The Jell-O shot problem started when I made some for a fun day at the beach. I looked everywhere for plastic cups with lids so the shots could go in a cooler without making a mess and the only place I could find them was Sam's Club, which is how I wound up with this:
Yes, you read that right, I bought a box of 2,000 to go with the box of 2,000 2 oz. cups I bought. I assumed we would use them eventually and I could use them to take things like peanut butter for apples to the office. Of course, I've never used them for anything other than Jell-O shots, but now that I've pulled them down again, maybe I'll portion out some snacks.
The cups with lids really are key. You can stack them in your fridge, they're much easier to take than the ones in paper cups, and they're completely portable. Next, we figured out that flavored vodka makes all the difference in the world. We've gotten pretty creative in the past with flavors, having as many as four different types of vodka and I don't even know how many flavors of Jell-O. If you want to keep things a little more simple, raspberry vodka is a good mix with most flavors (but strawberry Jell-O with watermelon vodka is at least one person's favorite). Depending on what flavors you want, you can use generic flavored gelatin, but you may be more limited in your flavor selection.
Once you have your vodka and Jell-O flavors picked out, it's time to lay out a bunch of your cups. To save your counters, I recommend lining the cups up on a cookie sheet so if you spill while you're filling up your cups, the mess is contained and easily cleaned. I started with about 30 cups, which was perfect for two boxes of gelatin.
With the boxes of Jell-O I picked, you were supposed to use boil one cup of water, dissolve the Jell-O in the water, and add one cup of cold water and ice (one cup total, not one cup of water and one cup of ice). I used one cup of boiling water as directed, but substituted 3/4 cup of vodka with 1/4 cup of ice. I also like to keep the vodka in the freezer, but that's a matter of personal preference. I also double the recipe because it's faster to make one batch than it is two, and if you're going to be making big enough batches of any given flavor, there's no reason not to.
With the cups lined up, I like to ladle the liquid Jell-O into a liquid measuring cup with a pour spout, and start pouring. When you're filling up the cups, be sure not to make them too full or they'll be impossible for people to take. I think about halfway, maybe a little more, is plenty big. Then it's time to add the lids.
Take your cookie sheet or pan to your fridge, and start stacking. I make mine at least the night before I need them, but they'll keep for weeks if you want to do your prep really early. I think the longest we have kept them in the fridge was three weeks and they were still good. Who knows how long they might keep.
Be warned - when you show up with just under 100 Jell-O shots and start passing them out because your friend doesn't have enough room in the fridge, you'll quickly become the life of the party. You may also feel like you're at a frat party, but remember, you classed it up a bit with your flavored vodka and fancy cups, so you're totally fine.
