TrishCT

I have made white gelatin many times for chinese almond gelatin. You use a package of unflavored gelatin, like Knox, and as part of the liquid you use milk. For flavor, almond extract is added.

Back to the mold. To facilitate the process, I made the jello all at once (per Rachel's tip) in individual cups. I marked them to keep the colors straight. I used the ROYGBV color scheme for the rainbow effect. The recipe including tips will be posted soon.

Ohhh Katie those are good!!!!

It's jello made with half water and half alcohol (such as rum or vodka). It sets and has the consistency of regular jello. It's either in little cups or cut in squares. Goes down easy....

My family of newspapers hires summer interns, but not for food writing, for general assignment writing (covering meetings, features). These jobs are in high demand, and our papers can pick from the very best journalism students out there. So if you can't get a food writing job, consider applying for a job like that.

Yes.

Whisks, I am going to put the recipe and all the tips together over the next couple days to post in Recipe Gullet, mindful of copyright policies. I'll put a note on here when it is posted. The white layers are formed by combining dissolved jello with a couple tablespoons of something creamy such as yogurt, sour cream or cool whip. I chose organic smooth and creamy vanilla yogurt by Sunnyfield Farm. It worked beautifully...no lumps. When eating the final product you could not tell it had yogurt in it.

To this I would add...listen, listen, listen. ...And learn from others. Talk to that old pizza guy behind the counter who has been baking coal-fired pies for 30 years....and take notes. I am not a food writer, per se, just a general journalist and pop culturist (another name for celebrity stalker without a record). But I have written food features and conducted interviews with chefs and others in the food world. Start by writing...and then do some more writing...it's the only way.

I diudn't find the recipe in Recipe Gullet, but I found the basic recipe on Jello's Web site, under molds, on about third page... I think one of the keys is using something like a bundt pan, instead of just a plain ring mold. I am putting together the recipe and detailed instructions and tips, to answer the many requests I got at the banquet. If okay with admin, I will post it to recipe gullet.

In addition to chocolate mice and cheesecake (posted on a separate thread), I made Rachel Perlow's famous jello Rainbow Ribbon Mold for my daughter's drum corps banquet. It was my first time, and having no originality in me....I copied Rachel's which she made for Varmint's Pig Pickin' and is featured in her avatar. HUGE HIT!!! People oohed and ahhed and couldn't figure it out. I laughed really hard. Once it was sliced, it literally disappeared, everybody wanted it. Once bitten, I shall make this one time and again. Thanks for all your help Rachel! BEFORE SLICING... BEFORE IT DISAPPEARED...ARE THOSE MICE IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER???

Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions. Because of time constraints I ended up using Ludja's suggestion, cutting little triangles of cheesecake to go with the mice. I attempted to cut holes in the cheesecake with a melonballer and knife, but neither worked well, so I just left the cheesecake sliced as is. This was a huge hit. Kids really loved it, adults found it very amusing. I also made Rachel Perlow's famous Rainbow Ribbon Mold which I will post on a separate thread. This picture...eh...I'll see if my daughter took a better one... She may have one of an individual mouse.... Mice encircling cheese...

So....you in...? And by the way, I'm still waiting to be hired to write the lyrics for "Kitchen Confidential:The Musical."

Nope. It needs to be Ramsay paired with Rocco so Ramsay can have a hissy fit and dump a plate of pasta on Rocco after he messes it up becuase he is too busy preening for the camera and burns the garlic and...

Ramsay and Rocco v. Bourdain and Ripert BY THE WAY, CHRIS COGNAC, GOOD LUCK DUDE!!! MAKE ME A BELIEVER AGAIN!!!

I'd be interested in hearing comparisons to Chikalicious...I understand the desserts are totally different....just wondering about the basic experience. I personally find Chikalicious too precious.

I have a whole book of Boy Scout dutch oven recipes....let me know if you're interested in any recipes.

Congratulations, my son had his Eagle Scout Court of Honor a few years ago. Because he made it at the same time as another scout we held a joint reception and full buffet dinner. For appetizers, we found the kids in attendance REALLY liked chicken nuggets. We found a cheap source--the local school system, and bought a couple large commercial boxes from them. (I even hired a few of the cafeteria workers to do the cooking and serving so I could actually enjoy the event rather than doing the work myself. Was a good thing.) We put out bowls of ketchup, bbq sauce, honey and mustard for dipping. Pigs in blankets...agree, crowd favorite and can use same dipping sauces as the nuggets. Another fave is mini pizza squares. I bake a large rectangular thin crust pizza and cut it into small squares. The rest of our meal was catered from a terrific little italian restaurant. I can't believe the quantity of food boy scouts can pack away.

Yep, it's Tyler Florence of the show Food 911. He was on the air today and announced he has replaced Rocco. The part of the show I caught he didn't sound bad at all...Would just be nice if he didn't call every female caller "sweetie".... but could be a lot of fun. I only get a chance to listen to the show about once a week. You can catch it at 11 a.m. Mondays through Friday on WOR.

Great ideas!!! I have a lot to choose from, I'll let you know in another week what we did, hopefully will have pix. Mice en place....

Hi all, for a banquet for my daughter's drum corps, I am making chocolate mice.... Not the pastry kind.... These mice are a simple confection made from a hershey's kiss (for the face and snout) and a long-stemmed cherry dipped in chocolate (for the back and tail), with two little slivered almonds for ears, and little dots of red icing for eyes. I have decided I would like to serve these mice on a platter with trompe l'oeil "cheese wedges." My original thought was to make a couple round pans of brownies.... Cut them into little triangles (like Steve and Dan did on their Food Network series Partyline, of course I forget exactly how they did it but the triangles were small and perfect.) Then I thought of coating the brownie wedges with something like a glistening soft fondant, tinted yellow. Does this work? Does anyone have any other thoughts for either the base or icing? Does anyone have a simple recipe for a fondant or icing that will take coloring and look shiny? Any other alternatives? Whatever help or advice offered is appreciated. Also does anyone know the cutting technique from Partyline? Basically you cut a round pan of brownies into eight wedges, then you cut the tip of a wedge...that's one triangle.... then you cut the rest of the wedge in a way so it makes more triangles... but I forget exactly how they did it. Thanks!

The Cote du Boeuf for two at Balthazar was delicious, my husband said it was his favorite NYC dish also. My son said his was a pasta dish with lamb ragu at Roberto's on Arthur Avenue. My daughter said it was a Starwich she ate at Fat Guy's reception at Tavern on the Green.

Wow, very interesting, Chris. I definitely am going to be watching.

Chris, this is awesome! Any idea of what the secret ingredient will be? Maybe it will be a dessert theme for Valentine's Day....? I caught a recent IC episode with Bobby Flay v. The Two Hot Tamales, it was pretty entertaining. The ladies did very well...except for their sorbet... Still they managed to eke out a tie. Oh...it's cold in New York right now, bring a trench coat...

I heard through the grapevine that Chris Cognac, a/k/a the Culinary Detective, is going to appear as a judge on the Food Network show Iron Chef.

I think Rocco should just get back in the kitchen, where he is good. He has tried the media-star glam thing and it didn't work. He announced a while back that Mark Burnett was going to make another show with him...hopefully not.