I didn't realize the bliss that comes with an after school snack until my days as a latch-key child ended and I started staying with Mrs. Fort.

It was then that I had a choice of a Snickers bar or strawberry-flavored milk. For a girl whose sugar rush was derived from raisins and toast-and-honey this was a treat.

The afternoon snacks I make for my girl aren't as likely to send her into a diabetic coma. However, I try to recreate the pleasure that comes with eating something unchartered; hence last week's creation of Jello-filled Orange Halves.

My daughter found it to be a culinary curiousity; our 13-year-old neighbor quickly declared the wedges "cool."

If you have a favorite snack you like to share with your kids, tell us about it.

Here's how to make the gelatin-filled orange wedges as plucked from American Girl magazine:

Ingredients

1 package of flavored gelatin

3 oranges, halved hortizonally

1 muffin tin, or container to hold the orange halves upright

Knife

Spoon

Slice three navel oranges horizontal. Use a knife to score out the orange, cutting between the pith and flesh. Use a spoon to scoop out most of the orange.

Prepare the flavored gelatin as the package directs. Pour gelatin mix into the hulled orange halves and set oranges in a muffin tin to keep the liquid upright until its firm. It can take 2 hours for gelatin to harden. We used ice cubes instead of cold water to hasten the firming process.

Once gelatin is firm, remove orange halves from fridge and slice in fourths. Dig in.

Note: We used raspberry gelatin which blended well with the orange flesh that couldn't be dug out of the halves.

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