Turkey Treats

Hello Fellow Gelologists,

Happy Pre-Thanksgiving Monday. By now many of you have your birds marinating in brine, or de-thawing in the fridge.  Or maybe you're feeding a pair of turkey out your bedroom window like the couple I saw doing last week on my morning run.  I guess there's a troupe, or pack, or wait......  Wait, just looked it up... It's a rafter of wild turkeys and they're roaming around the streets of Cambridgeport.  

This situation inspired me to create an urban wild turkey treat.  Using these molds  I wanted to come up with some gel that was sweet and nutty with a bite to it. Something to gobble up but still relish. (wakka wakka wakka!)  

Anyone for a Turkey trot?

Valentine's Day Revisited

Hello Gelophiles,

Valentine's Day may long gone, but for those who didn't officially celebrate due to myriad reasons, why not make March 5th YOUR official Valentines Day. Maybe your previous day was sweet, maybe it was sour. So why not combine the elements of both into one delicious gelatin shot?!

These are my layered Strawberry Supreme Sour Cream Shots.

Strawberry layer
1 6oz box of Strawberry gelatin
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup pureed frozen strawberries in syrup
3/4 cup cold water

1/2 cup Vanilla Vodka
1/4 cup Strawberry pucker
1/4 Light rum

Sour Cream Layer
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 Tablespoon sugar

In a microwave proof bowl, mix the strawberry puree, strawberry gelatin, and cold water. Sprinkle the 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin and let absorb. Microwave for 4 minutes until the mixture is hot and the gelatin dissolve. Watch for over boiling!

Let the mixture cool and stir in the alcohols. (Is the plural of alcohol alcohols?) Anyways, irregardless, add the alcohols.

Prepare the sour cream layer. Add the sour cream to another microwave proof bowl and add the 1/2 cup water. Sprinkle on the unflavored gelatin and let absorb. Heat for 2 minutes, mix and cool.

Add half of the Strawberry mixture into your baking pan or fill just less than half of your silicon mold for layer one.

Place in the fridge and let it get semi-solid and spoon on the sour cream layer. Let it set again and add the remainder of the final strawberry layer. Let it set for 2 hours or place in the freezer to speed set. Top with chocolate shots or a small dollop of sour cream.

These tangy, tart and sweet shots will be just right to soothe the sordid heart.

Enjoy!

Don't Be Skittish About These Skittles Shots.

Hello fellow gelologists,

Happy New Year? For those in warmer climes, I hope you enjoyed champagne by the beach. For those of us in the cold, we had to content ourselves with ugly Christmas sweaters and gelatin shots.

Based on a suggestion from Allison in Connecticut, I made some Skittle liquor.

Skittles Liquor
Dissolve 8 Skittles pieces into 1/2 cup vodka and 1/2 cup peach schnapps in a glass container. Let sit for four hous. Strain using a coffee filter. The alcohol will have a brilliant color and nice tangy flavor.


From there, I made six different gelatin shots, one for each of the rainbow vodkas.

Red
3 oz box Strawberry Banana gelatin
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup of red Skittle liquor

Orange
3oz box of Orange gelatin
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup of orange Skittle liquor
2 Tbsp Triple Sec

Yellow
3oz box of lemon gelatin
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup of yellow Skittles liquor
2 Tbsp Limoncello

Green
3oz box of lime gelatin
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup of green Skittles liquor
2 Tbsp Southern Comfort

Blue
3oz box of berry blue gelatin
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup of blue Skittles liquor
2 Tbsp coconut rum

Purple
3oz box of grape gelatin
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup of purple Skittles liquor





Have a Happy January First!

Caramel Apple Cider Shots

Hello Gelophiles,

Today's shots were inspired by a recent apple picking outing. Back in California every transplanted east coaster says "Gee, I miss the fall. You could go apple picking." Well, as a former transplant back who's now back on the East Coast just let me say this, no one ever goes apple picking. You try, you think about, but you don't. And fall is cold. Don't even get me started on winter.

Finally after four years back, I finally went. And it was fun. And we ate apples. But the real fun came from thinking about how I jellify and boozy up this confection. Here's my attempt.

