Sauerkraut Jell-O (1938)!

Sauerkraut Jell-O (1938)!
The Internets

Stick with me here, and try to follow my train of thought: I knew we were having bratwurst for dinner. Not the puny white deli bin kind, but the big, fat, sausage-y manly kind.  I knew that Husband and I both like a bit of sauerkraut with our German meats.  I knew that Husband is, quite likely, now addicted to Jell-O. I knew, from my careful study of gelatin cookery, that there would likely be a method by which one could combine Jell-O and sauerkraut.  And whaddya know, there is!

Thanks to my crack Googling skills I quickly came across a 1938 recipe for "Sauerkraut Jell-O", which can be found in print in Mama's in the Kitchen: Weird and Wonderful Home Cooking 1900-1950. 

Here's the recipe as I found it (but for my purposes, I halved all amounts):

1/2 lemon, juice of
1 (6 ounce) package lemon Jell-O gelatin
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
2 cups sauerkraut

Dissolve a packet of lemon jello in one cup of boiling water. When cool add sauerkraut, lemon juice, salt and paprika. Fill individual molds or cups. Chill. This recipe will make six individual molds. At serving time, remove from molds. Cut into any desired shapes and use as a garnish for salads or cold meats.

Based on another version I found, I also decided to add pimiento and carrot garnish. You know, as one does.

It didn't help.

If you've made it this far without retching, you're surely curios about what Husband thought, no?

You'll be relieved to know that the remainder of the dish went down the drain and Husband got good old-fashioned sauerkraut with his bratwurst.

Our Rating: Three screaming husbands!

(all dishes are rated from one to five Screaming Husbands. One Screaming Husband equals a happy home where all problems are solved during cocktail hour. Five Screaming Husbands signals the beginning of divorce proceedings.)