Maryellen's Pineapple Jello Rings & Piña Colada Molded Salad

Two gelatin desserts for the price of one!

It just wouldn't be a trip through the 20th Century without at least one recipe spotlighting the ubiquitous gelatin, right? Well, I've got two for you today: one straight out of the 1950's, and one that's a little more modern. Ironically, I liked the older recipe significantly better than the modern one, enough that I'm planning on bringing it along to my friend's 1970's themed house warming party in a few weeks. Can you guess which one is which? 

Both recipes also feature canned pineapple, and while that treat had been enjoyed by Americans since the turn of the 20th Century when James Dole opened his pineapple plantation on Oahu, it really found new life in the 1950's and 60's. Read on to see how this fruity treat could be adapted to pretty much anything your heart desired.

Maryellen's Molded Salad

The one you've all been waiting for!

You probably should have all seen this coming.

Some objects, fashions or foods are just so emblematic of a time period that it's difficult to imagine what life would've looked like back then without it. Take the poodle skirt: a fashion fad that's become so essential to the modern memory of the 1950's that it shows up in every movie, show and 18 inch playline doll collection that focuses on the period, even if it's not strictly accurate to include it every single time. At least American Girl came up with a plausible explanation for Maryellen owning an outfit that was generally more of a teenage fad!

Molded gelatin creations are the poodle skirt of food when it comes to the 50's, alongside diner fare, TV dinners, and a number of other less than healthy options. Some period recipes sound down right upsetting, and at first glance, this recipe doesn't really sound like it's going to be any different. It's got a weird combination of ingredients, doesn't exactly look too visually appealing, but believe it or not, this is actually an old family favorite that's remembered fondly by those who had it before.

I know that sounds strange, but trust me, this one is going to surprise you.

Emily's Celebration Trifle

A time consuming, but surprisingly tasty wartime treat!

Happy VE Day, everyone! May 8th, 1945 marks the 70th anniversary of the formal surrender of Nazi Germany, a day celebrated all over the world back in 1945... except maybe in certain parts of the Pacific, where Allied troops were still engaged in deadly combat and would be for the better part of two months. But for civilians and troops in Europe and on other Allied home fronts, today was a day to party, and parties always mean good food.

But for countries that had been at war for the better part of a decade, good food wasn't always easy to find between rationing and shortages. England in particular was a nation without much by way of luxury food items - being an island nation at war with an enemy that had a tight grip on shipping lines for years made shipping in supplies difficult, and shortages didn't improve even after the Battle of the Atlantic had been won and supplies from the US and Canada could come across the ocean. Each person was allowed one egg per week, so deciding how those real eggs would be used became very, very difficult. Even making icing for cake was illegal, as it was considered wasteful!

On VE Day, all those attitudes about stretching your rations and forbidding wasteful food went out the window for people in England. Communities pooled together to bake cake with the previously forbidden icing, make sandwiches and concoct unique sweets like carrots dipped in melted sugar and eaten like a lollipop in one big explosion of fun and excitement, and one of those recipes is what we're going to be looking at today.

This recipe is a war time version of a classic British dessert, which was kind of a hard sell to my family, but ultimately turned out to be a pretty big hit. Our enthusiasm wasn't exactly the same level as it would have been if we were back in 1945, but I don't think it was a stretch for anyone to be able to see how this would have been an incredibly indulgent, satisfying way to celebrate the end of the most devastating conflict in human history.

Two Posts in One: Julie and Ivy's Jello Eggs, Planet Bars and Ice Cream Eagles!

So I know I've been pretty absent around here, and once again, I'm really sorry about that. Life has just been kind of crazy the last few weeks and I haven't had as much time as I'd like to to devote to the blog, even if I have been puttering around in the kitchen! I had a lot of plans that kind of needed to get scrapped - something for Passover, a fun sounding Kirsten themed recipe... - but I did manage to get it together enough to do something for Easter and Earth Day, and I finally found the motivation to sit down and write about what we did.

Long story short, this post is going to be a two in one! Featuring Jello Eggs for Easter...

A childhood favorite addition to our Easter menu.

And two recipes from Julie's Cooking Studio: Planet Bars and Ice Cream Eagles!

So without further ado, it's get started!