"There's Always Room for Jell-O"

The warm summer months are here, and other than ice cream there are not too many refreshing desserts that you can make quickly and easily. For those of you who live in the US, perhaps one of the most down-home, unpretentious desserts in America is Jell-O. This revered gelatin is simple to prepare and is usually a crowd pleaser, particularly on a hot summer day. Gelatins date back to the Victorian era, but were popularized in the early 1900's by the Gennessee Pure Food Company, which later developed into The Jell-O Company. The first four Jell-O flavors were orange, lemon, strawberry, and raspberry. Amazingly, there were some bizarre Jell-O flavors such as Celery, Italian and Seasoned Tomato, all of which were discontinued (uh, duh!). Lime was introduced in 1930 and remains popular today.

Completely Random Jell-O Trivia:
* The people of Salt Lake City consume more lime-flavored gelatin than any other city in the United States...not sure what that means but it is interesting anyway.

* Bill Cosby has been a spokesperson for Jell-O since 1974.

How about some nifty Jell-O tips?
If you plan to make some refreshing Jell-O this summer and want to add some fruit, here is what you need to know:

* Fruits that float: fresh fruits such as apples, bananas, orange and grapefruit sections, sliced peaches and pears, strawberries, and fruit packed in light syrup

* Fruits that sink: seedless grapes and fruits in heavy syrup such as apricots, cherries, fruit cocktail, peaches, pears, and pineapple.
.
So go ahead, treat yourself and have a refreshing bowl of "J-E-LL-O" (sung like the old TV commercials).
-Rick Rockhill