Back around Valentine’s Day there was a recipe for Strawberry Kiwi Jello Hearts shared by a friend on Facebook. It looked amazing, so we bought some heart shaped molds and gave it our best shot.
As you can see from the recipe there aren’t a lot of ingredients, so they were easy to make. The only problem I had was all the coconut water I could find in Middle Tennessee in February was very high in sugar content. That may not be a problem for most people, but it can be a problem for us diabetics. I substituted water and a bit of splenda for the coconut water.
I can’t think of anything to describe these better than flippin’ awesome!
The hearts turned out great. They were not only tasty, they were very pretty. We enjoyed them so much that I’ve been meaning to make them again but there’s a fine line between meaning to and actually getting it done. Some weeks I would find nice kiwis only to have every carton of strawberries in various states of decomposition. (I can not believe grocers do not pick out the bad berries and condense) Then there have been weeks like this week, when I’ve found nice berries but no kiwi.
Lacking kiwi, I altered the recipe a bit more (1 pound strawberries, stem removed, blended with about 1 cup water and 3/4 c splenda granulated, bring to a boil while whisking, whisk in 3 packets unflavored gelatin, chill until set) * If you’ve never made gelatin from whole fruit, I’ve got to tell you that it is worth the effort. It is far more satisfying that the boxed kind or the little buckets of “ready to eat”. I would also wager that it is in all aspects healthier than quick and easy.
Because it is not February and because getting less things dirty equals less things to wash, I opted for an old circular gelatin mold. Because I am thinking now in hindsight that the circular mold was not for gelatin, rather angel food cake, my delicious strawberry gelatin had to be dug out with knife and spoon.
Today is the kind of day to stay in one’s pajamas sipping coffee and goofing off. It’s cold, it’s raining, the perfect day for “why the heck not?” and “What’s the worst that could happen?”.
It all started at the fridge. May was scavenging for lunch when she asked “Mom, what’s that red stuff?” “What red stuff?” I said, “the cocktail sauce?”. Rolling her eyes she said “No, on the top shelf”. “Oh that,” grabbing the container, “It’s the gellies”. This would have been the perfect time to cue angels singing because they are that good, but I opened the lid only to hear my darling daughter utter “gross” upon first sight.
In defense of the gellies, they are not in any way, shape, or form gross. They are delicious jiggly wigglies that make me smile just thinking about them. < seriously.
If she would have only tasted them to see that they are really chunks of deliciousness, I would not have had the opportunity to further gross her out.
“That’s because it’s not jello” I told her “It’s more like preserves than jello, I bet it would be good with peanut butter.” “Yeah right, you’re weird” she said and laughed. “Well, you’re just jealous because I’m going to have peanut butter and jelly for lunch” I told her as I grabbed a spoon.
There was no going back, the jar was opened and I already had the peanut butter on the spoon. I plopped it onto the jellies and had to admit it did look kinda gross.
It kinda looks like someone put peanut butter on watermelon.
Because I truly can not attest to the grossness of a why the heck not moment unless I actually take that first bite, I tasted it. I tasted it again. I noticed on the third bite that it’s a lot prettier on the spoon, so I took a picture.
I didn’t get the last bite because May decided to test the grossness of it for herself.
Even if you’re not diggin’ the peanut butter and gelly, give whole fruit, takes a bit more time but worth it gelatin a try. If you’re feeling brave, make it with strawberries and top it with peanut butter. What’s the worst that could happen?
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