Jello, jello - yum, yum, YUM!

Normally, I don't have any recipes to share that couldn't be found on the back of a box. So it is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure (5 points for movie reference) that I share this 4th-of-July-traditional-dessert with you! My mom would make it every year and I LOVED it - it was light and fresh enough that it didn't weigh you down in the humid Minnesota summer, but ice-creamy and dessert-y enough that it was a certainly a special treat.

Alright, here we go: (and of course, because I am always punished by Murphy's Law: I could make this recipe with my eyes closed last summer - but because I decided to document this batch and post it for the world to see, I keep messing up. Please don't judge me.)

2 packages of jello (the smaller boxes - but of course, I grabbed the larger boxes this time - d'oh)
2 cups boiling water
3/4 cup cold water
2 cups vanilla ice cream
Cool Whip
fruit*

Boil 1 cup water.
Add in jello mix. Stir well.
Add in 2 cups ice cream.
Stir till ice cream has dissolved.
you should have a thick, frothy soup.
Pour mixture into serving bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour or until mixture has set.

In a separate pan, (I usually wait for a little bit before I start this step to give the first part some extra time to set)
Boil 1 cup water.
Add in jello mix. Stir well.
Add 3/4 cup COLD water.
Refrigerate till almost solid.

Once the jello/ice cream mix is set, layer the fruit on it.
Then pour the not-quite-set jello on top of all of that.
Refrigerate again until jello is completely set.
Finish with Cool Whip.

Voila!

*naturally, it's best to coordinate your jello flavor with the fruit choice. My mom would always do a peach combo - but none of Bon's family like peaches, so I do a raspberry combo (I've also done blackberry with much success).


p.s. - I can't remember if I posted this recipe last summer...but since that blog has since been erased, I guess it doesn't much matter...