Water Ice Jello Shot

As someone who did not grow up in Philly, and had therefor never heard of "Water Ice", my head exploded with WTFs several times my first summer here. That name is asinine! 

      You must understand I eventually got over myself, and I'm now a full fledged Water Ice eater. I get cravings for it! I've been wanting to make a Water Ice jello shot for some time, and since this is my last summer in Philly, I knew I had to get it done TODAY.

So I went to Rita's and picked up a Cherry "Gelati", and a Blue Raspberry Water Ice. I wish I had picked up lemon (my favorite) because I think that's an old timey classic- but I chose the ones I did based on color. 

I topped them with cool whip -scooped with a mini ice cream scooper- because the custard on the gelati did not make it home ;)

CHERRY WATER ICE JELLO SHOT

Add 1 table spoon of granulated gelatin to 1/2 cup of melted (but not warm) water ice.

After granules are saturated, warm this mixture in the microwave or a sauce pan- and stir until granules are dissolved.

Add 1/2 cup of cherry vodka, stir, and pour into small cups.

Allow to set in the refrigerator. 

Tape decorative paper to cups, and top with Cool Whip.

To be honest, the blue raspberry was nasty.

Samoas (Caramel Delights)

A few years ago, I bough a box of Samoas from some kids at the 8th street el station, here in Philadelphia. Now, I've made a few purchases on the El (what up egyptian musk and Meet the Parents bootleg) so I was not at all surprised when I got home and noticed that I had not bought a familiar box of Samoas, but I had bought "Caramel Delights". Had I been hustled by Girl Scout impostors?

Turns out they were legit- but I did spend the next week telling anyone who would listen (captive audiences) about how "Can You Believe They Changed The Name of Samoas to Caramel Delights Because There Was Outrage Over The Name Samoa Being Culturally Insensitive".  I totally fabricated the cultural insensitivity thing, but you try making a story about buying girl scout cookies interesting.

I'd be remiss not to mention that Vicky B. has a Samoa recipe in her book, but the one we made up on the fly is super different and not at all a copy.  For this one we used: caramel syrup, coconut cream, chocolate sauce, toasted coconut, chocolate chips and of course, rum and gelatin. 

really glad the shredded paper is in focus.

Woodruff & Lavenderliner

Woodruff and Lavenderliner

Berliner Weisse

Granulated gelatin

Woodruff syrup

Lavender syrup

authentisch.

Created for Philly Beer Week, the base of this jello shot is Nodding Head Brewery's Ich Bin Ein Beliner Weisse,  a very tart variety of wheat beer, in which syrup (woodruff or raspberry) is traditionally added.  


Woodruff syrup (Waldmeistersirup) in an herbal additive with vanilla, marshmellowey flavor. From what my google skills are telling me, it's unheard of to drink a berliner weisse in Berlin without syrup added.


The bottom layer of the jello shot is berliner and lavender: berliner weisse has a distinct sour taste, and balancing out citrus is one of lavender's second best talent (first is fancying up bougie cupcakes).  

Banh Mi Jello Shot

Banh Mi

granulate gelatin

jalapeno infused rum

limeade 

agave

coconut milk

cilantro

Nobody loves a Vietnamese hoagie more than Mi. The thing I was most excited about to South Philly from Fishtown was the availability of Banh Mi sandwiches. These jello shots are inspired by the spicy, cilantro sandwiches (warm baguettes eaten separately).

We infused white rum with fresh jalapenos, which are so potent we only steeped it for about an hour. We actually used a little extra agave in the lime cilantro lime layer (the top of the domes) to curb the 'heat' of the rum.  The coconut cream is very sweet out of the bottle, so it mixed well with the savory liquor.

The jello shots are placed on sesame crackers, from Kung Fu Hoagies, a new (vegan) banh mi food cart that I'm thrilled comes to Passyunk Ave sometimes.

The Transubstantiation

Growing up in my family of 6 kids we liked to play a lot of make believe. The best was pretending to be an authority figure of some sort. A parent, a teacher, a cop or robber, and of course, as we went to mass every Sunday and had a healthy fear of the lord, a priest. One day in the living room my sisters and I used potato chips and pretended to be priests and churchgoers. 


(Perfectly normal, right?)

Well, my mom yelled at us.

Apparently we were making a mockery of something really special. I thought we were being good Catholics. The shock that we were doing something wrong was immense. So much so that I still remember it 25 years later. The desire to pretend to be a priest may have waned as I grew older, but the guilt grew stronger, affecting every aspect of my life.

For example, for years now I have worked every Easter Brunch as a dutiful employee of various restaurants. Today I am only modestly employed and don’t work. Because of this modest employment, I also can’t travel to be with my family. The guilt is great. I wasn't able to get out of bed today. That is, until this great idea came to be. How better to assuage this Catholic guilt than with a Jello shot that would disappoint my family?

I present, the Transubtantiation. It’s just water and gelatin, but with a little faith, our favorite party god can turn it into wine. Let us pray.

The Transubstantiation:

Gelatin

Water

Faith

Jello Dolly!

