GUEST POSTING & FAT FRIDAY!

First, if you're in need of a few post-Thanksgiving, get-back-in-gear thoughts on writing, I'm guest blogging over at the delightful SEIZE THE DAY. 

Next, must admit that stuffed like a turkey am I!  With sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts and asparagus and homemade Italian bread and cookies and pie and...


(originally, this was shaped like a star but a point or two got eaten before I found my camera)

What is it?  Well, around the house, we call it "THE Jell-O Salad" because, honestly, we don't use Jell-O for anything else or any other time of year.  Family lore says my maternal grandmother added this dish to the Thanksgiving feast sometime in the 1960s.  And, here's the thing: It looks, well, kind of disgusting but it tastes DELICIOUS.  What's in it?  Admit it.  You're a little bit curious.  Here's the recipe:

Boil 2-1/3 cups water
Pour over 1 large package of LIME JELL-O and stir a good 2 minutes to dissolve
Chill Jell-O approx. 30 minutes until cool and beginning to set, remove from fridge
Beat in 3/4 cup cream cheese until cream cheese is mostly dissolved (small chunks okay--you heard it!)
Stir in 1 cup crushed pineapple  (no need to drain juice)
Fold in whip cream (1 cup heavy cream beaten to stiff peaks) AND 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
Pour into well-greased mold of your choice
Refridgerate overnight
Unmold and serve

Before you scoff, give it a try and tell me, if you ate it in a high-end restaurant (with your eyes closed so you didn't see the GREEN color), wouldn't you think it was lovely?

Where's the Writer-on-the-Side connection?  There isn't one really, except to say that on Tuesday, amazing agent emailed to say she liked the draft of my new ms and told me to keep writing.  So, I'm one stuffed-but-happy writer this week and far mellower than normal.  Relaxed enough, in fact, to take a whole THREE DAYS OFF from writing (this is VERY RARE) to, among other things, whip up THE Jell-O Salad.  So, I'll be well-fortified to get back to my writing desk tomorrow.

Do you have a somewhat disgusting but strangely fabulous holiday food tradition?  Do share!