Irish Car Bomb Jell-o Shots by Violet

You read that right. Clearly this is what Saint Patrick’s Day has been missing. JP found this recipe on Endlesss Simmer and we knew that we needed to bring it to the party.

This is doubled from the original and it made a full 9 x 12 pan of them.

Ingredients

• 32 oz. Guinness Stout beer, divided use
• 10 envelopes of Knox gelatin, divided use
• 6 oz. Bailey’s Irish Cream
• 6 oz. Jameson Irish Whiskey

Instructions

Lightly mold with non-stick spray and then gently wipe away any excess. Only a very small amount is needed.

Pour 24 oz. of Guinness into a shallow dish, making sure to pour gently to cause as little head as possible, then sprinkle 8 envelopes of gelatin on top. Set aside and allow gelatin to bloom for two minutes.

 Transfer mixture to the saucepan and heat over lowest setting until gelatin bloom melts and no lumps are visible, mixture will resemble syrup. Transfer mixture to a heat proof bowl and combine with remaining Guinness . To layer the Jell-o shot, split Guinness mixture in half. Using one half pour mixture into form a quarter of the way up.

Chill for 5-10 minutes until solidified.

In the meantime, pour Baileys and whiskey into a bowl and sprinkle remaining envelope of gelatin on top. Set aside for gelatin to bloom for two minutes.
Transfer Bailey’s-whiskey mixture to a saucepan and heat over lowest setting. Drop one to two ice cubes into mixture to cool. Pour mixture on top of Guinness layer and chill for 5-10 minutes.

Pour remaining half of Guinness mixture on top of Bailey’s and whiskey layer.

To remove, press finger into center of Jell-o shot and using an offset spatula or butter knife gently pop out Jell-o shot.

Notes
To prevent the mixtures from solidifying while waiting for layers, gently stir mixture every now and again.

Shots can be made 1 day in advance.

That first note turns out to be very important because I missed it and my second layer of Guinness totally solidified and when I went to pour it on top, it ended up looking like grape jelly.

If I were going to do it again, I would double the already doubled amount of the Bailey’s/Jameson layer and cut back on the Guinness layer. I might also think about adding some sugar or whipped cream topping to the shots.

While I know goes against what the car bomb shot is all about however, the color, size and shape suggested to everyone (me included) that this was a sweet dessert like concoction. And I think something about the gelatin gave the Guinness a more bitter taste. Making me think the next time I try these I’ll will just tip the scales in that direction. Or maybe I’ll just make Guinness cupcakes with Bailey’s frosting and shut up about it.

Violet in Born Waverly Sauor Full Grain

Deep in the Heart of Texas by Violet

I’m back from Austin and South by Southwest Interactive. After an action packed few days I thought I would come back and give an update on how I did with my goals. 

• Eat at a taco truck. Check

• Drink a margarita. Check (bonus because it has a glowing ice cube)

   

   

• Buy some cowboy boots. This didn’t happen. As badly as I wanted to I didn’t get myself to a boot shop. 
• Walk around the UT campus. I drove by it a couple times but I didn’t manage to get out of the car.
• Friday Night Lights Tour. The only thing I saw was the Landing Strip which is awesomely near the airport. 
• Go for a couple runs. Nope. I brought my running shoes and everything. 

So what exactly does this say about me? I prioritize food and booze. I think we know that before.

More than anything it means that I have unfinished business. I’m going to have to go back. Here are a couple other highlights from my trip

 

My badge, so official

 

 

 

 

 Cake pops made by our Austin office

 

 

 

 

Getting my learning on with Amber Case

 

 

 

Walking down 6^th Street

 

 

 

And discovering a horse

 

 

 

Austin Convention Center craziness

 

 

 

The view while we went on an Austin adventure

 

 

 

A Shiner

 

 

 

Dinner at The Salt Lick

 

 

 

 

Primm's Cocktail on the patio at Perla's 

 

 

 

Ice cream from Amy's 

 

 

 

 

Violet in Frye Campus 14L boots in Saddle Montana 

Don't mess with...

Not be a braggart but I’m going to Austin next week to SXSW for work. Like I said sometimes my job does not suck.

Now just to be clear, I’m not going to the music part of the festival, I’m going to Interactive which is the nerdy part. And this is considered work since I will be supporting my agency’s efforts there as well as attend talks and report back to my team. It ain’t all fun and games.

However, I’ve wanted to go to Austin for some time now and I’m pretty excited about the prospect of spending time there. While business travel rarely affords you the luxury of exploring your surroundings there are a few items on my to-do list.

• Eat at a taco truck. It’s not like we don’t have these here in Seattle or even where I grew up in California. I’m just going to go ahead and assume that Austin knows what they are doing in this respect.
• Drink a margarita. See above.
• Buy some cowboy boots. I’ve never been especially a country girl but cowboy boots seem like something every girl should have in her wardrobe.
• Walk around the UT campus. For reasons unexplained I have a soft spot in my heart of the University of Texas. Maybe it’s the longhorns, maybe it’s the burnt orange, I really just don’t know. I won’t be too far from campus and it would be great to walk around and see the place.
• Friday Night Lights Tour. Since this is my second all-time favorite TV show, I’d love to see a few of the spots where they filmed. Apparently, it’s not heard to do.
• Go for a couple runs. We are getting down to it in terms of the wedding and after I took a week off, it’s really time to get back in the exercise groove. My friend and coworker told me she would pack her running shoes too so we can hold each other accountable. If we get in two over the five days I will be a happy camper.  

This might be more than is humanly possible, especially since I’m in sessions all day every day but it’s good to have goals right?

Violet in Frye Campus 14L boots in Saddle Montana (my fake cowboy boots)