“What can I carry?” It’s the primary query everybody asks once they get the celebration invite. And by chance, my new cookbook — this ought to be straightforward to recollect, it’s referred to as What Can I Bring? — has 75 options to that very-stressful query, together with dips, drinks, salads, desserts, and a chapter of selfmade meals presents once you’re advised to “simply carry your self.”
However, in fact, it’s not solely about bringing one thing. Listed below are a number of easy guidelines that, in my view, will make you not only a good visitor however an ideal one.
1. Be sincere. Ensure you’re committing to a dish that matches your dillydallying or extraordinarily punctual self. If you happen to’re at all times on time, carry appetizers. If you happen to’re reliably late, carry a drink. If you happen to’re bringing nothing else, carry a small current.
2. Come ready. The most effective visitors arrive with a dish that’s able to go while not having a shelf within the fridge or a rack within the oven. By no means present up anticipating to derail your host’s cautious sport of culinary Tetris for one thing of your individual.
3. Deliver the cheers. Belief me, I’m not above a bucket of seltzer and beer, or a sticky counter of alcohol with mixers. But when everybody exhibits up with an affordable bottle of bubbly, it actually turns into a Champagne downside. Attempt to carry a bit imaginative and prescient to the drink you carry (my e-book has a complete chapter to empower you) — as a result of in a room filled with cans, we should always all aspire to be the signature cocktail.
4. Say thanks. My associates Kyle Marshall and Julia Bainbridge are two of essentially the most naturally elegant individuals I do know. I as soon as had Kyle over for a bunch dinner and Julia over for a small brunch. Two enterprise days later, every time, there was a card sitting in my mailbox merely saying thanks. A thank-you card is an old school gesture that also lands on this century. Even when a card isn’t proper for the event, a easy textual content goes a protracted method to making your host really feel seen and appreciated.
5. Finish on a candy be aware. My buddy Emily as soon as confirmed as much as a film evening with heat cookies and a gallon of milk, and it was so effortlessly cool, I nonetheless haven’t recovered. Bringing a playful dessert is at all times the proper reply.
So, on that be aware, as we head into summer season, I’m going to share my secret-weapon, show-stopping, get-them-talking dessert: Mosaic Jell-O. Simply promise me when somebody compliments you in your impeccable style, throw in a shameless plug for me: “It’s from What Can I Bring? by Casey Elsass. Have you ever learn it?”
Mosaic Jell-O
From What Can I Bring? by Casey Elsass
Serves 10
Begin this recipe 2 days forward
Mosaic gelatin is a straightforward preparation of multicolored squares of cut-up Jell-O get blended into a ravishing, milky-white cloak of gelatin, so that they’re suspended like stained glass. My buddy Vivian is a Jell-O fanatic, and I’ll always remember her eyes coming out of her head once I introduced over this dessert-as-sculpture showpiece. If Jell-O is an ideal summer season dessert (and it’s, please don’t argue with me), then that is the proper method to current it.
3 (3-ounce) packing containers Jell-O, in numerous flavors and colours
7 packets unflavored gelatin (search for the 1-ounce field of Knox unflavored gelatin subsequent to the Jell-O. Every one has 4 packets in it, so get two packing containers)
Nonstick cooking spray
½ cup chilly water
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
Entire milk
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Prepare your Jell-O flavors from lightest to darkest coloration. (This manner you are able to do one batch proper after the opposite with out having to cease and wash your bowl.) Beginning with the lightest, pour the powder right into a medium bowl. Add 1 packet of unflavored gelatin and whisk till they’re mixed. Boil water, then measure out 1 cup and pour it into the bowl. Whisk till the powder is totally dissolved, then whisk in 1 cup of very chilly water. Pour the combination right into a quart container, cowl, and refrigerate in a single day so the Jell-O is totally set. Repeat with the opposite two packing containers of Jell-O together with two extra packets of unflavored gelatin.
The following day, run a paring knife lengthwise and crosswise in every container to chop the Jell-O into squares, then across the perimeter for a better launch. Use the knife to coax the Jell-O out and into a big bowl. It’s completely superb if there are a number of small bits, it’ll simply add to the mosaic impact. Take a second right here to very totally coat a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick spray, then flip it the other way up within the sink so the spray evenly spreads with out pooling within the backside.
Pour ½ cup chilly water right into a medium saucepan. Pour the remaining 4 packets of unflavored gelatin into the saucepan and whisk a pair instances to combine. Set a timer for five minutes, or till the gelatin has hydrated right into a stable mass. Pour within the evaporated milk. Fill the empty can midway with complete milk (that’s ¾ cup, to be exact) and pour that in, too. Set the saucepan over low warmth. At first nothing will occur, however after about 1 minute you need to have the ability to begin slowly whisking because the gelatin melts into the milk. Hold whisking for about 2 extra minutes, till you will have a totally clean milk combination. Take away from the range and whisk within the condensed milk and vanilla. Let the combination cool fully, about quarter-hour, then whisk once more.
Flip the Bundt right-side up. Scatter a layer of Jell-O cubes alongside the underside of the pan, mixing up the colours as you go, then ladle within the milk combination till it’s virtually coated. Hold alternating Jell-O and milk, however take it gradual as a result of every layer of Jell-O goes to displace the milk and make it rise farther up the pan. Fill virtually to the highest, leaving about 1⁄2 inch of house. Cowl the pan tightly with aluminum foil and thoroughly slide it into the fridge. Let it set in a single day once more.
To ensure the mildew releases simply, fill a big bowl with heat water and slowly dip the Bundt in so the water comes about midway up the perimeters. Maintain it there for two or 3 seconds, then pat the skin of the Bundt dry, particularly inside the middle tube. Put the Bundt in a single hand and set the serving plate on prime, ensuring it’s centered. Put your different hand on prime of the plate and rapidly flip. If the mildew doesn’t drop onto the plate (It’ll! However simply in case!), don’t panic. Calmly faucet the plate on the counter. If that fails (It received’t! However simply in case!), flip it again over, and take one other dip within the water. Serve with a pie server or knife so everybody can reduce their very own slice.
Cowl any leftover Jell-O with plastic wrap and refrigerate for as much as 1 week.
Casey Elsass is a meals author, recipe developer, and cookbook writer residing in Brooklyn. What Can I Bring? comes out subsequent week. His recipes have appeared on Bon Appétit, Delish, Epicurious, and Food52. In his free time, he enjoys attending the opera, consuming his manner world wide, and RSVP-ing sure to each celebration invite. Toby and I met him final summer season and instantly fell in love — Casey is the actual deal!!!
P.S. Five fun things we noticed at a drinks party, and seven rules for being a great dinner host.
(Pictures by Gentl and Hyers, meals styling by Tyna Hoang, and prop styling by Stephanie De Luca. Recipes reprinted with permission from What Can I Bring? by Casey Elsass © 2025. Revealed by Union Sq. & Co., an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Ebook Group.)
