It was early on a frosty Thanksgiving morning and I had just turned 13. I felt confident enough to make the Jell-O recipe by myself. I put the ingredients into a bowl, grabbed a wooden spoon and started stirring it together. Throughout the mixing, I felt my cats silky fur against my legs as they dangled off the chair. After the ingredients were mixed together, I put Saran wrap over the bowl, and placed it into the fridge to chill.

When it was slightly firm, I took it out, mixed in the cherry pie filling, and put it back in the fridge for four hours. While it chilled, I helped my parents prepare the rest of the Thanksgiving dinner. With the potatoes peeled, and the turkey overflowing with stuffing, we waited. Half an hour before it was time to take out the Jell-O, I put a metal bowl and whisk in the freezer to use later for making the whipped cream.

I’d never even seen whipped cream being made so I was excited to make it myself. I put the ingredients into the bowl and whisked it until stiff peaks formed. My parents offered help but I declined; I was determined to make this all by myself. I pulled the Jell-O out and put the whipped cream on top. We set the rest of the food out on the table, and got ready to eat.

We were quietly eating when we heard a faint licking sound coming from the kitchen. We went to see what it was and caught one of our cats licking the leftover whipped cream from the bowl! She lifted her head out of the bowl when she heard our footsteps and she had whipped cream all over her face and whiskers; she looked cute.