Jiggling Jello!

I have a new fascination with vintage jello molds. Tacky, yes, but awesome in a retro way. I'm not gonna lie, part of me wants to make some nasty lookin' salmon mousse or a strange veggie "loaf" made with gelatin - but I won't. For now, anyway.

So, I picked up two at a local thrift store for a grand total of $3 and instantly started making plans, one of which will be saved for a later post.

Since it's Mad Men/60s week and they loved their jello molds - it's the perfect time to bust one out. And bust a move. Just kidding, I don't dance. Since I'm a lush, I decided the gelatin to be molded should be a popular 1960s cocktail, Salty Dog. Ingredients: Grapefruit juice and vodka with a salted rim.

First, you want to find out how many cups your mold holds. Mine holds 6 cups. You'll want to lightly grease the inside of the mold so that it doesn't stick... just spray it and wipe most of it out with a paper towel.

Next you need to prepare the goods: you'll need 1 packet of unflavored gelatin per 1 1/4 cup liquid (or 1 packet per 1 cup of liquid if you want the jello to be more firm). I used 4 packets in mine... although I should have gone with one more it ended up being fine. You have a little guesstimation room here... but definitely do not use too little gelatin or your mold will go flat. Wahhh wahhhhhhhh (that was a disappointment noise, not a crying noise, although you might be doing both if your jello looks soggy).

I dumped my 4 packets of gelatin into a bowl and poured one cup of grapefruit juice over it, setting it aside to soften. I put another 3 cups of grapefruit juice in a pot on the stove and heated it up til it was hot (but not boiling), then carefully poured it into the bowl with the gelatin goo and stirred well, until all the gelatin is dissolved. The other 2 cups of liquid were pure vodka, ladies. I don't mess around. Just mix it all up and it's ready to go in the mold. If you like, you can also add fresh grapefruit slices.

Let it sit in the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours or so. I went with overnight, just to make sure it was fully set. If the mold doesn't look like it's letting go, just quickly run some warm water over the sides to loosen it up.

Wet the plate/platter/whatever your putting it on a little before so that you can move the jello to the center without difficulty, place the plate on top of the mold and flip it over. Voilà!

I then served it in glasses rimmed with salt, true to the original drink.

I warn you, this is some serious jello. I did not stray from the original drink idea, but if you like, you can cut the alcohol content back a little more and add some sugar or splenda to the mix to make it a little easier to go down. I liked the recipe with a little sweetener (just a touch) and the salt rim really added to the taste! Let's get jiggly!

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