JELLO DOLLY

nokia photography, 2010:  Meg's (L), Cory's (R)

The Jello Dolly has been a long time coming. Meg and and I (Cory) first tried this out in 2010, the only photo of this experiment was taken with a phone and you will see it on the left.

We then actually made a bunch of 

demon baby 

click to enlarge,
 (c) masthead print studios

faces for Masthead Print Studio's Monster Show. The blue one on the left-most plate with the forehead cut off (we cut them in sixths to serve them) is the best one, I think.

Clementine & Huckleberry Hounds

Those aren't blobs, they're lazy dogs!

I promise they they dogs. Thats it's face right there!

Clementine & Huckleberry Hounds

Huckleberry vodka

Juice of four juicy clementines

Granulated gelatin

Edible gold glitter

If we're going to get technical, I may not have realized that Huckleberry Hound and Droopy Dog are different before the research stage of making this.

Is it me you're looking for?

the Lime-L Richie

It's a key lime jello shot. Get over it.

AREA 51

AREA 51

Select information has been declassified on Area 51: Jello Shot Ops

B.L.B (Bacon, Lettuce, Bloody Mary)

As grunt workers of the service industry, we have our finger on the pulse of what is 'hot' in dining. The ebb and flow of nutrient popularity based on a multitude of requests. Since we get inspiration from every aspect of our lives, this shot is for all my gluten free people. Say Hay! Denying yourselves the tasty goodness of bread (and toast) and by default, the most delicious of bread based fare, the B.L.T.

This B.L.T. in addition to being gluten free, alcohol filled, and sans mayo, differs from tradition in one more way. Instead of T(omato) it's B(loody Mary). Perfect for brunch parties, Lunch parties or a quiet night at home with a good book.

The B.L.B.

Layer 1:

Bloody Mary Mix (recipe below)

Vodka

Layer 2:

Bacon infused vodka

Maple syrup

Layer 3:

Lettuce leaf

Garnish with Lime zest

You're gonna need a bigger boat.

gummy sharks leaping from blood streaked waters

Coconut cream made a nice matte top for shark teeth

KAWAII SMARTIE SKULLS!

Kawaii Smartie Jello Shot from My Jello Americans on Vimeo.


Kawaii Smartie Skulls!

 These skulls are similar in appearance, but different in technique to the Frida Kahlo Sugar skull made earlier in the year, and-are-our third skull themed jello shot.

At Midnight All The Agents

The Comedian

Granulated Gelatin

Cucumber lemon dill vodka (more on that after the jump)

Vanilla Yogurt

Sugar

Food Coloring

Enjoy!

Armadillo

Mango & Poblano 

Granulated Gelatin

Poblano Tequila (you'll probably see some poblano vodka coming up, Poblano Peppers are HUGE)

Fresh Mango Puree

White vinegar (a splash)

Cayenne Pepper

Enjoy!

Pop Rocks and Coke + Red Hot Dynamite

Pop Rocks and Coke

Red Hot Dynamite sticks

 Pop Rocks and Coke (TNT barrels)

Granulated Gelatin

Root 

a little Goldschlager

Coca-cola

Pop Rocks

+

Dynamite Sticks

Cherry Jell-o

Goldschalger

Hot Tamale Candies (melted)

snip of licorice lace

Pop-Rocks

Enjoy!!

We decided to celebrate America with two of the most patriotic ingredients:

I ♥ NY!

I ♥ 
NY

Black Sesame Pudding

Black Sesame Pudding

Knox

Dark Rum

(splash) Frangelico

Sweetened Condensed Milk

Ground Black Sesame Seeds (pan toasted)

Black and White Sesame Seeds

Enjoy!

Acai and Hibiscus

 Acai and Hibiscus

Granulated Gelatin

Red Grape Hibiscus Organic Vodka

Acai Juice

Whipped Cream with

powdered Hibiscus Flavoring (Bebida de Jamaica)

Lime Zest

Enjoy!

Dragon Fruit and Basil Seeds

sliced serving suggestion!

Pitaya pulp on left, basil seeds on right, both with plum vodka

Dragon Fruit

Granulated Gelatin

Plum Vodka

Basil Seed Drink

Pitaya husk and pulp

We filled one half of the pitaya (Dragon Fruit) with a pitaya pulp and plum vodka gelatin, and the other half with a basil seed and plum vodka gelatin. The basil seed shots were favored over the pitaya pulps, though we did come up with a delicious vegetarian version with pitaya pulps that we will post soon.

Enjoy!

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo

Granulated Gelatin

Tequila  Rose (Strawberry Creme Flavored Tequila)

Silver Tequila

SCM

Food Coloring

The Frida Kahlo sugar skull mold is from La Sierna in NYC. Though it was purchased on October 31, when a Day of the Dead jello would be more appropriate, but we couldn't wait an entire year.

Eyes Gallery here in Philly has these and similar molds on their third floor.

The molds are sourced from Mexican Sugar Skull, which can cover most mexican folk art needs si su pueblo no tiene una buena tienda.