By Misty I.

Mele Kalikimaka! I always start the season with visions of a picture-perfect holiday similar to a Currier & Ives print, minus the snow. Then reality sets in and I find myself trying to find time to make Christmas cards, decorate, bake, shop, wrap, plan party games, stuff stockings and make a million Target runs! By December 24th, all I want for Christmas is a nap.

To keep your sanity consider making this “only easy” dessert to your next holiday get-together. I started making this about 15 years ago for our Christmas Eve party and it’s come to be expected at our family dessert table by the children. You can make the Jell-O a day ahead and assemble the day of your party.

Misty’s Jell-O Parfaits

Ingredients

1 (3 oz.) strawberry Jell-O
1 (3 oz.) lime Jell-O
4 C. water (2 cups boiling hot, 2 cups cold) separated into 4 bowls of 1 cup each
1 box (4 packets) Knox gelatin
1 (8 oz.) container cool whip
16-18 small (5 oz.) plastic cups (OR use a trifle dish and make one giant layered parfait)
2 glass or plastic containers that measure about 7×11”, a 9×13 pan will not work.

Method

Bowl 1: 1 C. cold water + 2 packets Knox gelatin, mix until dissolved
Bowl 2: 1 C. hot water + strawberry Jell-O packet, mix until dissolved
Bowl 3: 1 C. cold water + 2 packets Knox gelatin, mix until dissolved
Bowl 4: 1 C. hot water + lime Jell-O packet, mix until dissolved

After everything is dissolved, add bowl 1 contents to bowl 2, combine and pour into a container that measures about 7×11”. Add bowl 3 contents to bowl 4, combine and pour into the other 7×11” container. Chill for 2 hours.

Cut into ½ inch cubes. Add about 9-10 green Jell-O cubes to the cups. Top with a hefty tablespoon of cool whip. Add 9-10 strawberry cubes on top of the cool whip.

That’s it, only easy!