Elephant Green....and a Pink Blancmange!

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ #29        ‘Fixating on choosing the right colour…and pink blancmange! ’

 “Elephant Green”

To know that the  wall colour  you’re going to live with for many years-to-come….that exact  shade that you WANT TO LIVE WITH for those said years-to-come, is a very, very stressful task!

I mean, after-all, you don’t want it  too intense a shade… and not too dark either, as at night that same colour, in different, synthetic light, might hurt the eyes…well, so  it is for  ‘ COOKINGWITHMAVIS’

I am extremely particular when it comes to aesthetics….

 A-B-S-OL-U-T-E-L-Y   NO  grey areas !

 ITS  “ cut ‘n dried “  … just BLACK-OR-WHITE!

 W hatever ;  be it an item of Kitch, …or furniture..or motor  vehicle…or paint colour…often design so easily ‘misses the mark’ 

…It’s easy to collect Kitch …but to collect GOOD  Kitch ahhhhhh !    Just look no further that some wonderful things in our home!

1950's AFRICAN BUST

"GOOD" KITCH - A POLYNESIAN BUST

1950's AFRICAN BOY

....And furniture?   ... Well, I’m a stickler for keeping some ‘hand-me-downs’   from  ‘ GraN ’   and   ‘ Ouma ‘    given to my parents, and eventually to me.

Oh  ...and  ‘ GraN ’   had style, …… ‘ GraN ’   had understated sophisticated genteel taste…

……..While   ‘ Ouma ‘    -  welllllllll , ‘ Ouma ‘    was the        ‘ Queen of Ornate ’ …her taste was  “Jo’burg -Jewish - Baroque”! ...so, so ” schmaltzy”…..

And so, ‘My M’  and Me,  we live amongst some of their ‘choice’ choices …choices  that  I  didn’t choose , and  have  chosen  to  keep !

The absolute quandary  I found myself in, for the months leading up to renovating and painting our new home, was what bloomin’ colour    to paint those “Post-Modern“  walls,  in order to offset the unique,  quite eclectic array of beautiful ‘hand-me-downs’   as well as our  Mid-20th Century  restored coveted acquisitions….

‘ COOKINGWITHMAVIS’   drove the  “Painting Contractor”-come-wall-decorator  UP-THE-WALL!

It took a multitude of months of examining a myriad of Plascon Paints colour chits  - all in varying tones of similar colours

I wanted an “Elephant Green”   - or…was it an “Elephant Grey”?

…Can you imagine such ?  …yes!  - grey with a hint of olive green…or is it khaki with some gray?…or is it grey with a touch of khaki and a smidgen of black…or..or is it perhaps ‘taupe’?

Yes…like those American tones that all buildings in Pittsburgh seemed to be painted:  ‘dirty dark red’…‘dirty olive’…‘dirty yellow ’…‘dirty blues’…they get those tones by adding that ‘smidgen’ of black!

  

By golly…I found my perfect wall colour:     Plascon Paints’: “Botticelli”!

It is by day: “Elephant Grey”…and by night: muddy olive-stone-come-elephant-green …perfect…sohhh absolutely perfect.  And do you know, that 8 years after-the-fact…we still live with “Botticelli” walls ...and never  tire of them, and Oh!!  - how they enhance those choice “hand-me-downs”  !

ELEPHANT GREEN

ELEPHANT GREY

DEFINITELY ELEPHANT BROWN!

ELEPHANT TAUPE

ELEPHANT  WHITE !

...AND A SPECIAL "ps" for Solvej   ....."ELEPHANT WET"

Needless-to-say, that   “Painting Contractor”-come-wall-decorator  gets her miles’ worth…..

STILL bringing clients to sample the example of our walls! 

               ElephantGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGgggggrey   

And so to recipes…..

‘ COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ s

   Jello Blancmange

I remember, as a young teenager, discovering Mrs Mintz ’s light and fluffy  jello  pudding…NOTHING  that I’d EVER experienced before!!!!!

…and wanted more  – and more!  ...AND MORE!

Might I say that Mrs Mintz made marvelous,  mouthwatering Moir’s Jelly  mélange…did I say “mélange” ?...welll, yes - it was a mixture of ingredients…no, not many ingredients, perhaps better to call it a blancmange!  - (Pronounced “blahhma-a-a-njh!”)

Traditionally a “blancmange” would be :  A cold dessert made with milk, sugar, flavourings, and cornstarch , and white in colour,  but Mrs Mintz , I do now realize, was just like me, in that she believed in ‘no-nonsense’ quick ‘n easy recipes , and her’s  was NOT the traditional!  

Instead, her very light and fluffy fruit-flavoured “blancmange”  was made from a packet of jello ( “jelly”, as we call it) and a chilled tin of ‘Evaporated Milk’ …also known as “Ideal MilK”…yes, you know…the rich , full fat long-life creamy stuff!

An extra-light mousse this is! .... a dessert that I often make, and never tell my dinner guests how effortless it is to prepare.

So simple,  so splendid…so quick and easy…and SOHHHH more-ish!

So here goes…….

Ingredients:

1 or 2x  80g packets jello (cherry or strawberry or raspberry, lemon, etc, flavour) - If you don’t have a sweet tooth, just use 1x packet jello!

¼ cup sugar (optional)

2 cups boiling water (500ml)

1x  410g tin “Ideal Milk” chilled

Optional:

Plus 2 stiffly beaten egg whites (then you must use 2x packets jello)

PACKETS  OF  JELLO
and  EVAPORATED  MILK

INGREDIENTS  FOR
JELLO  BLANCMANGE

Method :

1)  Chill tin of Evaporated Milk at least 12 hours (I just keep a tin always in the fridge) -  only chilled, can it be beaten and thickened.

2) Dissolve the jello granules in ½ the quantity of water suggested on the packet :  only 1 cup boiling water to 1x  80g packet of jello.

Add the sugar too.

Stir well for a minute, until all granules are dissolved.

3) Leave to cool 30 minutes at room temperature, and when cool, put into the fridge for 15plus minutes   – until it just begins to thicken.

Do NOT let it set!

4) Then beat the Evaporated Milk very well for at least 5 minutes, till thick and very stiff, and large in volume.

5) Then slowly,  gently pour the cooled jello into the beaten Evaporated Milk.

6) Optional:

If you choose to add beaten egg whites, then lastly, gently fold them into the jello mixture with a large metal spoon.

7) Gently pour this mixture into a large glass serving bowl, or into individual dessert / parfait glasses.

8) Put into the fridge to set…for at least 1 hour.

9) To serve, decorate with sliced strawberries, or other berries.

WHIPPED  CHILLED
'EVAPORATED  MILK'

ADDING  THE  LIQUID  JELLO

CHERRY  FLAVOUR,  PINK
 JELLO  'BLANCMANGE' 

Note:

This dessert can be made a day in advance, and also keeps well for 4 to 5 days.

MMMMMMmmmmmmmm…..

You WILL   find yourself sneaking back to the fridge for ‘just a little spoonful more’, once your dinner guests have gone!

Until next time!

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’