Stained Glass Gelatin

December, and Christmas approaches with the anticipation of a family waiting for a baby — the first grandchild, due in January, the future arriving in the form of a person who does not yet exist outside Elise's body but who exists already in the cradle Robert built and the she-crab soup recipe that Elise is learning and the library of children's books that I have begun assembling on the shelf in the guest bedroom — Mama's old room, the room that will hold the baby when the baby comes, the room transformed from the room of dying to the room of being-born.

The Christmas was seven: Naomi, Robert, James, Elise, Carrie, Joy (Santa hat, final appearance of the season), and Ruth (the third annual Ruth-at-Christmas). Seven people and one belly and the particular warmth of a Christmas that includes the anticipation of a birth, which is what Christmas has always been about: the anticipation, the waiting, the child who is coming, the hope that the coming represents.

I blessed the food: "For this food. For this family, gathered here, seven at the table and one on the way. For Carolyn Simmons, whose recipes feed this table. For the baby who will taste these recipes and who will carry them forward. We give thanks."

I made the full Christmas dinner. The same. Always the same. The same is the Christmas. The Christmas is the same. And the same is the love, which is the faith, which is the cooking, which is the life.

The full Christmas dinner means the same dessert at the end — the one that catches the candlelight and makes the children (and the adults, if they’re honest) say oh when it comes to the table. This Stained Glass Gelatin has ended every Christmas dinner I can remember, and this year, looking around at Robert and Elise and that beautiful belly, knowing there would be someone new at next year’s table to see those colors for the very first time, I felt it more than ever — the rightness of the same, the love that lives inside the repetition.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes (chill time: 6 hours) | Total Time: 6 hours 30 minutes | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 box (3 oz) cherry gelatin
1 box (3 oz) lime gelatin
1 box (3 oz) orange gelatin
1 box (3 oz) blue raspberry gelatin
4 cups boiling water, divided (1 cup per color)
4 cups cold water, divided (1 cup per color)
2 envelopes (1/4 oz each) unflavored gelatin powder
1/2 cup cold water (for unflavored gelatin)
1 cup boiling water (for unflavored gelatin mixture)
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
Cooking spray

Instructions

Prepare the colored layers. Dissolve each flavored gelatin packet separately in 1 cup boiling water, stirring until fully dissolved. Stir 1 cup cold water into each. Pour each color into its own lightly greased 8x8-inch pan or shallow dish. Refrigerate all four colors for at least 4 hours or until very firm.
Cut the gelatin into cubes. Once fully set, cut each color of gelatin into 3/4-inch cubes. Gently toss the cubes together in a large bowl, being careful not to break them. The mixed colors are your “stained glass.”
Make the white base. Sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water in a large bowl; let sit 2 minutes to bloom. Add 1 cup boiling water and stir until completely dissolved. Stir in the sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Let cool to room temperature — about 20 minutes — so it won’t melt the colored cubes.
Combine and mold. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch dish or a large Bundt pan with cooking spray. Gently fold the colored gelatin cubes into the cooled white mixture. Pour into the prepared pan, distributing the colors evenly.
Chill until set. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until completely firm. To serve, cut into squares (if using a 9x13 pan) or invert onto a platter (if using a Bundt pan). Slice and serve chilled.

Nutrition (per serving)

Stained Glass Gelatin — The Same, Always the Same, and One on the Way