Happy Valentine's Day 2009.
Little do people know that this celebratory day hails all the way back to Ancient Rome. The days of February 13th through the 15th were known as Lupurcalia which a raucous festival featuring dog sacrifices, nudity, and flogging women to ward off infertility. According to Derek it was also a time where men and women would intermingle, go for a bit of coffee talk, and see if marriage was in the making. Hmm. Now it's a dreamy, romantical day for some and for others, namely waiters at fancy restaurants, a nightmare.
On a more positive note, and there's nothing like talking about gelatin shots to get me all dreamy, for today's celebration I bought some silicone heart molds and made three red/pink shots.
The first were Lolly Ranchers. I made them with watermelon gelatin, watermelon pucker, and vodka. Simple and tasty. They have that tart/sweet taste of a jolly rancher
The second shots were Shots through the heart (and you're to blame). These were three layered shots. The top and bottom layers were strawberry gelatin and vanilla vodka. To make the in between layer I added condensed milk which turns the red to a nice contrasting pink. I topped them off with chocolate sprinkles (also known as shots in some part of the country- have to look that up)
The third concoctions were Shot de Cacao Coeur. I wanted to create a sweet chocolate sensation that most people think of when it comes to Valentines day. I made a two layered shot with the first layer being cherry gelatin with vodka and creme de Cacao. I should have added some condensed milk to create a color variation. The top layer was cherry gelatin with Godiva Liquor. Not only did it have a rich chocolate taste, it gave the gelatin a sultry dark red color. These are definitely my favorite. As you bite into them the chocolate taste melts nicely with the cherry flavor. If I can brach out, I love to learn how to make edible chocolate heart shaped shells. That would be inebriate decadence.
I hope you enjoyed both the written and pixelated descriptions. Contact me if you'd like to try the actual shots. Do not attempt to lick the screen.
Recently I went on to the Jello website to see what they had posted. Lo and behold, they actually had a Jello shot page. It's called their Jello Lounge and you have to type in your birthday to be allowed access. How parental! On the site they had some great ideas. Hey, I can't accuse them of stealing mine, they did invent the stuff didn't they? But what really blew my mind was that they had a recipe where they combined Jello and Pudding! Oh My God! Can it be done?! Yes, it can. So here is my variation on their Orange Mocha Minis.
