Stretching out in front of me is a boundless, painfully blue ocean... Sunbeams bounce off the little ripples in the water and go off to annoy my eyes. Ha, but Greta is not that silly; Greta immediately starts rummaging in her exclusive Balenciaga handbag for her beloved Chanel sunglasses, bought only last month in the old town of Florence. Sunglasses on - PERFECT! And now I can have a proper look around. turns around Oh heavens!!! I could swear I have seen this view, if not a thousand times then at least a hundred, in magazines or on a computer screen... The classic - a string of little huts winding along the shore out towards the ocean like a snake... I'M IN THE MALDIVES!!! But, damn it, what is that racket?! A boat? A plane? What??? As I flail about, the 3-carat Tiffany ring slips off my ring finger; trying to find it I turn my ankle and snap the heel off a red Louboutin; trying to keep my balance I drop my brand-new iPhone out of my hand and, as if that weren't enough, I lose my crown as I fall. I close my eyes, and force them open again lying in complete darkness, watching my Kevin sit down on the edge of the bed and squint his way through a tenth attempt at turning off the alarm. So that's what the racket was - his not-so-new iPhone, buzzing away nonstop on the table πππ±. I closed my eyes again.
The breaking dawn and the sound of the door being unlocked forced me awake against my will. Kevin had gone out. Hugging my pillow I smiled and thanked him in my head... I know, after all, that he got up early purely to bring back from the shop that favourite yoghurt of mine that I cannot start my morning without. I wrapped myself in his warm dressing gown, padded to the kitchen, made a cup of tea and took it back to bed with me. I drifted off... In that moment I understood how happy I really am. Perhaps not in the Maldives, but in my own home, beside friends, family and the people dear to me; perhaps without a very expensive 3-carat Tiffany ring, but richer still - I can see, hear and enjoy life without any restrictions; perhaps without red Louboutins, but far more feminine and charming than most of the beauties whose red-soled heel height indicates the size of their hang-ups; perhaps without the latest iPhone, but with the latest ideas, the ones that keep my world spinning. And the crown? The crown is there.π If I forget to put it on, Kevin puts it on me every day, reminding me that regardless of what I have and don't have, I am a princess and I am worth those spring tulips in winter that he brings home to me, I am worth the sleep he will sacrifice so that I have something to eat when I get up, I am worth all the little things and big things he showers me with every day. I am so happy...
I drifted off... What else makes me happy? My blog! I have said many times how much I love it and how much joy it brings me. And then a brilliant idea struck me! Why not create some sort of mini project that would bring joy to me and everyone around me for more than a single day, one that would last a week, a month or even three? I have to do this! I created a new recipe category especially for it, called "Creative Food", where I promise to post a whole series of recipes (so far I have about 15 creative ideas mapped out), which I will label CF#1; CF#8 and so on (CF#8 = creative food, recipe 8). The content of the recipes will be fun, the ideas original, enjoyable, a delight to the eye, to the heart and, most importantly, to the stomach.π
So, today's first creative food (CF#1) recipe is colourful jelly shots in orange slices. ππΈπ·πΎπΉ The biggest challenge was balancing the flavour with the strength of the shot, since you want both. Add more alcohol and the flavour suffers; add more jelly and the ABV drops. π Briefly, the principle: the jelly packet says to dissolve the powder in 500ml of water, then pour it out and wait for it to set. We are going to do it differently. We will dissolve the powder in half the usual amount of water, replace the other half with an alcoholic drink, and pour it into orange halves.
IMPORTANT!!! If you plan to add flavoured drinks to your jelly (Malibu, Absolut Citron, Captain Morgan's and so on), you will need 250ml of the drink; if you use strongly flavoured spirits (tequila, rum and so on), mix 125ml of the drink with 125ml of cold water, and this mixture goes into the prepared jelly solution (of which you will need 250ml).
If you want a wider range of jelly colours than the supermarkets can offer you, read up on colour mixing and colour the jelly with food colouring. If you want a different jelly flavour, I will write at the end of the post how you can make it yourself. Below I have put together a list (based on these recommendations) of various jelly flavours and the alcoholic drinks that go especially well with them. Vodka is the most versatile of the lot and suits almost every jelly flavour.
As I mentioned, I will also add a recipe for those who want to create their own distinctive flavour. For that you will need to make the jelly from scratch.
