In a restaurant full of contestants, curious passers-by and chortling judges, Jell-O artists competed against each other for "Big Jiggle" honors Saturday.
Close to 30 Jell-O platters shimmered in the spotlight, selected from nearly 100 entries in a contest sponsored by Hotel Monaco's trendy bistro, Bambara.Orchestrated by Executive Chef Scott Blackerby, the competition was born after shocking national marketing statistics indicated that Jell-O sales in Des Moines, Iowa, surpassed Salt Lake City's previous Numero Uno status.
Taking Best of Beehive honors in the Home Cook category was Scott Perry's "Legacy Time Capsule," a yellowish-green molded tower encasing a plastic cricket, a honeybee, dinosaurs and photographs of the past 12 Utah governors, festooned with spray cheese and soggy miniature marshmallows.
The Red and Green Home Cook winner was Deseret News artist Christie Jackson; Teresa Vejnar took the Party Jell-O Home Cook award.
Kid's Party Jell-O winner was Veliha Ruiz with "Pool Party," a wiggly Barbie-fest with life-saver floaties. Kasha Sloan's Jell-O "Volcano" erupted into a winning dry ice masterpiece in the Red and Green division; and Mimi Meyer's "Seagull Splat" handily won Best of Beehive State in the kid's category. (Meyer is the daughter of Red and Green Home Cook winner Jackson.)
After the lively show of local color, Virginia Rainey, PR representative for Bambara Hotel noted, "All eyes will be on Kraft, makers of Jell-O, the next time their sales figures are released, in hopes of Salt Lake City regaining the title of most per capita consumption once again."
Here is Scott Perry's recipe, described in his own words, for "Legacy Time Capsule."
LEGACY TIME CAPSULE
1 gallon Jell-O (the kind that automatically divides into green and yellow works best)
1 ton unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 bag miniature colored marshmallows
1 can aerosol cheese
1 batch Utah memorabilia
Instructions:
1. Pour Jell-O into mold.
2. Allow to set halfway.
3. Stir in mozzarella (this is to cover up the undissolved bits of unflavored gelatin -- it just happened to be in the fridge).
4. Add dinosaurs (to symbolize Utah's past).
5. Add bee and cricket (our state mascots).
6. Place photos of governors (as if the mozzarella wasn't enough cheese!)
7. Invert mold onto platter (good luck, it weighs a ton).
8. Add seagull, flag and sparkly thing (our present).
9. Place mother and child (symbolizing our future).
10. Muck it up with marshmallows and aerosol cheese. (This is to ensure that if we don't get the title back from Iowa, we could steal the cheese title from Wisconsin).
11. Pre-cool car to 40 degrees.
12. Drive quickly but smoothly to Bambara.
13. Refrigerated properly, this will keep for approximately 1,000 years.
Serves 30
(But judging from the judges' comments, you probably woudn't want to.)
E-mail: jeanw@desnews.com