I say Jello You say Jelly

Hello all,

I made a quick trip over to London this past weekend and had the chance to make some alcoholic jellies, as they are called over in the U.K.

My first alcohol novelty encounter was during a walk along theThames. There I discovered that you can sell alcohol out of a street cart in downtown London. These blokes were making boozie smoothies right outside the National Theater. According to the owner, you only need a personal alcohol license and a premise license. The National Theater had granted him the premise license. Such a different world over there. I think I'd have to give my first born's first born to get a license in Boston. I had a delicious Strawberry smoothie with a shot of Bacardi and Antonio had the Peach Vodka smoothie.

From there we strolled over to the headquarters of Bompas and Parr. Alas, there was no Willy Wonkesque factory to be seen. They were out at Carnival at Notting Hill, as was most of London, eating and drinking and getting merry like Christmas.

Sunday night, I had the fortune of eating a delicious Sunday roast dinner at Hannah and Chris's. As the conversation progressed to jello shots (OK, what else do I talk about!??! I dragged the conversation to it and they politely listened), Hannah showed me the sheet gelatin that they use in the UK. There is no flavoring, similar to the powdered Knox that we use in the States.


As a thank you for the dinner I made an orange juice, peach, vodka jelly for their picnic the next day. It was my first time using metric scales outside of a lab. (Why do we still use cups and ounces?????) Playing by ear, I dissolved the gelatin, OJ, splash of orangina, and some water in a pan. Then I cooled it and mixed in Smirnoff and some grenadine. I think I made a decent treat for my new English friends.


The dinner conversation also led to savory meat alcohol jellies. I think I've found a whole new branch to delve into. Hmmm.

That's it for now. Maybe I should make a trek around the globe exploring the wide world of jellies. Feel free to sponsor me.