And the Oscar goes to......

Hello Gelophiles,

Although it is snowing outside here in Boston, out in LA, the sun is shining and the red carpet is uhm... carpeting. It is that time of year when directors, producers, and actors pat themselves on the back....again. But this time it's the Academy Awards. Most people will be watching for Best Movie, Best Actor, Best Dressed. I am looking for most translatable into a jello shot.

The best contender so far is for Black Swan. It's those crazy huge pupiled, blood shot eyes that I see when I think of the film. So, here's my version of the movie in Jelluloid.

Black Swan Song Shots

For the black Pupils-
1 3 oz box grape jello
1 3 oz box lime jello
2 cups cola- flattened
1 envelope unflavored gelatin

For the white of the eyes-
1 1/4 cups water
2 enveloped unflavored gelatin
1/2 vodka
1/4 cup blackberry schnapps

Using a hemisphere flexible silicon mold, I spooned 1 tsp of the black jello into the sheres and set in the fridge for three minutes until tacky. Then I filled the remainder of the mold with the room white mixture. Let set for two hours and then remove.

To get the blood shot effect, I took a toothpick and some red food dye and outlined the eyes.


I'm pretty sure Natalie Portman had an eye double for the movie poster. Look closely at the opening photo and you'll see it was my jello!

Cotton Candy Dandies

Hello Gelophiles,

While at the local liquor store, Sav-Mor Liquors, I had a great conversation with one one of the ladies who works there. We started talking about new flavored vodkas and she pointed me to a Cotton Candy vodka. As she put it, "If I drank again, this is what I'd drink." With an endorsement like that, I had to try.

To compliment the vodka, I bought some real cotton candy and some Jelly Belly Cotton Candy jelly beans. These were one of the first flavors of Jelly Bellys that I'd ever tasted. I can remember going to Marshall Fields with my Mom in the 70's and if I was good, going upstairs to the candy department to pick out one bag of beans. In those days they only had six or seven flavors. I always struggled between the Green Apple and Cotton Candy. Making decisions was never my forte, even back then.

Back to the present. I decided to do an experiement. Which would taste better, fortifying the vodka with cotton candy or jelly beans? Being a scientist I carefully considered how to create a cotton candy infused vodka and one with simple syrup made with the jelly beans. Then I....

Who am I kidding? I ended putting both in. Double the pleasuer, double the fun. So much for experiment.


Here's the recipe.

Cotton Candy Dandies

2 cups water
1/2 cup pink lemonade powder
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
12 Cotton Candy Jelly Belly beans

2 cups Cotton Candy Vodka
1/2 lb. cotton candy

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a microwave proof bowl. Then add the lemonade mix and jelly bellies and microwave for 4 minutes on high. Remove, stir, and let cool. Remove any jelly bean solids still in the mixture.

To make the cotton candy infused vodka, just add the cotton candy which dissolves instantly.

Add the infused vodka and pour into molds or a 6x6 glass baking dish and let sit for 2 hours.

These things tasted like candy. Ok, no big revelation. But by far one of my favorite shots made yet.

Go ahead and ask for these at your local Candy Counter. They might have them if you're really good...

but more likely if you're really bad... ;)

Happy Valentimes!

Hello Gelophiles,

Okay, for those who think there's a typo in the title, you're wrong. True, my hyperactivity and short attention span tends to result in poor grammar, dangling participles, and trailing off thoughts.......


Where was I? Oh yeah, ValentiMes. Something Homer said in a Simpson's episode what, two decades ago? Yikes. I sometimes forget that The Simpsons are still on TV. How do they manage to come up with new story lines?

Well, I may know an inkling of what that is like. Trying to come up with new gelatin shot ideas is also a challenge.

Today's shot was a variation of a pudding shot I made a couple of summer's ago.

