Monday, December 6, 2010

A better version of the Jello Story

This is the version I wrote as a column for class and Mom enjoyed it a lot, so here it is :)
Thanks for reading my school work when I want you to Mom! You are so sweet.

For being such a fantastically humorous food, Jell-o sure is the brunt of many jokes. Especially in the Mormon geographic strip that starts in Idaho and stretches to Arizona – fondly referred to by some as the “Jell-o Belt.”

I personally am proud to live in an area nick named after this flubbery, slippery, wiggly, wobbly food. See? Even the words that describe it are entertaining. But here’s a more important reason: Jell-o brings you together. Doubt? I have proof.

It was Sunday night dinner, which means a meal of great pot roast, vegetables and whatever side dishes my mom has left in the fridge. This time it also meant we had a guest over for dinner. When I came to the table I looked at the delicious cooked animal, potatoes, carrots and a bowl of what I thought looked remarkably like…fry sauce? After some inquiry I discovered what it was –

"Jell-o," my mom informed.

Ah, of course. What guest in the Lovell household doesn’t get to experience the heavenly Jell-o full of fruit and a creamy something. Boy do the women in this family know how to make a good Jell-o! (Except me, of course, which is demonstrated by my knowledge of the ‘creamy something’.)

That’s why I was surprised this orange jell-o seemed very runny… and after one taste salty. With strange diced chunks. This was the grossest jell-o I had ever tasted.

The same thought was apparently in my Dad’s mind as well because as I was stomaching the first bite he asked, "Are you sure this is jell-o?"

Well, the answer was no. It turns out it was tomato soup - the creamy delicious kind, but tomato soup all the same. Our sweet visitor was relieved she didn’t have to eat the bizarre tasting orange jell-o because tomato soup just doesn’t taste great when you are expecting a sweet jiggling dessert. BUT it does make for a good laugh at the dinner table, and an instant bond with your dinner guest.

Thank you jell-o. Thanks for bringing joy one family dinner at a time.

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