If you have read our blog before you know that Jello Girl and I don’t imbibe. But with all the pretty jello shots out there on the internet I wanted to try a alcohol free version. Plus I have a good reason to try something new and I pretty happy about how they turned out. A group of friends that live in my neighborhood get together once a month for our version of iron chef. Every month we have a theme ingredient we all make something using that ingredient and we get together to taste what everybody made and we vote for winners. We have 4 fabulous trophies, a gold, sliver, bronze and a trophy for best presentation. The winners each month get to take the trophy home and display it for that month. It’s a silly thing to do but those of us that attend have a great time, plus it’s been a great way to get to know some of the women in the neighborhood.
Now go have some jello joy!
Tonight’s ingredient is grapefruit, so I adapted a recipe for a Paloma jelly shot. Here is what I did…
Alcohol free grapefruit jello shot
1 1/3 C. grapefruit soda
1 T. lime juice
2 envelopes Knox gelatin
2/3 C. grapefruit juice
1 T. sugar
Pour soda and lime juice into a small saucepan and sprinkle with the gelatin. Allow the gelatin to soak for a minute or two. Heat over medium heat and add sugar until gelatin is dissolved, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in the grapefruit juice. Pour into a loaf pan or mold. Put in the refrigerator to set for a few hours or over night.
Here is a yummy twist for homemade marshmallows. A few posts ago I dipped them in chocolate, this time I dipped them in crushed marshmallows. They are so good in hot cocoa!
Homemade Marshmallows
3 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 C. Cold water
2 C. sugar
2/3 C. light corn syrup
1/4 C. water
1/4 t. salt
1 T. vanilla extract
Candy canes (optional)
powdered sugar for dredging
Line 9×13-inch pan with plastic wrap and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
In a bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 C. cold water to soften, about 10 min.
Meanwhile, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 C. water in a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a rapid boil and boil hard 1 min. Pour boiling syrup into soaked gelatin and turn on mixer, using the wire attachment. Mix on high speed. Add salt and beat 12 min. After 12 min, add vanilla or mint extract. and beat to incorporate.
Spray a rubber spatula with cooking spray, be careful the mixture might be quite hot. Scrape the mixture into prepared pan. Cover the pan with a piece of plastic wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray and softly press onto the top of the marshmallow mixture, creating a seal. Let the mixture cool and set for several hours or overnight.
Lightly dust counter with powdered sugar and dump the marshmallows out. Cut into pieces and dredge in powdered sugar. I have found that scissors work the best for cutting the marshmallows. Store in an airtight container.
If you want to coat the marshmallows with candy canes. Crush candy canes into small bits. Mix 1/2 C. powdered sugar with enough water to make a glaze. Dip marshmallows in the glaze and then in the candy and set on wax paper to dry.
Now go have some marshmallow joy!
Sugar-Free Fruit Juice Snacks
3 packets of unflavored gelatin
1 cup fruit juice- any flavor (We used 1/2 pineapple juice which gave it a nice sweet flavor and 1/2 cup unsweetened grape juice to give the snacks some color!)
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
Molds (We suggest using very small molds. If they are bigger, it is just too much chewiness in one bite!)
Pour juice and lemon juice into a small pan. Sprinkle gelatin over juice and let set for a minute. Add fructose and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved.
Fill molds (I suggest using a small syringe to do this.) You can also pour gelatin into a pan. With your fingers pull to break suction against one side of pan. Pull side up and lift onto cutting board to slice or dice. (Snakes work best if they are sliced thin.)
Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until well set.
They should easily unmold- just give a little push with your finger. For variety, you can toss them in citric acid for a sour punch of flavor!
Now Go Do Right Thing and Make These Today!
