Maybe you already guessed. One of the simplest foods taken to the Fourth of July party, the jello, is what I took. (You don't have to worry about anything falling when you open the oven door!) Not only is jello easy to make, it was free. A dear friend in the U.S. sent me SIX BOXES of jello! Jello is consumed pretty fast in the summer, when everyone is thirsty. That is, five boxes have already been used.I remember as a little girl seeing my Mom take jello to school PTA potlucks. Other mothers would spend a lot of time making fancy cakes and casseroles, but my Mom? She'd just make up a large bowl of plain ol' jello, no fruit in it or anything...and every time, it was cleaned out--one of the first dishes to get all eaten.
pic: tupperware of small strawberry jello
Hot water, cold water, jello powder. That's all it took. And the hot water? It was boiled in our cat..."cat" kettle. My sister Joyce gave it to us as a gift when she found out Kinya likes cats. Yes, we boil water every morning to put into our thermos (which we got from my in-laws) so we have hot water all day.pic: Kitty Kettle...Kittle? Ketty?
Of course, to make jello, I boiled up a fresh pot. And since I was pressed for time, it was made the quick-chill method, with less water and some ice cubes.
I haven't seen red, white, and blue jello, which would've been "funner" to take for an Independence Day Dinner, but I made several red ones. I think everyone was happy; I didn't hear any complaints, anyway. Whew!
It just occurred to me: blueberry topping and whipped cream dotted on top could've given me the colors of the flag! Maybe next year.
I'm always saying "maybe next time", aren't I? Past posts also show another oft-used expression: "tendencies". I have a tendency to make outlandish parallels, a tendendency to repeat things, a tendency to exaggerate.
I have another tendency that can at times be a blessing: a tendency to forget.After my in-laws passed away, our family moved out of the apartment we're in to live in their house for a few months. Their kitchen has a full-size conventional oven, so I didn't need my microwave with convectional oven capability. Just a microwave would do.
Well, Christine (her name shows up quite a bit in my blogs, doesn't it?) had just gotten married, and I traded my larger oven-microwave for her smaller microwave which I preferred then. I had forgotten about it.
Christine will be moving and will no longer be needing the oven-microwave. She had been asking around at the church if there were any takers for, if anyone could use, an oven-microwave. Excited, I took! After all, it would be just what was needed to bake those cakes mentioned in the June 18 post.
pic: The oven-microwave Christine brought over...can you read the Japanese on the control panel?
Something else sent by the friend who sent the cake mixes and jello mixes: cookie mix too! I made I-don't-know how many batches of cookies; they disappear fast too...no more cookie mix! It makes me feel good, because now my family thinks I'm an expert baker!pic: one batch of yummy Double Chocolate Crunch cookies
Some of you may have noticed the little plaque on the wall next to the oven microwave. It was given to me--ten years ago? I forget--by another friend, a former church member, who has moved to northern Japan.
pic: going-away gift from a friend...when SHE moved away!Yup; God can send jello/cake/cookie mixes and kitty kettles across the Pacific Ocean, can toss oven microwaves from one Christian to another. --even when I forget what's available!
If only I would keep this in mind. Then perhaps I would more easily let God take charge of warming, not just my kitchen, but my entire home, my family, my life!
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more
than all we ask or imagine, according to his power
that is at work within us, to him be glory in the
church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephe. 3:20-21)