Fudgie O the Shot

1 3 oz box of instant chocolate pudding
1 3 oz box of raspberry gelatin
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup soy milk (just cuz)
1/2 cup vanilla vodka
1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
1/4 cup Creme de Cacao

Sprinkle the unflavored gelatin onto the soy milk in a microwave proof bowl. Whisk in the pudding and raspberry gelatin. Microwave for three minutes until hot. Stir. Let sit until cool and add the alcohol.

Lightly oil a silicon mold or container with oil. Grape seed oil is best for it's viscosity and lack of flavor. Pour the mixture into the molds and refrigerate for two hours.

Top with chocolate shots or alcohol infused whipped cream from Cream out of Temperance, MI.



Happy Valentimes!

Gelology Tasting Party

Hello Gelophiles,

Last night, thirty people came over to my apartment for a  schmorgasboard of edible treats. I'm not quite sure how to spell smoorgasboord, and I'm too lazy to google it, and that's lazy. But it was a busy past forty-eight hours. Starting Friday I made over twelve different types of gelatins. Some layered, some fruit-filled, some gravity defying, but all delicious.

I'm working on a short video about gelatin shots for a class project. We thought it'd be fun to talk about people's perceptions of old school jello shots and then expose them to gourmet shots and record their reactions. It was also just a great excuse to invite people over to eat jello.

Over 300 pieces were made and within four hours, eight  remained. Not a bad consumption rate.

Here's a photo of one serving platter. Thanks to Corey for the shot of the shots.

I'll be posting pictures and recipes of the shots over the next few days. Right now, I need a break. Well, not much of a break because I am making more shots for tomorrow's Valentine's Day benefit for the Fort Point Channel Theater. Come check out the reading and get free Gelology shots with the price of your ticket!

Four Layered Sriracha Shot

Hello Gelophiles,

The creativity in the kitchen has been low, but for a good reason. I was busy writing a play for the Eventide Arts Play Competition and am now on the final edits before submission. Phew! AND, I'm busy doing nothing. Nothing? Yes, nothing. This is the first time in two and a half years that I am not doing one of the Gold Dust Orphans plays, so I am relishing free time. It may seem like I should have MORE time, but I needed some time to just mellow..... no jello. I had forgotten what it was like to just go out and not talk about jello.

But don't let me fool you, I was constantly surveying the world for potential gelatin shots and man, do I have a lot of ideas. First, I am excited to say that I'm making a short video about gourmet jello shots. We've been having fun developing the idea and doing the initial shootings. Stay tuned for the finished project.

Also on the calendar, Gelology is making creative gelatin treats for Fort Point Channel Theater's Valentine's Day Benefit. The good people of FPC Theater are putting on a reading of Marquis De Sade's Justine at the Boston Playwright's Theater. So if you want something alterna-romantic to do on Valentine's Day come on down for some drama and jello.

Now for the main feature. Today's shot is a quadruple layered Pineapple, Lime, Coconut Srichaca shot. I went one more level with the sriracha themed shot from last month. From bottom to top we have a base of lime gelatin mixed with tequila and unflavored gelatin. Then comes a layer of coconut milk, unflavored gelatin and sriracha, followed by a pineapple gelatin with rum layer. Topping it all off is another cilantro infused coconut milk then solidified with unflavored gelatin.

Hasta luego...jello.

Yummy Gummy Jelly Shots

Hello Gelophiles,

Recently a friend told me that he liked to soak gummy bears in vodka for a fun treat. I tried it and the result was .....yuck! Yes, they packed a punch, but the texture was not my thing. They were mushy on the outside, and stringy on the inside. Now, I know that some people feel that way about gelatin but alcohol soaked gummies are much more aesthetically challenged. So here's my attempt to upgrade them into a tasty treat.

First I soaked gummy worms in a mixture of vodka and cachaca overnight.


Then I chopped the worms into small chunks with a knife and put them in an IKEA ice tray mold that makes worm-like ice cubes.


The gelatin was a combination of Sprite, Knox Gelatin, Vodka, Cachaca. I get the mixture in the fridge for two hours and removed them to create something gummy and gelatiny (not a real word....yet) and tasty.


A little fun with Photoshop care of Allison.

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!