Jelly And Three Rather Good TV Programmes

[poliphilo]

I made jelly last night- for the first time in- what?- twenty, thirty years. I remember when jelly came in rubbery segmented blocks- like see-through chocolate bars; now it comes as crystals- as sparkly dust. There were pictures of cherries on the packet. The finished product tasted of nothing in particular, but looked lovely.

I watched three rather good TV shows last night. The first was an episode of a series, fronted by Richard Rudgeley, called Pagans.  It takes the archaeology of the northern European bronze age and makes it sexy. The second was a profile of the photographer David LaChapelle. Ooh, I do like his work!  I think he's the Lautrec of the Celebrity Age- and we'll be looking at his images of Pamela Anderson and Donnie Wahlberg long after we've lost interest in them as people. The third was a documentary about an Amish rebel who has been excommunicated by the bishops of his church for reading the Bible in English- instead of the approved- but to most Amish, incomprehensible -seventeenth century German. It's the classic story of a religious elite so fixated on preserving the accidents of their tradition that they have lost touch with its spirit. It was like watching the Reformation being played out all over again- in little.

Comments

[aellia.livejournal.com]

I bought jelly crystals yesterday. They looked exotic and where in the Polish section but I can't understand the instructions!
The Amish documentary opened my eyes to what I thought was such a gentle faith!
I hope the little girl continues to get well.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I expect your jelly is a lot like my jelly. What we did was add the crystals to 400ml of boiling water- and it set at room temperature.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

Excommunicated for reading the Bible! How ridiculous!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Isn't it just! The moral of the story is you can't stop the clock.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

I haven't made jelly for ages. But when I did, I used to add half the amount of boiling water it told you to, strain the juice from a tin of fruit into the mix and then make it up to ull volume with cold water. Sometimes I tipped the fruit into the jelly, sometimes I served it alongside. (Tinned pears in blackcurrant jelly was a favourite...)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's a good idea. This jelly needed something adding to give it flavour.

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

Apparently what you Brits call "jelly" we Yanks call "jello".

"Jelly", for us, is a (to me) noxious bastardization of jam. In Wiki: (US) a sweet gelatinous substance derived from fruit juices and pectin.

Can't watch the Amish docu. Not viewable in U.S. :P

FYI - there *does* exist a Bible in "Dutch". I own one.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's right. It took me a long time to get the jelly/jello thing straight.

A Bible in Pennsylvania Dutch? Clearly it's not acceptable to the hard-core Amish. For their bishops it's the version their fathers brought with them from Germany or nothing.

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

I bought one for two reasons. 1) I wanted one. 2) To prove to a friend of mine who works with the Amish that such a thing did, indeed, exist.


You're right, of course, about the old German Bible being the only "acceptable" one. After living here in Amish country for the last 5 or so years, I finally watched "Witness", and was amazed to be able to understand every word of the scene where the man is reading from the Bible. I do not understand "Dutch", but I DO UNDERSTAND German fairly well, and clearly he was reading in German, not "Dutch".

[sovay]

The third was a documentary about an Amish rebel who has been excommunicated by the bishops of his church for reading the Bible in English- instead of the approved- but to most Amish, incomprehensible -seventeenth century German.

*blink*

Jerome and the author of the Kaddish will sympathize . . .

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

As will King James's men.

[silverhawkdruid.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I still buy my jelly in those rubbery cubes. I like the orange flavour best, augmented with a small tin of mandarin segments, including the syrup (can't be doing with the 'fruit in fruit juice' versions). The syrup adds flavour to the jelly, and the fruit is a nice addition, and it floats at the top of the jelly, so those who don't want fruit can avoid it and dig beneath.
When I was a kid, I used to buy packs of jelly, and eat the cubes like sweets. :-)