'The Watchers: All Eyes Are On Him'

It has occurred to the Gatekeeper that she indeed would be very happy living in the UK. The food is good, the country side is heaven and the people are quite nice. Not to mention that some of her favorite authors are apparently very British. Are all British authors known by their initials: CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, GP Taylor and the list goes on. I fool you not. Nonetheless, at Lady Gatekeep's American writers' group our fearless leader, author Marilyn J. Woody, delights us each Christmas with her English Trifle. So delicious was this delicacy Mother had to include it in her cook book, Come and Dine. Most excellent! Here then is Marilyn's version of English Trifle:

1 large pkg. Jell-O (cherry, strawberry or raspberry)

Banana
1 pkg. ladyfingers or sliced pound cake
Peaches (drained and cut fine)
Jelly or jam (berry ,cherry, apricot, or frozen sweetened strawberries drained well)
Vanilla pudding (instant, homemade, or English Bird pudding)
Pineapple tidbits, drained well
Cool Whip and whipping cream
Maraschino cherries
Nuts
Mint leaves

Spread jelly on split ladyfingers or pound cake and arrange on the bottom and around the edges of glass bowl. You want a bowl with high sides. They actually make trifle bowls if you can find one. Over this, pour the Jell-O that has thickened. I like to make up to 3 - 4 hours ahead and leave on the counter to thicken. Sometimes refrigerating the Jell-O makes it set too hard. After you pour over the ladyfingers, you can put in the refrigerator to set. Use any fruit combination you wish. Raspberries are very good. I have used fresh tangerines off the tree. Chop them fine, drained and added. Put the assorted fruits over the Jell-O and ladyfingers. Spread with a carton of Cool Whip or a box of whipped cream, slightly sweetened. Cover the top completely.

For Christmas, it's fun to decorate with maraschino cherries. Cut them in halves and drain well on paper towel. Put 3 pieces in a flower pattern and use mint leaves to look like holly. You can put pecan halves in between. In England this is called "Trifle" because one can use whatever is on hand--a trifle of this and a trifle of that. Enjoy!

Marilyn