Typically, a Thanksgiving post would show the actual meal, either with or without all the people gathered around. So, even though all that traditional stuff happened, my niece, nephew and I did something untraditional as an edible project, which involved good old-fashioned trial and error. We made Margarita Jello Shots.
Last month, my niece and I had made Strawberry/Orange Jello shots, using orange hulls as our containers. From that experience, I knew we needed handheld juicers to make the process easier.
Time-saving Juicers
With the juicing step simplified, we still fumbled when removing the pulp with a spoon. My niece gave up the effort sooner than I did. After googling the challenge, she read that we should turn the juiced lime hulls inside out. My first instinct was to push my thumb against the center. That worked like a charm except that my thumb went through the center. On my second attempt, I worked my thumb and fingers around the hull’s edge to turn it inside out. That worked very well, keeping the hulls intact.
Jello-Filled Hulls
Continuing the scientific-method journey, I originally placed the empty lime hulls in a rectangular plastic tray. I thought that with the hulls packed in together, they’d support one another once they were filled. I was mistaken. Those hulls became less stable and tipped to the side, spilling some of the contents.
Then I recalled the last time we’d made shots. I’d filled a mini muffin tray with leftover liquid jello. That didn’t turn out well either, but this time around, I used the pan to stabilize the hulls. With the hulls firmly in place, I quickly filled them and put the tray in the mini fridge in the den. We drank the leftover Jello like the cocktail it was.
Jello Slices
I originally thought we’d sample the shot after Thanksgiving dinner. Wrong again! After breakfast on Thanksgiving morning, I brought up the tray to slice the hulls in half. People were game to try them then. Normally, I wouldn’t have alcohol quite that early, but I figured someone was probably having a breakfast cocktail somewhere.
Although Mom wasn’t hosting Thanksgiving dinner, she made about half the sides, including sweet potatoes. Instead of garnishing them with marshmallows, Mom made a delicious sauce made of rum, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vegan butter. She put the leftover sauce in a container, inviting me to make a drink out of it.
Sweet Potato Garnish
The first thing that came to mind was mulled wine. When I looked up the ingredients, Mom’s sweet potato sauce wasn’t too far off the mark. I’d just have to add a few more ingredients and warm up the entire concoction.
An Orange and Spices
Our kitchen is always stocked with fresh fruit and whole spices. I sliced an orange and added it, along with whole cloves and a few cinnamon sticks to Mom’s sauce in a pot.
The Fresh Ingredients
Since I worked on Black Friday, I texted all the women in the family, who’d gone out together like a shopping pack of she wolves, to pick up an inexpensive bottle of Malbec. That was the only ingredient we didn’t already have enough of. I always have boxed Malbec, but I didn’t want to sacrifice my stash.
The Added Alcohol
“Inexpensive” is a relative term. I was pleased with the Malbec selection someone had chosen. I sacrificed the entire bottle for the mulled wine, along with a quarter cup of peach brandy.
With the Malbec Added
I continued stirring the concoction slowly on low heat. The point was to warm the brew, not to boil it. Too much heat would have burned off the alcohol, defeating part of our purpose.
With the Brandy Added
Compared to the Jello shots, mulled was very easy to make. My nephew held a strainer over a measuring cup as I slowly poured the wine. Once the measuring cup was full, my nephew then poured the wine into the mugs. We repeated that process until all the wine was strained and poured into mugs. I divided the orange slices and cinnamon sticks into the mugs.
My Mug of Wine
The mulled wine was delicious and I had the added bonus of using the cinnamon stick as my drinking straw. Although we had mulled wine on Black Friday night, it tasted more like Christmas. At least it didn’t feel “too soon.”