Caramel Apple Cider Shots
Apple Cider
Maple Syrup
Knox Gelatin
Sugar
Dark Rum
Cinnamon Schnapps
Homemade caramel
Chopped Peanuts


The next time someone tells you they want to move back to the East Coast because they miss the seasons, feed them these shots and tell them the seasons are overrated.

Eggcellent Surprise Shot

OK. This is it for the egg puns and Easter shots. While brainstorming ideas, the ultimate idea came up. What if we could make a jello shot inside a real eggshell! Could we? Should we? After a quick google search, we realized that it has been done before. And if it's on the internet, it has to be true! Right?

To start, I unfolded a paper clip and punctured a hole in both ends of an egg.

I blew out the egg innards and then rinsed with hot water for ten minutes until the liquid coming out was clear and non foamy. Now, a chef friend of mine told me the risk of salmonella from eggs is pretty low, especially if you buy eggs from healthy egg farms. To be sure of not sickening my guests, I microwaved the egg shells for two minutes on high.

For the shots, I made more Strawberry Daquiri and Watermelon margarita shots. I thought both the brilliant red and green insides would heighten the wow factor when someone cracked the egg open.

Pouring the gelatin into the eggs was tricky. I had to enlarge one hole and plug up the other whole with wax. Using a funnel, I poured the gelatin in and then set the eggs in a carton in the fridge for two hours.

After that, I plugged the top hole with wax, and set the eggs in easter egg dye. When the guests arrived I handed them the eggs without telling them what was inside. They were amazed, then skeptical, then amazed, then still skeptical. Needless to say, everyone enjoyed them.

Poached Egg Shots

Welcome back to the third in a series of gelatin shots designed for Easter. This blogisode will introduce you to the poached egg shot. It was a variation of the Huevos gelatos from the previous blog entry. I had extra sweet condensed milk from the Gelushi and extra Pina colada gelatin, so I thought, "hmm, can I make a shot that looks like an actual poached egg?" Here's my attempt.

Egg white
1 16 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
2 envelops knox
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup creme de cacao
1/2 cup vodka

Yolk
1 3oz box pineapple Jello
1 envelop Knox gelatine
1 cup hot water
1 cup vodka

I made the yolk in a small plastic container and set in the freezer for one hour. Once it was solid I cut into circular pieces to resemble yolks.

Then I filled the bottom half of the eggs molds with the white layer, added a yolk, and then closed the egg molds. I continued to pour the white layer into the mold using a funnel. After three hours in the fridge they were ready to be released and eaten. It would be fun to serve on a plate with some gummy bacon!

Huevos gelatos

Happy Easter! This weekend was a flurry of gelatin shot ideas. We had so much fun making the Gelushi, that we brainstormed other Easter gelatin shot idea. Michelle and I are big egg decorating fans. In fact, it was three years ago that I met Michelle when I was invited by a mutual friend to Kegs N Eggs party. I was blown away by her Eggstravaganza. She had every kind of decorating kit imaginable plus she even had the original 1970's egg vice that clamped onto and egg and allowed you to spin the egg while markers made perfect circles. I had met my holiday match. Michelle also served me my first Jello shots and the rest, as they say, is history.

Michelle found some egg-shaped plastic jello molds on the internet a while back. What was great was that they had patterns etched on the inside so that the jello looks like it is decorated. You could use regular plastic eggs as well. Just cut or drill a large hole into the top and place the eggs in an egg carton to stand upright. We decided to make four different colors, red, yellow, green, and orange.

For the red eggs, we made strawberry daquiri shots. The orange were orange Jello, peach schnapps, and vodka for a fuzzy navel. For the green, we were really excited to find a new maker of gelatin. Jelly Belly, the maker of the best jelly beans in the world, now also makes gelatin. They had a green watermelon gelatin. So we made those into watermelon margaritas. Finally, Michele had been saving a special edition Jello brand flavor she found in a store in Pennsylvania- Pina Colada Jello. Yum! We mixed that with Malibu rum.

(Red) Strawberry Daquiri
1 6oz box Strawberry gelatin (large box)
2 envelopes knox gelatin
2 cups hot water
2 cups Rum

(Green) Watermelon Margarita
1 3oz box Jelly Belly Watermelon gelatin
1 envelope Knox
1 cup hot water
1 cup Sauza Gold Tequila. This did affect the color a bit. You can use Blanco instead.

