Potluck Salad #2 - Pink Fluff

The doorbell is ringing. Who could it be?

Lynn is here!!! Lynn is here!!! Everyone take a look at the fabulous salad she brought! And she gets extra points for presenting it in a Pyrex bowl. Have a slice of Lynn's Pink Fluff Jell-o Salad, then go check out her inspirational blog - Hill Warning.

Mimi’s challenge was there staring me in the face on her blog; another recipe challenge and she was looking for guinea pigs, oops volunteers, to make a dish from the 1970’s and blog about it. I was a very willing participant in her experiment the last time she tried this so I could not resist helping out again this year.

My name is Lynn and I am a Weight Watchers success story. I was a member of Weight Watchers in the late ‘70s and lost about 30 lbs but I did not reach my goal weight. I did, however, feel great and look pretty good and so it was my husband and I soon were expecting our first child! I rejoined and quit numerous times until finally reaching my goal weight and earning Lifetime status in September 2010. I have lost 196.4 lbs! I am now a Weight Watchers leader in South Carolina. I recently won the Rookie Leader of the Year award for my territory.

I made Chicken Cacciatore for Mimi’s last challenge. I had actually requested she send me a chicken recipe thinking it would not be too scary. I was right. It prompted this review when my husband tasted it, “This tastes like something you made in the ‘70’s. Not my favorite.” This time I decided to be very brave and sent Mimi an email suggesting she surprise me. I waited for her reply and prayed. Here is my recipe challenge:

PINK FLUFF SALAD 

(1978 Hot Stuff WW Recipe Pamphlet Vol. 10) 

1 pkg unflavored gelatin 

dash of salt, cinnamon, nutmeg 

1/2 medium apple diced 

1/4 cup chopped celery 

12 oz. diet red soda 

1 tbsp lemon juice 

1/4 cup chopped cabbage 

4 tsp artificial sweetener 

lettuce leaves 

Pour 1/4 cup beverage in pan. Sprinkle gelatin over beverage. Stir over heat until dissolved. Add remaining beverage and spices. Pour in pan and refrigerate until almost firm. Place gelatin in blender with sweetener and process until fluffy. Sprinkle lemon juice over apples. Mix gelatin, apples, cabbage, and celery. Refrigerate until firm. Serve on lettuce leaves. Makes 1 serving.

On first reading, I found myself thinking this does not seem too bad, it might even taste ok and so I got to work looking for diet red soda. I emailed Mimi asking her if I could fudge the recipe a bit since all of the diet red sodas I could find were sweetened with Aspartame and I had read that was not a sweetener that should be heated. Mimi told me to go for it and so I chose to substitute sugar free cherry Jell-O for the diet red soda. I omitted the package of unflavored gelatin and the 4 tsp of artificial sweetener knowing the Jell-O would be sweet enough without it. I also removed 4 ounces of the Jell-O after mixing it so I had the 12 ounces of liquid the recipe called for.

The recipe went together quickly and easily with the only concern being how long does Jell-O chill before becoming “almost firm” but I set the timer several times and checked on it until it had reached the consistency I considered, “almost firm”. I put the almost firm Jell-O into the blender as instructed, turned it on low, and it quickly became a fluffy foamy consistency. Apples, cabbage and celery were then stirred into and the mixture and I returned it to the refrigerator to firm up. (Had I been Mimi I would have poured it into a Jell-O mold but I had to resort to a Pyrex dish, which was a wedding gift in 1975.) I waited!

At last, the Jell-O was firm and I was faced with how to serve the salad. I prepared my salad plate with the lettuce leaves, ran a knife around the edge of the dish, inverted the plate on the Pyrex dish and crossed my fingers. The Pink Fluff Salad fared pretty well coming out of the dish. I stood back and admired the salad. That is a huge serving for one person! The Jell-O had layered. The bottom was a nice pink “fluff “with the fruit and vegetables rising to the top and settling into the more traditional Jell-O appearance.

 I sat down at the table with my Pink Fluff Salad and took a bite. I liked it!! The ‘fluff” was wonderful, light, smooth, and cherry flavored. The more traditional Jell-O layer was crunchy. I didn’t mind the cabbage at all but would decrease the celery if I ever made it again. Sugar free Jell-O saved time and most likely improved the flavor. As I type this, my husband has not arrived home so I don’t know how he will review the salad but I will post his review as a comment so if you are curious, look for it. Oh, and the leftovers, well I am serving this salad for dinner; after all on the current Weight Watcher plan this is a 0 Points Plus dish!