Okay, we all know about the Thanksgiving standards--turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes/candied yams, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce of some kind or another.
But every family has their own unique add-ons to the usual fare. Mine is Ribbon Jello. Some of you have probably had it before. Basically it works like this.
You get about 6 different flavors of jello, the small packages that are made with 1 cup hot water and 1 cup cold.
You mix one flavor of jello with the hot water until dissolved
Then you add ONE HALF cup cold water and one cup of either Cool Whip or vanilla ice cream, until the creamy stuff is dissolved.
Pour the mixture into a 9x13 dish (preferably glass so you get the full visual effect) and as the jello congeals, the creamy stuff will rise to the top, so once it's set, you have a layer of traditional jello and a layer of creamy jello of the same color, only pastel.
Then mix up another flavor of jello the same way and pour it on top of the first layer and let it set for an hour. Rinse and repeat until all flavors of jello are used, and you have a really nifty rainbow-striped dish that tastes really nummy. Also makes a great sweet side-dish for those of us who despise both cranberries and yams.
Soo...what's your family's "secret weapon" to take the standard cliched Thanksgiving spread and mix it up a bit?