell-o used to come in big packages labeled as “RED JELL-O.”  That was it, just “RED.”  😯

So anyway, to your dissolved red Jello, add 3/4 cup of cold water mixed with enough ice to equal 1 and 1/4 cup.

Throw the whole mess in a blender and blend.

Then add 1/2 cup of “Light” Cool Whip.

A word about Cool Whip.  I’m not really sure what that stuff actually is, but it’s kind of tasty.  I grew up on the stuff, after all.

It’s creamy and sweet and, well, whipped.

And not cream.

But still. . .

So we add 1/2 cup of Lite Cool Whip to the Jell-o mixture in the blender.

OK then.

Blend until smooth (as if it really takes much to make Jell-o and Cool Whip actually smooth), then we’ll divide into serving dishes.

We used water glasses.

After all, if you’re going to go to the trouble of breaking out the blender to make layers, I want to be darned good and sure I get a chance to enjoy them, you know?

I knew you’d understand.  🙂

So we divided the gelatin mixture between two glasses and shoved them in the fridge to chill for a while.

And chill they did, right there in the fridge.

Once the dessert has had a chance to set, you can actually start to see the layers.  Maybe not exactly the three layers of Jell-o 1-2-3 fame, but still.  Definite layers.  😯

Clearly, we need to be a little more even handed when dishing the dessert into glasses – the foam-to-solid ratio obviously differs between dessert dishes. . . and that’s not cool.  😯

Unless you manage to make up for it by topping your dessert with a scoop of Cool Whip and some fresh berries.  . . then who really cares about the solid-to-foam ratio anyway?

Yes, ultimately, it’s a “dessert” that tastes like, well, like red Jell-o.  But we can make it elegant by the addition of some additional Cool Whip and a fresh berry topping . . .

I think the proper term is “ooh la la.”  😛