The Jell-o Project: Eight Cow Jell-o

For those not familiar with the 1969 Sunday School film, Johnny Lingo, let me give you a brief run down: Johnny Lingo is a handsome Polynesian trader recently returned to his home island to find a wife. Rumor has it, he wants to marry Mahana. No one can believe this because, of course, Mahana is ugly. We know this because of the infamous line her father delivers with Sunday School flair, "Mahana, you ugly! Get down from that tree."

Island custom dictates a young man offer cattle when asking for a young girl's hand in marriage. The better looking and more talented the girl, the more cows she is worth. Mahana's father is a bit of a jerk and speculates he couldn't expect more than a 3 legged cow that gives sour milk for his ugly Mahana. So everyone is surprised when Johnny offers 8 cows for Mahana's hand in marriage.

Johnny and Mahana go off to the Honeymoon Place and when they return to the island 6 months later, everyone is shocked to find Mahana a stunningly beautiful woman. Johnny Lingo said, Mahana's true worth had nothing to do with what others saw, but only what she truly was.

Which brings us to this week's Jell-o.

Mahana (you ugly) Jell-o salad was brought to my attention by Margo (thank you!) who spotted it in an article about the devoted relationship between Mormons and Jell-o.

As you can clearly see from the picture, it's not pretty. But, like Johnny Lingo said of Mahana, this Jell-o salad's worth has nothing to do with what others see, but what it truly is. And that is about a half gallon of ice cream with a little Jell-o, crushed pineapple, cottage cheese and pecans mixed in.

Yes, it was good.

Of course there were still a few unbelievers at the table yesterday who refuse to look beyond the outer appearance of their food to find its inner deliciousness. (You'd think we were trying to feed him fried worms!)

Ethan said it was disgusting, but somehow managed to eat the whole thing so he could have dessert. (More ice cream). Isaac took one bite and was done. Jonah said he liked it "half" and ate half. Robert and I ate the whole thing. As usual.

If I can't get my kids to eat a Jell-o salad with a half gallon of vanilla ice cream mixed in, will I ever have a chance of getting them to embrace their Jell-o heritage?

They can protest all they want. It only makes me more determined.