Did you know Jell-o is over 100 years old?

Raspberry-Cranberry Ring

Ingredients

1 package raspberry gelatin mix (3 oz)

1 cup boiling water

1 can crushed pineapple with juice, drained and reserved (8 oz)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 can whole cooked cranberry sauce, or 2 cups homemade sauce (16 oz)

1 cup frozen raspberries, unthawed

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water in medium mixing bowl. Stir until no granules remain. Stir in pineapple juice, lemon juice and chill in refrigerator until the consistancy of unbeaten egg whites. About one hour.

Stir in cranberry sauce, raspberries, reserved crushed pineapple, and walnuts. Pour into a 4 1/2 cup ring mold sprayed with a vegetable oil spray. Cover with plastic and refrigerate over night.

Garnish with sprigs of watercress, whole cranberries, lemon slices or walnut meats. Makes about 12 servings.

Grow your own Sprouts

Sprouting your own seeds in a jar was common in the 70's. Do it yourself sprouting is coming back because people want to control the quanity and the quality.

All you need is a wide-mouth mason glass jar, a piece of cheesecloth, or fine screen to place over the opening, and a fine sieve to wash the seeds. Be sure the sieve is fine woven enough so small seeds will not wash through.

Today's news touts the benefits of the anitoxidants of the broccoli sprouts. Take 2 tablespoons of broccoli seeds and place them on a fine mesh sieve and rinse under running water.

Place the rinsed seeds in the sprouting jar and add four times as much water, lukewarm, as seeds. (about 8 tablespoons)

Secure the cover over the jar opening and allow the seeds to soak about 12 hours. Pour off the water the seeds soaked in. Rinse the seeds again by adding fresh water to the jar and draining.

Position the jar at a slight angle, mesh covered opening down, so excess water can drain off, and place the jar in a dark cupboard.

Rinse the seeds two or three times daily. Hold the covered jar under slowly running water, invert the jar and let the water drain out. Do not shake the bottle as the developing sprouts are very delicate. Rinsing removes the tough hulls from the sprouts.

After 3 or 4 days, the sprouts will be ready to be exposed to sunlight, which will develop the chlorolphyll. Place the jar on a windowsill for a few hours of indirect sunlight. Direct sunlight would dry them out. The tiny leaves of the sprouts will turn green as they create chlorophyll.

After 3 days the sprout leave should appear and will be ready for eating.