Perhaps no one was more excited about a move to San Diego than my sister, Lori. After eight years of attending a tiny church school (her 8th grade class had three graduates), she was ready for the bigger pond and possibilities of San Diego Academy.
My parents had initially considered Rio Lindo Academy but couldn’t bear the thought of sending their eldest daughter to boarding school, so my dad, a federal agriculture inspector at Travis AFB, requested a transfer to San Diego.
Supported by a tribe of popular cousins already at the academy and buoyed by her natural confidence, leadership, and genuine friendliness, my sister thrived in her new environment. Almost immediately she began dating Mike (a cousin’s boyfriend’s best friend) and by Christmas we were introduced to his mother’s jello recipe.
Because each layer takes a little time and, more significantly, the dish occupies valuable refrigerator real estate, the dessert wasn’t made very often. But with layers of shortbread crust, cream cheese, and jello in holiday colors of either red or green, it was always a crowd-pleaser on a Christmas dessert table already loaded with goodies.
While high school relationships may come and go, family traditions, shared recipes, and love remains, and Mrs. Mirasol’s dessert is still a nostalgic favorite at our holiday feasts.
Mrs. Mirasol’s Jello Dessert
Grease 9×13 pan. Oven: 375 degrees.
Shortbread layer:
Ingredients:
- 1 1⁄2 sticks butter
- 1⁄3 c. brown sugar
- 1 1⁄2 c. flour
- 1⁄2 c. nuts, finely chopped (if allergic to nuts, crumbled gingersnap cookies can be substituted)
Instructions:
Step 1: Mix ingredients.
Step 2: Pat mixture into the bottom of the pan, creating the first layer. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly brown.
Step 3: Cool first layer.
Cream Cheese layer:
Ingredients:
- 1 lemon jello 3 oz package
- 1 cup hot water
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- 3⁄4 c. sugar
- 1 pkg. Dream Whip, make as directed (a small container of Cool Whip can be substituted)
Instructions:
Step 1: Mix the jello package with the hot water in a small bowl.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and Dream Whip.
Step 3: Fold together the lemon jello and cream cheese mixtures. Spread on top of the first shortbread layer.
Step 4: Refrigerate until set.
Jello layer:
Ingredients:
- 1 jello package (6 oz of either lime or raspberry)
- 3 cups hot water
Instructions:
Step 1: Mix the jello package with the hot water.
Step 2: Let jello cool slightly before pouring evenly on top of the cream cheese layer.
Step 3: Refrigerate until set.
Mrs. Mirasol liked to pre-slice her dessert on the diagonal in the pan so that the pieces would have a diamond shape when served.
Missy McKinstry has an older sister, Lori, and a younger sister, Stephanie – growing up the trio was collectively referred to as the Abear girls. Within the San Diego clan, she is one of three cousins happily married to an academy classmate. She and her husband, Monte, have three grown boys and two cats and live in San Diego, attending the La Sierra University Church online and Journey Sabbath School via Zoom.