Horseradish Jello

Horseradish Jell-O

In 1962, when I was 4 years old, I was in the newspaper. Granted, it was The Muscatine Journal, in the small Iowa town where I was born, but still. The Journal featured an article about my family with brief descriptions of each of us—Dad, who worked at the Heinz factory, Mom, the homemaker, and all five of us girls.

The real star of the show, though, was a recipe my mother shared. A recipe for Cottage Cheese Horseradish Salad. And what the name leaves out is that it was a Jell-O® salad. Horseradish Jell-O.

I like horseradish. With meat! But Horseradish Jell-O? I don’t think so.

Fast forward to May 2020. Going through some family files, my sisters and I found a black and white 5” by 7” print of the photo from the newspaper and the article clipping. The article states, “All of the girls seem to agree that Mother is a good cook and that her cottage cheese horseradish salad is especially tasty. Jeane’s recipe for this tangy dish is as follows.” The recipe wasn’t saved in the newspaper clipping, but thankfully Mom had it in her recipe book.

Cottage Cheese Horseradish Salad

1 sm package lemon Jell-O
1 1/3 c hot water

Dissolve Jell-O in water. Chill until beginning to set.

ADD:

1 c cottage cheese
1 c crushed pineapple (drained)
¼ c horseradish (don’t drain)
¼ c pimento or green pepper (chopped)
1/3 c whipping cream (whipped)

In the photo we’re all smiling sweetly as if this were our favorite recipe.

It was not.

I don’t remember ever eating it, actually. I ate plenty of Jell-O growing up. It was the ‘60s. I ate Jell-O with carrots and celery. Jell-O with marshmallows and whipped cream. Jell-O with fruits and nuts. Jell-O with carrots, celery, marshmallows, whipped cream, fruits, and nuts. And, at Granny’s house, I had my own yellow measuring cup of plain Jell-O because Granny knew I didn’t like stuff in my Jell-O. (And maybe because I was the baby of the family. Maybe.)

After finding the newspaper clipping, I decided it was time to try Horseradish Jell-O. Maybe it was something that appealed to a grown-up pallet. Maybe it was like peanut butter and cheese sandwiches, an unusual combination that sounded horrible to me until my husband persuaded me to try it. I liked it. Hey, Mikey.

Shortly after rediscovering the recipe, my sister Nancy and her husband, John, came through town for a brief visit and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to make Horseradish Jell-O. My husband, Doug, and my son, Eric, persuaded me to make a quarter of a recipe so there wouldn’t be much to finish up. Or throw out, depending.

As I was putting together the ingredients, Eric said, “This is like Green Jell-O’s evil twin.” Green Jell-O is a family favorite, another holdover from the 1960s. (Recipe below.)

That evening, our dining table was surrounded by Doug, Eric, Nancy, John, and our elder daughter and her husband, Abby and Aaron. As we started our meal, I told everyone the story of the 1962 newspaper article, the horrible sounding recipe, and passed around the photo.

Then I presented the small, glass bowl of yellow fluff.

“I want all of us to take a spoonful of Horseradish Jell-O, hold it on your spoon, and we’ll all eat it together,” I said.

Everyone played along. Aaron said, “It smells a little like jalapeno jelly, which I like.” Hmm, maybe there is hope, I thought.

I wanted to like it. Really, I did. It had such a wonderful story behind it. But it was Horseradish Jell-O. With green peppers. And horseradish. In Jell-O.

“Okay, everyone, here we go,” I said, and we all ate our spoonful of Horseradish Jell-O.

And . . . it wasn’t bad.

Everyone seemed to agree that it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. Not great, perhaps, but not bad. I wouldn’t eat it by the yellow-measuring-cupful, but it wasn’t bad.

“Try it with some chicken,” Nancy suggested. And that really worked. I like horseradish with meat.

It was, well, “tangy.” Hey, Mikey.

----

Lime Jell-O Salad (Green Jell-O)

1 3-oz pkg lime gelatin
1 20-oz can crushed pineapple, drained (save the juice)
1 c cottage cheese
1 c whipped cream
1 c miniature marshmallows
1 c chopped walnuts

Heat pineapple juice until hot but not boiling. In a two-quart dish, dissolve gelatin in juice. Allow to cool and set slightly. Add remaining ingredients. Stir to combine. Allow to set up completely before serving.