Eunice here and I am here to declare that I am becoming a marshmallow snob. After all, I am known for my scrumptious Jello flavored marshmallows. Even so, the first time I attempted these vanilla marshmallows I thought it would also be the last. They were a hot goopy mess; but they were so yummy I haven’t been able to get them off my mind. So I have decided that they are worth it. They taste so much better store bought marshmallows. One day I was thinking how I could make the marshmallows even better and I thought, chocolate makes almost anything better. (I have eaten chocolate covered bacon and bacon fudge) So I dipped some marshmallows in chocolate and I was right!
Line 9×13-inch pan with wax paper and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Meanwhile, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 C. water in a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a rapid boil and boil hard 1 min or if you have a thermometer boil until it gets to 250 degrees. Pour boiling syrup into soaked gelatin and turn on mixer, using the wire attachment. Mix on high speed. Add salt and beat 12 min. After 12 min, add vanilla, and beat to incorporate.
*I found that if I boil it until it gets to 250 degrees the mixture is more stable and less sticky when it comes to cutting them.
Spray a rubber spatula with cooking spray, be careful the mixture might be quite hot. Scrape the mixture into prepared pan. Cover the pan with a piece of plastic wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray and softly press onto the top of the marshmallow mixture, creating a seal. Let the mixture cool on the counter to set for a few hours or over night.
*The sprayed plastic is the easiest way that I have found to spread the mixture evenly into the pan
At this point if you want to dip them in chocolate. I have found that the easiest way to do this for me is to melt chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave. Then I don’t have to worry about moisture getting in the chocolate from a double boiler.
Now Go Do the Right Thing and Have Some Joy with Gelatin!
Jello for Adults- no alcohol involved. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8-m014al-s&NR=1 The advertisement peaked my curiosity I admit, although there are apparently some outraged viewers- how dare they frighten children? In the name of Jell-O no less!
Jello Temptations Dessert offers six different flavors. I purchased French Silk Temptations. After all, I did just return from a 10 day excusion to France- I had to go with French Silk, right? Maybe I should also have some “French Fries, French Dressing, French Bread and to drink Perrier.”* I am eating it right now so I can give my review. So here goes:
It’s chocolate- that’s a plus. Yes, I am a choco-beast. It has 140 calories that is less than a snickers bar- my personal favorite which packs 237 calories. Now lets do some math. I ran two miles this morning and burned off approximately 200 calories. Hooray, I burned off 60 more calories than I consumed eating this little treat. I must admit the appearance disappointed me. They look so ”tempting” on the comercial. A fancy little layered dessert from the grocery store, however; it looks nothing like the commercial. It comes in a black plastic cup. What a disappointment! I couldn’t even see the cute little layers. I even tried to get it neatly out of the container to no avail. If I could choose, I would probably go with a snickers as it includes nuts and caramel. I prefer “stuff” in my chocolate. It’s probably not a fair comparison and at 237 calories not even a snickers is worth the sweat in the gym to burn it off! That being said, it is more sophisticated than a pudding cup or coagulated jello in a plastic cup and in a pinch it would definately curb sugar withdrawls. Although it is not creme brulee it also doesn’t come with the average calorie count of 575 per serving. Ha! 575 calories- creme brulee doesn’t look quite so innocent now does it! Sink your fangs into some Jell-O Temptations and let us know what you think.
Be Tempted with a little Jell-O Joy today!
*Lines from Better Off Dead
Here are last years pranks…
Fun With Jello: April Fools Jello Pranks
1. Late the night before, dissolve clear gelatin, cool and pour into toilet. It will set overnight and if you are lucky the user will be mystified by their suspended stuff. Here is how to do it: Estimate the amount of water your toilet holds by pouring a big pan or bucket of water into the bowl- this will cause the water to empty out of the toilet bowl. Then pour pre-measured water into toilet until it is at about the same level it was before. (I estimated that my toilet holds 8-9 cups of water.) For each cup of water your toilet holds, use 1 packet of clear gelatin. Measure determined amount of water into a pan. Sprinkle gelatin over water and let sit for 5 minutes. Heat over medium heat until gelatin is dissolved. Cool to room temperature- you still want it to be a runny consistency. Flush water out of toilet bowl with a pan or bucket full of water. Pour gelatin into toilet bowl and allow to sit overnight. To flush, break up gelatin with a toilet brush and flush.
