“What can I carry?” This is the first question everyone asks when they get the party invitation. And lucky, my new cookbook – it should be easy to remember, it’s called What can I carry? – There are 75 solutions to that kind question, including dips, drinks, salads, desserts, and a chapter of homemade food gofts if you are told to “bring yourself.”
However, of course, it’s not just about carrying something. Here are some simple rules that, in my opinion, make you not a great guest but a good one.
1. Be honest. Make sure you have done a dish that matches your sad or more punctual self. If you always have time, bring manizizers. If you are reliable late, drink. If you don’t have anything, bring a little gift.
2. Come. The best guests come in a dish ready to go without needing a shelf in the refrigerator or a oven rack. Don’t show expectation to eliminate your host’s careful game with culinary tetris for yourself.
3. Take the efforts. Trust me, I’m not more than a bucket of semerzer and beer, or a sticky counter of alcohol with mixers. But if everyone shows a cheap bottle of Butobi, it literally becomes a problem with champagne. Try to bring a small vision of the drink you bring (my book has a whole chapter to give power to power) – because in a room full of cans, we should all try to be Signature soup.
4. Say thanks. My friends Kyle Marshall and Julia Bainbridge are two of the most natural beautiful people I know. I used to have Kyle for a dinner group and Julia on a small brunch. Two business days later, at a time, there was a card sitting in my mailbox simply saying thanks. A card thanks to yourself is an old gesture old lands left in this century. Although a card is incorrect for the occasion, a simple text goes a long way to make your host appear visible and valued.
5. End to a sweet note. My friend Emily Once indicated by a movie night with hot cookies and a gallon of milk, and it’s worthless cool, I haven’t recovered. Taking a fun dessert is always the correct answer.
So, in that letter, while we went to summer, I’ll share my secret weapon, showing, conversation: Mosaic jell-o. I’ll just be prompted if someone compliments you with your unspeakable taste, throw in a shameful plug for me: “It’s from What can I carry? by Casey Elsass. Have you read it? “
Mosaic Jell-O
from What can I carry? by Casey Elsass
Seated 10
Start this recipe 2 days ahead
Mosaic Gelatin is a quick preparation of many square squares in the cut-up jell-or mixed with a beautiful, milk-white robe of gelatin, so they are suspended like glass glass. My friend Vivian was a jell fan-or I couldn’t forget his eyes hanging on his head when I took this dessertptture exitpiece. If Jell – or a perfect dessert in the summer (and it is, please don’t argue with me), then this is the perfect way to present it.
3 (3-ounce) jell-o boxes, in different flavors and colors
7 packages do not know Gelatin (find 1-ounce box on Knox unstoppable gelatin Next to jell-o. Each one has four packs of it, so get two boxes)
Nonstick cooking spray
½ cup cold water
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
Full milk
1 (14-ounce) can be sweet condensed milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Organize your jell-or flavors from the darker color. (In this way you can with a batch after another without stopping and wash your bowl.) Starting the strongest, pour the powder in a medium bowl. Add 1 packet with unknown gelatin and whisk until they are alike. Boil water, then measure 1 cup and pour it into the bowl. Whisk until the powder completely melts, then whisk in 1 cup of very cold water. Pour the mixture of a room-contained, cover, and cool the night to fully specify the jell-o. Repeat the other two boxes of Jell-or with two other packages with no gelatin.
The next day, run a paring knife to a knife and pass each room to cut the squares jell-or around the perimeter for a quick release. Use the knife to focus on the jell-or in a large bowl. It’s too much if there are some small pieces, just add it to the Mosaic effect. Fix a chance to coat with a 10-inch bundt pan with volcanic woven, then flip it to the sink so that spraying is the same as the bottom.
Pour ½ cup cold water into a medium handy. Pour the remaining four packs of unknown gelatin in saucepan and whisk a few times in the mix. Make a timer for 5 minutes, or until the gelatin is hydrated with a strong mass. Pour in evaporated milk. Fill in vain half-milk with full milk (that’s the cup, to suit) and pour it too. Put saucepan in low heat. At first nothing happens, but after about 1 minute you need to start slowly whisper while gelatin melts in milk. Continue whisking for about 2 more minutes, until there is a completely smooth mixture of milk. Remove from stove and whisk in condensed milk and vanilla. Allow coup mixture completely, about 15 minutes, then whisk again.
Flip to the riddle right. Sprinkle a layer of jell-or cubes under the pan, mix with colors as you go, then undle the mixture of milk until it is nearly covered. Continue replacing jell-o and milk, but take it slowly because every jell-or milk is moving and make it higher. Fill nearly above, leaving about 1/2 inches in space. Cover the pan of aluminum foil and carefully slide it in the refrigerator. Allow it to set up all night.
To ensure quickly released in the mold, fill in a large bowl with warm water and slowly dip the bundle so the water comes in the middle of the sides. Maintain it for 2 or 3 seconds, then pats outside the bundt, especially within the center of the tube. Place the bond with one hand and place the plate of service on top, make sure it is centered. Put your other hand over the plate and quickly flip. If the mold doesn’t fall into the plate (this! But if right!) Don’t be afraid. Gently tapping the plate over the counter. If it failed (it’s not! But if only in the case!), Flip it, and drink another dip with water. Serve with a pie server or knife so everyone can cut their own slices.
Cover any remaining jell-or with plastic wrap and cool up to 1 week.
Casey Elsass A food writer, the developer of the recipe, and the cookbook author who lives in Brooklyn. What can I carry? goes out next week. His recipes showed Bon Appétit, Delish, Epicurious, and Eat52. In his free time, he was pleased to attend the opera, eating his way around the world, and the prompting of each party invitation. Toby and I met him last summer and immediately fell in love – Casey the real deal !!!
PS Five fun things we notice at a drink partyand Seven Laws for being a great Defender Defender.
. What can I carry? By Casey Elsass © 2025. Published Union Square & Co., an Imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group.)