(Yellow) Pina Colada
1 3 oz box Pina Colada Jello (really hard to find). You can also use Pineapple (Still hard to find)
1 envelope Knox
1 cup hot water
1 cup Malibu Rum

(Orange) Fuzzy Navel
1 3oz box orange gelatin
1 envelope Knox
1 cup hot water
3/4 cup Vokda
1/4 cup peach schnapps

We prepared the egg molds by spraying the insides lightly with vegetable oil. Then we poured the poured the gelatin liquid into the molds using a funnel and set them in the freezer for thirty minutes. After that we placed in the fridge for another hour.

So when the egg decorating party goers arrived, we served these eggstra special treats while they decorated the real eggs.

The Leprechaun's Shot of Gold!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Or if you're in Boston- Happy Evacuation Day! From what I've learned, Evacuation Day celebrates the departure of the British from Boston during the Revolutionary War. Whereas St. Patrick's Day was used as propaganda to get Irish Americans to feel patriotic towards the U.S. and enlist in the Spanish-American War.

Nowadays, adults just like to drink outside and watch marching bands go by.

In honor of this Green Holiday, I made two types of gelatin shots- The first I called car bombs. Not quite like the drink but close.
I combined lime gelatin, whiskey, Bailey's, creme do cacao, and spearmint schnapps. I always forget that when working with Bailey's it floats to the top and looks very unappealing. Like milk curdling in vinegar. But worry not, it solidifies and gives the shots and double layered effect.

The second shot was the Irish Flag. I made a three layered shot with lime gelatin, orange gelatin, and milk. To make the milky white layer I combined unflavored gelatin, sugar, and evaporated milk. The booziness came from Vodka and Triple Sec. The real trick is timing the pouring of the layers. I pre-make all the gelatin and leave them in containers at room temperature. They won't congeal if you keep it about 68 degrees. Stir them occasionally to retard the gellifying process. Then I pour one layer, place the tray in the freezer, then wait. I get a little impatient and keep opening the door and poking which can mess up the surface. You want it to be think enough to support the next poured layer but not to solid. If the layer gets too solid than the new layer will not adhere and when you cut the finished product, it separates- so sad.



Well, the shots turned out perfect and I brought them around to a few parties to much cheers and bally-hoo- or whatever irish interjection you can come up with to accentuate the theme.

Now, to start planning for the Boston marathon. What to make? If you have any suggestions write em up. The best suggestion will get a free tray of shots for their marathon party!

Shot de Coeur for V Day, not VD day.

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.

Cranberry sauce..with a twist

On this Thanksgiving, I decided to make a little variation on tranditional cranberry sauce. I followed the recipe on the bag to make the sauce and then added some sugar free cranberry gelatin I found at the local grocery store and alcohol. But since this is the SCIENCE and art of gelatin shot making, I tried a different recipe for cranberry sauce and gellified as well as liqiuorified that one too. That was sample B.


After some tastings by the family, the choice was clear. Sample A won overwhelmingly. (Sample size=5).

Sample A was made with cranberries, sugar, and water. I boiled them until the berries popped. Then mixed in the raspberry gelatin, cooled and added Absolut mandarin and some triple sec.

Sample B was made with cranberries, an orange, and sugar. I chopped them in a food processor and blended them into boiling water and gelatin.

Again, Sample A was the winner.

Upon telling a neighbor about the experiment, he asked if I had molded them into the shape of a tin can.

D'oh!

So I rushed right out and got more ingredients. And here's the final finished product.

Spooky shots

The are Halloween inspired gelatin shots. I tried to make dark black, yet see through gelatin coffins with skeletons and bats inside. To make the hidden treasures, I used gummy Halloween candies.

Ingredients

2 cups cola
2 envelopes unflavored Knox gelatine
1 6oz. box of Grape Jello
2 cups Svedka Vodka
Gummy Halloween Candies

In making these I learned that gummy candies sink right to the bottom and make it difficult to remove the shots from the pan. It might help to let the gelatin sit in the fridge until tacky and then put the candies into the pan. In addition, gummy candies will absorb moisture and expand, There are best when made and eaten within a couple hours.

Have fun.