Well this didn’t work exactly as planned. For one, clear gelatin is not exactly clear so it doesn’t look like water- unless you live somewhere with a lot of minerals in the water. But it did accomplish the goal of confusion, mostly that of why is the toilet not flushing right? My 7 year old said, “someone put too much toilet paper in the toilet.” To which I replied, “but there isn’t any toilet paper in the toilet.” My husband thought he must be dehydrated because his job looked darker than usual.
2. You could do the above prank using lemon jello in place of clear.
I think this would work well. The person would try to flush it before using it and then wonder why it was not working right. It would work well on dinner guests who would have to suffer the embarrassment of telling you that the toilet is having issues.
3. Remove the shower head, put dry red jello in the shower head and replace for a Psycho-like shower prank.
This had a little hiccup in that the water did not immediately come out- perhaps the jello had solidified in the apparatus and thus it took a moment for the water to break through. Anyway, that gave my victims time to suspect a prank. When it did come out it, it did produce the desired effect! Perhaps the original Kool-Aid in the shower head would work better.
4. Put a little Methylene Blue in blue jello. This can be purchased at a pet store in the fish department. Make sure it is labeled simply Methylene Blue. The first pet store we tried did not have it, but the next one did. Just a few drops, should work. Those who partake of the jello will urinate blue. (I have always wanted to do this, but have been worried about safety- I am afraid someone will have an allergic reaction to blue dye or ingest too much.) I called my brother-in-law who is a Zoologist and works with fish and a friend talked to a pharmacist. They said that it is generally considered harmless in small amounts. I am going to give it a try- I’ll let you know how it works out.
I was so excited to try this one, but have to admit failure. The Methylene Blue is extremely bitter. I tried 4 times to adjust things to disguise the bitterness, all to no avail. I added 5 cups of additional sugar, but the bitterness was still evident and my victims would not partake more than a couple spoonfuls. I guess I will have to work on it a little more- stayed tuned for my attempt next year. Plan on doing it the night before April Fools. We tested it and it takes overnight to produce the desired effect.
5. Of course you could mimic the Office prank, by encasing someone’s stapler in jello or your spouses car keys or your teenager’s cell phone.
I didn’t try this one, but the cell phone thing sounds tempting.
6. Empty victim’s shampoo or body wash from bottle and rinse. Make a package of jello- as directed, that corresponds to the color of shampoo or body wash. Carefully pour jello into the empty bottle and place in fridge to set up. Early in the morning, place bottle back where it was removed from in the shower or tub.
This one worked like a charm. I was lucky in that I was able to perfectly match the body wash. We also had three bottles that were pretty much empty. Prepare jello as directed. Pour into body wash bottle and turn upside-down to set up.
7. Make one of the more interesting (code word for repulsive) recipes from an old Joys of Jello recipe book and take to a neighbor, family member or you could leave it on someone’s doorstep with a nice note.
Let us hear about your April Fools Jello Joy!
Creamy Green Jello Salad
1 cup water
1 small pkg. green jello
1 cup canned pineapple, drained
1 (8oz.) pkg cream cheese
Dissolve jello in boiling water. Combine jello, pineapple and cream cheese in blender and blend until smooth. Pour into 9×13 pan. Refrigerate until firm.
We Always Eat Lucky Charms For Breakfast On St. Patrick's Day: My Kids Think They Are Magically Delicious, But I Am With the Chicken.
Now Go Make Some Green Jello and Have a Happy Maewyn Succat’s Day!
Here is another re-post from last year:
Why is it that we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the United States of America? What is the ratio of Irish immigrants to immigrants from other lands? I don’t really know, but I think it’s the pinching thing don’t you?
What other holiday do you get to go around pinching people?
