Juicy Fruit Jello Salad

In the middle of cold winter it's so nice to have a summer breeze blow through in the form of a fruity and light jello salad. Sometimes you just gotta fix it.

Grandma would frequently have some form of jello in the fridge. Nothing fancy, maybe just orange jello with some fruit or mandarin oranges in it. To the evening fridge surfers out there, it's a little better than a fatty snack. Jello used to be considered a diet food, but with the glucose levels in America running amok, it's probably not anymore. There are sugar-free varieties of Jello, but I think I would rather use the full-fledge sugar version than the Splenda-riddled stuff. It's the same argument as the choice of butter over margarine. Somehow it seems like the healthier option. 

I must admit I don't make jello salads enough, but with the kudos received after making this one, I'll definitely have to make them more often.

Juicy Fruit Jello Salad

1 ½ cups boiling water
1 packet (8 serving size) Jello Strawberry or Cranberry gelatin
1 cup cold orange juice
ice cubes
1 (8 oz) tub Cool Whip topping, thawed and divided
1 can fruit cocktail, drained

Stir boiling water into gelatin in large glass bowl at least 2 minutes until completely dissolved. In separate bowl or measuring cup, mix cold orange juice and ice cubes to make 1¼ cups. Add to gelatin, stirring until slightly thickened (consistency of unbeaten egg whites). Remove any remaining ice and refrigerate 45 minutes.

Reserve 1 cup of gelatin. Stir ½ of the whipped topping into remaining gelatin until smooth. Pour mixture into 8-inch square pan or 1½ quart casserole dish. Refrigerate about 5 minutes until set but not firm (should stick to finger when touched). 

Stir fruit into reserved gelatin and carefully spoon over creamy layer in pan. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Cut into squares and serve with garnish, if desired. Servings: 9.