I don't know Jell-O

and this is supposed to be a cooking blog.  Today, the urge struck me to try my hand at dessert in one of its simplest forms, Jello.  I thought, "Mmm, lime with mandarin orange segments."  I followed the directions, after an hour and a half had passed, I went to add the segments to the "slightly thickened" gelatinous concoction.  Alas!  My mysterious green creation was still a liquid?  Yes, far from it's gelled form.  The first segment I dropped in quickly sank to the bottom.

See those fallen, sunken mandarin segments?  May they RIP.

Hmm.  Odd.  I plopped the pan back into the refrigerator, let another thirty go by, and repeated process.  Hmm.  Odd.  Orange segment sank to the bottom.  Back into the 'ol fridge it went and I proceeded to spend the rest of the quiet afternoon napping with Bebe on the couch. 

When Big Sissy returned from school (an hour and a half into my nap) I jumped up and ran to the fridge to check the status of events that were sure to have unfolded during my rest turning my green goo into a marvelous, transparent, solid state.  Nada.  Green syrupy mixture persists.  I don't understand.  I followed directions, 1 cup boiling water, dissolve gelatin completely, 1 cup cold water and since I was preparing 2 packages I doubled the recipe- 2 cups boiling water, dissolved gelatin completely, 2 cups cold.  2 packages 2 cups, right?  

Hmph. Must not fail at Jello. Will be the laughing stock of blogland. Must prevail.

I took around 90 pics trying to capture the "drip"   : )

This matter IS. Not. Over. To be continued...