[jyl]

My observations on aspic-making so far.
- Clarifying the homemade consomme was a PITA. It took forever to drip through a coffee filter, partly because it kept setting up.
- Then the clarified consomme turned out to have too much gelatin. It would set up at room temp. I didn't add any gelatin, this was just how it was. I had to dilute a bit. I don't want a mouthful of meat jelly, I want a mouthful of dissolving deliciousness, so I want it liquid at room temp.
- I am putting little squares of thin-sliced braised beef as one layer. This isn't working well - the beef was tender when warm, but more chewy when cold. Well, I don't have time to re-do.
Next layer will be braised and cubed veg.
- The homemade aspic tastes great, even if assembly isn't going so great.
- Batch 2, the Campbells Beef Consomme with extra gelatin, has a weird taste - more bitter than beefy. My wife likes it, she says she grew up with that taste because her mother used to cook w/ canned beef stock. I don't like it, myself. I'm assembling it anyway, but I may not serve it.

Otherwise, we've made very little progress on cooking a dinner, that is supposed to start in 3.5 hours. The wife and kid's annual XMas cookie, candy, and gingerbread house project was way late. The kitchen and dining table were covered in cookie sheets, half-decorated cookies, bowls of gloppy icing, for 3 eff'ing days. She's still cleaning up and clearing away, we have a small and poorly laid-out kitchen so its impossible to get in there and work right now. I am thnking some rather un-Christmas thoughts at this moment. Fortunately, the menu doesn't involve any lengthy "cooking".