here's the good news: it's not too late to call your host and tell them you've changed your mind about what you're bringing next thursday.

here's some more good news: these jello shots are sooooo easy.

here's MORE good news: if this isn't your thing, next week i'm posting a SUPER easy cranberry sauce that'll knock your socks off and can totally be made on the fly so i'm not hanging you out to dry here.

so jello shots are up first for our thanksgiving recipe round uppppp. because the major thing you need to focus on here are two important ingredients you need to find

1) Cranberry Jello

2) Cran Apple Vodka.

the cranberry jello i found in just my normal grocery store so it shouldn't be too hard to find (at least around thanksgiving – if not i'm sure amazon has us covered!)

the vodka… WELL that was a find from a liquor store in RI.  it comes in the smaller glass bottles and i only see it every once in a while.

if you can't find it the world won't end… probably.  just sub in apple vodka instead and you should be okay.

okay now that we have our ingredientssssss. have you made jello shots before?  TELL ME.  im sure most of you have, but for those of you who haven't lets run down the basic process!

JELLO.  you're gonna take the jello and make it according to the package instructions, except the cup of cold water is going to be replaced with a cup of vodka.  TADAAAAAA. 

anti climactic?

also: no those two previous pictures aren't the same.  the first one is the BOILING WATER (please be careful) and the one directly above this sentence VODKAAAA (nom.)

making the garnishes was super easy (a lot easier than I expected) but i recommend coating the cranberries in the sugar no earlier than 3 hours before consumption.  The sugar starts soak up moisture from the honey and it doesn't look as pretty – still pretty, but not as much of the WOW factor.

i got the idea for the garnishes from a quick “thanksgiving shot” google image search and was like OH thats pretty and boom here we are –> don't want to take credit for someone else's idea.

i learned how to avoid a sticky mess by gently shaking your shallow dish back and forth to get the berries almost completely sugared.  

it seems like a lot of work for something that you don't even necessarily have to eat (although i have had people who ate the garnish, rosemary and all, and loved it) so you can totally omit the step if you want to, consider them optional!

but they do bring out a sense of fancy i-spent-all-day-crafting-these-beauties aesthetic that i think is completely worth the time.

I MEAN COME ONNNN.  who isn't down for a pretty sugar dusted cranberry on top of their jello shot?

i think we all know what part of the house I'm going to be stationed at this year…

forget the bird, give me some jellooooooo.

(those cranberries in that picture above are already starting to lose a bit of their shiny white sugar, they were probably 2 hours old when i took the picture, just for a frame of reference)

also. i just can't get over the rosemary.  you don't get the flavor of the rosemary if you don't eat it but OH OH OH. you could totally throw some rosemary in the water you boil to get a hint in the actual shot.  DO THAT AND REPORT BACK.

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don't you just love the gold sprinkles i threw on top?  YES.

P.S. i use little cups like these when i'm bringing them places and want to not have to worry about rounding up the containers at the end of the night.   but i use these when i'm making them at home because they're prettier and they even have matching mini spoons that make eating them a breeze!

Make it? Lemme see it! Hashtag it: #thepikeplacekitchen 

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