It's a Party (Sorta)

Last week I was thumbing through a Company's Coming Cookbook.  For those of you South of the border, you may not be aware of this Canadian sensation.  In the 80's a lady from small-town Alberta published a cookbook using everyday, easy ingredients.  It was a hit and that cookbook spawned an empire.  She has sold millions.  It's  an entire series of cookbooks that use a lot of canned soup, frozen whipped topping and liquid smoke (I kid you not).  

Some in the series are better than others.  I'd be totally lost without my Muffins and More book but the Make-Ahead Meals book I was looking through?  I doubt I will EVER make more than 2 recipes from it.

The following may explain why.

Party Salad 

(To be served at a party where you invite all the people you really just can't stand.)

3/4 cup boiling water

2 pkgs raspberry flavoured gelatin  

So far so good.  

2 cans of stewed tomatoes with juice, broken up.  

Make sure you break them up because really, who wants a whole stewed tomato in their raspberry jello?

2 tbsp orange juice

Apparently there just isn't enough acid from the raspberry jello and 28 ounces of tomatoes, a little orange juice will help ensure that your stomach lining is completely eaten away.

4-6 drops of hot sauce

The burning sensation will detract from the fact that you just ate jello made with stewed tomatoes.

Sauce

Yep, there is a sauce.  The directions call for it to be piped around the jello mold in a decorative fashion.  Classy.

1.5 cups of light sour cream

2 tsp horseradish

It's not just for roast beef anymore

1/2 tsp sugar

Apparently Jean isn't a big Mary Poppins fan or she'd be advocating a heck of a lot more than 1/2 a tsp.

I so wish I was making this up, but I'm not.  The preceding was taken from Company's Coming Make-Ahead Meals by Jean Pare.  

Enjoy.