Success, maybe. I got up this morning and for the third day running checked the fridge. Inside is a big bowl so I removed it and gave it a little shake, very little movement. Then a prod of the finger- solidity. The jelly has set.
Its not the first time I have had a nightmare in the kitchen and its still not over yet. The kids were off school yesterday and off today and at the weekend I told the oldest we would make a trifle despite never having successfully made one in the past. It was never going to be straight forward.
In Home Economics at high school I was an absoloute disaster. I was the only one in class who had to be taken to hospital and the chances are the only one in my year- maybe even ever. That is how hopeless I was and that has not changed. That happened when trying to cut a cooking apple in half and although with ease I sliced right through the apple I also sliced right through my left thumb. I was left looking at bone then white then red before the teacher getting someone to take me to hospital to get it stitched.
I was the only one in my class sent to the head too after stupidly thinking it might be funny to give one of my classmates a bit of a shock. We had these moulded plastic chairs in glass which had a rectangular gap around the seating area so with a big thick needle in hand I prodded through to watch a guy called Greg jump in the air in shock. After the teacher went mental I was sent packing. When it came to using the sewing machines I was the only one given a needle and thread and even at that there was reluctance.
But it was he kitchen where I had my real disasters. After successfully making some kind of banana milk shake I then right at the end of class managed to drop the glass and said milkshake with glass smashed everywhere. While everyone else was sitting back enjoying their milkshake at the end of class I was standing mopping the floor and brushing up shards. My rock cakes were virtually like coal and inedible while everyone else's were soft, golden brown and looked scrummy. I could go on.
It was a frustration and maybe a part of me has always wanted to better myself in the kitchen to reap the benefits of good cooking. So over the years I occasionally get an urge to make something. I have had the odd win but mostly losses. Quesadillas were a success but pancakes were defiinitely a failure. So this time it was the time of the trifle. Its something I tried to make last year with the same problem that frustrated me so much I gave up in the end.
If you live in the UK you are probably familiar with the company "Birds" who are probably best known for their custard but they also make trifle packs too consisting of sachets of jelly, custard, whipped cream and sponge fingers.I thought it would be straight forward but it would seem not. Day 1 we made the jelly and put it in the fridge to set over night. Day 2 we went to the fridge to find a red liquid still. Later on day 2 we tried again after my wife bought more jelly. It was evident after making it up though that it wasn't right. It was like syrup and this turned out to be because it was not jelly but jelly glaze. So on day 3 another attempt with another jelly and that was yesterday. After speaking to a friend he cryptically told me "its all about the mix of cold and hot water". I thought he was just pulling my leg but low and behold it seems he was right and today my excited daughter discovered a bowl full of set jelly in the fridge.
So one third down and hopefully the hardest part. Never thought it would be that damn difficult but I guess now I know for future reference. But given my list of colanary disasters going back to my teens am I assuming too much thinking the trifle may be ready tonight with just the custard and whipped cream to do? Time will tell. The oldest girl though is enjoying our little saga.
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