This Thursday is Thanksgiving in the United States, and in honor of my mom, I’m sharing her special family holiday recipe.
Mom’s holiday salad mold lives on in the family, and my dad still prepares it every year for our family’s Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. If there’s not at least a small scoop of this on my plate, it just doesn’t quite feel like a holiday meal. It’s been in the family for at least 50 years. A real blast from the past. 🙂
This recipe’s official name is Pacific Lime Mold. Why Pacific? Probably because there was pineapple added to it. The recipe was created around the time period when Hawaii became a state, so maybe it was a nod to the islands? I remember that I called it Mom’s Jello Thing and other people in the family just called it Joan’s Jello.
I suspect a lot of families had something similar appear on their family dinner tables back in the heyday of Jello recipes and aspics. I sometimes think our moms and grandmoms all used the very same recipe booklets from the major food manufacturers. Everyone seemed to make the same perennial goodies — things like Green Bean Casserole with Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, for example.
So without further ado, here’s the recipe for Mom’s Jello Thing.
Joan’s Cottage Cheese Pineapple Lime Salad Mold
Ingredients:
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 small package lime flavored Jello
- 1 9-oz can crushed pineapple (reserving juice)
- 1 cup creamy cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (or salad dressing)
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
Instructions:
- In a large bowl, dissolve jello in boiling water, and stir in juice from pineapple.
- Chill in refrigerator until slightly thickened.
- Remove from refrigerator and beat until frothy.
- Fold in remaining ingredients.
- Pour into serving bowl or festive gelatin mold.
- Chill until set.
- Serve cold.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Deborah Taylor-Hough is the mother of three grown and nearly grown kids still at home, a full-time college student, a displaced homemaker trying to make ends meet on a limited budget, and the author of several older (but still in print) books including the popular Frozen Assets cookbook series. You can visit Debi online at: http://www.SimpleMom.com
Browse My Books:
A Frugal Simple Life 
This recipe goes back to at least 1954 or 1955. It was in a small Betty Crocker cookbook that my Home Economics teacher sold us.
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I’m sure my mom got it from some Betty Crocker source. Since she was the person who made it every year for family gatherings, it became “Joan’s Jello Salad.” Even after my mom passed away, my dad kept bringing it in her honor. Everyone still called it Joan’s Jello Salad. 🙂
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