Late to the Party, Brought the Jello

Among the foods Mom never made was anything fancier than plain Jello, and that was very seldom.  It made me uncomfortable to realize I was missing out on something.  Years later, when I was grown and everyone thought fancy Jello was just so uncool I was too embarrassed to admit that I had no idea what they were talking about.

But darn it, just because I missed out is no reason for my children to miss out.  Especially since when I was moving our dry foods to the new house I came across a small mountain of Jello I had stored back "for emergencies".  Time to experiment.

With the bigger kitchen I'm able to store the ice cream sundae glasses inside the kitchen (instead of in a storage building) where they can be pulled out and used much more frequently.  It turns out fruits and berries go down kids much easier when they're encased in Jello, topped with whipped topping mix, and presented in a sundae glass.  I bought some old copper-tinted molds at flea markets and started playing around with them, although so far nothing's come out perfect.

And for the first day of Spring Break, I've the makings of Blue Skies Jello set back.  Things are looking a bit jiggly right now.

House Update February 10, 2014

We installed the kitchen drawer pulls, drawer facings and the lower cabinet doors.  Yay, I have drawers now!  There's an actual place for cutlery, as opposed to the used plastic tubs it was dumped into.  With more room to spread things out we were able to put the dinnerware and silverware at preschooler height, and turn over the job of setting the table to an excited 5yo.  An excited 14yo got promoted to cook's helper/dryer, and a not-very-excited 12yo got promoted to dishwasher.

Now I can bring down some of our nonessential cookware, like the John Wright decorative cast iron muffin pans and cookie molds I bought at Service Merchandise (back when that store existed) 30 years ago.  After 3 years exposure to humid Southern weather, their Victorian-era curves were hidden under a thick layer of rust.  Repairing and re-seasoning them are giving my arms a workout.

I don't even know where you can get John Wright now.  Someone said Williams-Sonoma, but there isn't one around here.  I went in a Williams-Sonoma store once on vacation.  It reminded me that there is a dividing line between "elitist" and "snob".  My nose doesn't tilt high enough to shop there, and they didn't have any John Wright.

With a bigger kitchen I can also round out my Lodge collection.  Cooking just got a lot more adventurous.

Dh is building a table for the arts-and-crafts shop with built-in storage for oversized art papers.  After that it's on to the kitchen island.

Update:  Today also begins the pre-spring gardening, with moving a willow sapling that had grown up too close to a building to a boggy spot in the backyard.