USC vs Utah Football: What to Eat? (3) Jello shots

Jello is an unofficial state food of Utah. Mormons (many of whom live in Utah) do not drink alcohol per their religious beliefs.  What better way to combine Utah with the Utah/Mormon-opposite than Jello shots? So this weekend, I made these for the tailgate… however, I toned down the alcohol after I read how people tend to not be cognizant of the amount of alcohol they are consuming with jello shots and get themselves in trouble.

My friend, Donna, from Northern California, shared a very easy recipe (we had Blue Jello with Rum jello shots this summer while on vacation with Donna and family in Lake Tahoe)…

ANY FLAVOR JELLO SHOTS (taken from Cooks.com)

• 3 oz box Jell-O (any flavor)
• l cup boiling water
• l cup liquor of choice

Dissolve the Jello in boiling water.  Add liquor in
place of cold water.  Pour into small plastic cups.  Place in
refrigerator until set.

Some flavor combos:

• Cherry Jello and vodka
• Lime jello and tequila
• Strawberry jello and tequila (add strawberry slice)
• Orange jello and vodka
• Peach jello and Peach schnapps
• Watermelon jello and Vodka
• Grape Jello and Rum

I decided to make Lemon/Citrus Vodka and Cherry/Rum jello shots (red and gold!)… Basically you need two cups of liquid…so I decreased the alcohol to 3/4 cup plus 1/4 cup cold water…. for the 1 cup cold liquid. See my photo below.

Another item on this vein is mixing jello with coffee (no caffeine for Mormons either)…. click here for a coffee jello dessert that my friend Steve found on the internet (photo is from this site too)– a dessert to be served with whipped cream — including Kahlua is optional.  I wish I had time to make this as well!

Fight On!

Beat the Utes!

USC vs Utah Football: What to Eat? (2) Funeral Potatoes

This post focuses on a Mormon dish known as “funeral potatoes.”

Good ole Wikipedia defines funeral potatoes as “a traditional Latter-day Saint (Mormon) casserole dish that originated in Utah. Funeral potatoes get their name from commonly being served as a side dish during traditional after-funeral dinners. Funeral potatoes are often served at social gatherings, such as potlucks, in Utah and other areas with a large Latter-day Saint population. The dish usually consists of hash browns or cubed potatoes, cheese (cheddar or parmesan), onions, cream soup (chicken, mushroom, or celery) or a cream sauce, sour cream, and is topped with butter and corn flakes or crushed potato chips.  During the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, one of the souvenirs included a pin featuring an image of funeral potatoes.”

I was lucky enough to attend these games but I didn’t see this pin. Here is an image of the pin from a Utah State History website.

My friend and neighbor is Mormon, graduated from BYU, and has 4 sons also at BYU (well, one is there currently, the other 3 have graduated — one is in grad school at the Univ of Utah).  She corroborated Jello as a Utah food but doesn’t like what they put in it… carrots, etc.  She suggested “funeral potatoes” because “any one from Utah would certainly know what they are.” Thanks for the suggestion!  They look quite tasty.  So, we are incorporating these into our tailgate lunch on Saturday.. with a similar tried and true, scalloped potato casserole that one of the group members will bring.  I don’t have the recipe she will use, but below is a photo of these potatoes from a recipe post I found online at: http://www.food.com/recipe/Funeral-Potatoes-55389

Another recipe at another site…http://saltlakecity.about.com/od/lifestyles/a/FuneralPotatoes.htm indicates that these potatoes are basically comfort food.  “The funeral potatoes are generally served with ham, rolls, salad, cake, and of course, Jell-O!  And they eat them at events other than funerals — parties, Christmas Eve.”

And I guess… the losing team for this game will need some comfort food…right?  (However, we will be eating these pre-game!) Fight On!

USC vs Utah Football Tailgate: What to Eat? (1) JELL-O

This weekend, USC plays Utah.  Researching Utah foods for our tailgate, I see JELL-O always comes up in the search results. The recipe below for Utah’s famous green jello comes from the Mormon Chic website.