Delicious Green (Blue) Salad

This dessert allows me to publicly declare Jello as fully welcome at my table once again. I had written off the wiggly-jiggly food as something from my parent's generation that did not appeal to me. And truth be told, Lime Jello still does not appeal to me. So, when I saw that this recipe called for Lime Jello (hence, "green salad" in the recipe title) I froze in my kitchen tracks. How could I follow through with cooking every single recipe in this cookbook, and actually swallow Lime Jello? I just couldn't bring myself to do it, friends. (Please do note the "nod" to "green" by using my vintage Fire King jadeite dessert dish!)

Then my adventurous side said, why do I need to use crushed pineapple, as called for in the recipe, when it is not my fav fruit? Couldn't I substitute Lemon Jello in place of the Lime, and Blueberries in place of the pineapple? I did a bit of study on the subject, and found that just pouring some blueberries into the jello would not be satisfying to the palate. So I picked up a can of Blueberry Pie filling (thankyou, Lucky Leaf!). Added a 1/4 cup of wild Maine blueberries to it, and swirled it into the lemony liquid, then poured it into an 8x8 pan and set to chill in the fridge. The original recipe calls for cream cheese mixed directly into the jello. Hmmm, I'm not one to mix my foods too much, when it comes to a jello product. So, I took the cream cheese, mixed it with a little sugar, sour cream and vanilla, spread it on top of the chilled blueberry/lemon jello-ness, and tucked the whole of it back in the fridge. My husband discovered it tonight and declared it was just like eating blueberry shortcake (you see, he had tucked a biscuit underneath all the blueberry goodness). 

So, I'm afraid I wandered a bit from the original recipe to suit my taste buds. However, hats off to the person who contributed this recipe, for she has reintroduced Jello to my pantry! It was fun to experiment based upon her recipe and I'm grateful for it! And when you see the photo of this dessert, perhaps you, too, will want to reacquaint yourself with Jello. Blueberry Bliss, I say!

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