Making the Most of - JELLY

Each time we use an inexpensive food product, we should have money left from the budget to spend on quality ingredients such as meat, organic vegetables, or a few luxuries. Jelly in the packet, is very low cost, and when made up is not only great for children, but can also be turned into a dessert that guests will be more than happy to be served.
Fruit Mousse: Chill a small can of evaporated milk in the fridge for 24 or more hours. Make a jelly up with 3/4 pint water, and when this is nearly at setting point, whip the evaporated milk until very thick and start pouring in the jelly. Continue whipping until all the jelly is taken up.
Pour into a dish, put in the fridge until set. Eat as-is or garnish with fruit and cream.
Jelly Wedges: Make a jelly using half the recommended amount of water. Pour into halved orange shells (flesh and juice removed), and leave to set. To serve - cut through jelly and shell in half to make two wedges. Use different citrus flavoured jellies (lemon, lime, orange etc) and alternate the wedges around a plate. Can be eaten in the hand.
Adults Only: Dissolve a strawberry jelly in a small amount of water, cool and make up to the correct amount using Babycham. Experiment with other flavours and other drinks. Alcopops (never tried them) sound as though they should work.
Fruit Terrine: Line a loaf tin with cling-film. Pour in a little jelly. When set start layering fresh or canned fruits. Carefully pour in remaining jelly to cover. Note: when using both canned and fresh fruits, they divide naturally, the canned fruits sinking to the bottom. Chill the terrine and turn out when set, removing film. (For adults, make up the jelly with a little white wine),
Salad Mousse:
1 pkt. lime jelly, 8 fl.oz ginger ale, chilled
2 tblsp. mayonnaise, 4 oz cottage cheese
7 oz can pear halves, drained and chopped
2 oz celery, finely chopped,
2 tblsp. walnuts, chopped
Dissolve jelly in 1/4 pt. water. Cool, then stir in ginger ale. Leave to stand for 15 minutes.
Place jelly, mayonnaise and cheese in a blender and blitz until smooth. Pour into a bowl and leave until starting to thicken. Fold in the prepared pears, celery and walnuts. Pour into a wetted ring mould (or individual dariole moulds) and chill for at least 3 hours until firmly set, then turn out to serve.
Zig-Zag: Make three or four different coloured jellies using a little less than the recommended amount of water. Tilt a plastic container (ice cream tub etc), and pour in some jelly. When set, tilt in another direction and pour in a contrasting colour. Keep repeating, tilting in different directions each time and using different colours. Chill and turn out onto a white serving plate.
Useful tips: when squeezing out citrus juice, remove membrane from shells and store shells in the freezer until needed. Use fresh fruit juice or the syrup from a can of fruit to make up a jelly. Tiny snippets of chopped pkt. jelly scattered over a trifle make a good alternative to candied fruits.