And the color green, don’t you just love it? There is a different shade of green for each decade, such as Hunter Green during the 80’s; totally out now. I use to have a Granny Smith Apple colored kitchen. I loved it- so cheery. I miss that kitchen.
Back to St. Patrick’s Day. We have a few ideas to celebrate the season. This blog is about our St. Patty’s Poke Cake. I wish I could call them St. Patty’s Pinch Cakes, but I’m not sure how pinching a cake would work out, so I will stick with poke. Jello Poke cakes use to be the rage. Everyone was baking cakes, poking them and pouring jello over the top.
We are going to bring the Jello Poke Cake up to date in cupcake form. You could use a cake mix, but we recommend homemade. It is so much tastier. We are using a Lemon-Honey Cupcake recipe from the March 2010 issue of Woman’s Day and changing it up just a bit. If you like to bake cupcakes from scratch check out the cupcake feature article at http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Food/Recipes/6-One-of-a-Kind-Cupcakes.html Here is our spin:
Lemon-Lime Jello Poke Cakes
Cupcakes
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
4 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1. Heat oven to 350. Line muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Whisk sour cream, milk, lemon zest and juice in a medium-small bow.
4. Beat butter, honey and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.
5. With mixer on low speed, beat in half flour mixture, then the sour cream mixture. Beat in remaining flour mixture until just combined.
6. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Bake 16-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes and remove to cool completely.
7. When cupcakes are cool, poke holes in cake with a wooden pick or meat fork.
Jello Glaze
Mix a 3 ounce package of lime jello with 1 cup boiling water. Stir until sugar crystals are completely dissolved. Carefully pour over each cupcake.
We suggest topping with lightly sweetened whipped cream to balance the sweetness of the cupcake. See our post on stabilized whipped cream. You can then sprinkle with jello crystals for a little extra color and flavor.
For some free cupcake wrapper templates, check out http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/10/22/make-your-own-cupcake-wrappers/
Now go have some Jello
This is a re-post from last year:
I know, it is hard to resist the urge to over-do it with green food coloring on St. Patrick’s Day. You probably put it in the milk, pancakes etc. Here is a better way to use it:
Jello Key Lime Tarts
1 (3 oz) pkg. lime flavored jello
3/4 cup boiling water
1 tsp grated lime zest
1/2 cup fresh key lime juice, or lime juice
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup sour cream
4 drops green food coloring
Dissolve jello in boiling water. Cool jello to room temperature- about 35 minutes. (You can speed this up by placing container in a larger container filled with ice water or in fridge; however, watch carefully so that jello does not become firm. If it does, it will not incorporate into the other mixture and you will have Key Lime Pie with lumps of green jello.)
While jello is cooling, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, food coloring and grated lime zest in a separate large bowl.
Whisk in sour cream and cooled jello. Pour into small pre-cooked and cooled tart shells or one 9 inch pie crust. Chill until firm. (If you would like filling to be higher than tart shell, wait until it is set and then spoon or pipe into shells.)
Tart Shells
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
4 tbsp. sugar
2 cup flour
Blend cream cheese, butter and sugar. Stir in flour just until blended. Chill about 1 hour to make dough easier to handle.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Shape dough into 48 one-inch balls and press into mini muffin cups. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until very light brown on edges. Remove from oven and let set in pan to finish cooking. When cool, remove from pan. This recipe makes a lot of tarts, but they are easy to make, and they disappear fast!
*Today’s post is based on two recipes from one of our favorite websites, http://allrecipes.com/ The recipes were both submitted by Glenda under the names of Key Lime Pie II and Cream Cheese Tart Shells.
Now Go Have Some Green Jello Joy!
We picked both winners on random.org, I still can’t figure out how to post the random number generator thing. You are just going to have to trust me.
Drum roll please…..
The winner on facebook is Robin Davis
The recipe superstar winner is J.P Baxter
Congratulations Robin and J.P.!
We will feature all of the submitted recipes here and we will contact you when we feature your recipe.
