Oh dear, I hope your DD feels better soon. I had H1N1 a few weeks ago and the doc told me that bacterial pneumonia was the most common side effect. Fortunately I didn't get pneumonia, but I was as sick as I've been in years. She's not going to plan on cooking on Sunday, is she?

Anyway, chocolate mousse, I think it'll be fine made on Saturday. Whipped cream doesn't hold very well, maybe an hour or so, and I think you could probably top the mousse with the cream and shavings for about that amount of time.

Annie

You rock Annie for answering when I know you are extremely busy!! I was afraid of that about the whipped cream. Perhaps I could whip the cream around 10AM and not put it on the mousse until nearly time to eat?

What you said about the pneumonia is good to know. She has had pneumonia three years in a row. Did the H1N1 really get you down? She is still totally exhausted and she came down with H1N1 on Monday of last week so it's been a while. I told her not to cook anything, so it will be what I bring and what she found at stores and gets out of the freezer and that will be plenty anyway. It doesn't take much to fill me up anyway because I'm used to grazing all day instead of taking meals.

Beverly, I took six days off work sick and I NEVER miss work. I was so sick for a couple of days that I just sat on the couch and looked out the window, I was too sick to read, too sick to watch TV. I got better for a day, then got sick again. Actually, I felt more like I was just too tired, and it was all coughing and breathing problems, no stomach or digetive issues at all.

I finally got so bad they gave me an inhaler, because I'd wake up out of a sound sleep gasping for breath, scared the heck out of Ashley and Elery.

It took me about two weeks to even feel close to OK again...

Anyway, what time are you going to eat? I've not been very successful at keeping whipped cream for longer than two hours.

Annie

Annie do you know if she can add unflavored gelatin to the whipped cream to stabalize it longer? I thought I read that somewhere years ago but I'm not sure how much to add or how long it will hold or if it will change the whipped cream much. I'm a bit of a whipped cream purest what with the Jersey cow and all so I'm not sure how it would work.
Mike

I've had no problem keeping whipped cream. I recently made some and forgot to serve it, and it looked a little deflated, but still good enough after several days. This was made from commercial whipping cream with a little sugar and vanilla added, kept in a bag in the fridge. I think if the wetness of the mouse and whipped cream are similar, you'll be ok there too, although it should be pretty easy to cut the tip off the bag and pipe it on last minute? I'd wait on the almonds, though, because of sogginess.

Oh yeah, and merry Christmas :-)

Honestly, whipping cream never takes that long and if your family is anything like mine, after you've eaten yourselves to a standstill in the main course a little breather before dessert is appreciated :-) I'd whip the cream just before dolloping it on the mousse, garnishing and serving it.

This may be too late, but if you can fine "Whip It" from Dr. Oetcher, use it! It is a stabalizer and will hold for days. Truly. Check Polish, German and Asian stores for it. And teh mouse will be fine for 48 hours.

Best wishes for you DD. But I bet the mousse will make it all better. Chocolate heals many things, right?

Peppi, I think Cost Plus World Market also carries it.

Beverly, so sorry to hear about your daughter. Better that your holiday dinner wait until she's up to snuff! I hope that your grand-daughter doesn't get it too. Hope all are healthy soon!

Jessica, I've held whipped cream longer than a couple of hours, but it DOES deflate and it isn't like fresh.

I've never added gelatin, so I don't know if that works, and I've never even heard of "Whip It". Thanks, Peppi.

Hey, maybe you have time to borrow Mustangs' whipped cream canister!

Merry Christmas, Beverly, I sure hope your daughter feels better really soon.

Annie

Nothing to add regarding the cream, but be very careful, H1N1 can be contagious for up to 7 days.

Linda

We'll probably be having lunch about 1 o'clock. I have a thirty minute drive to get there and have lots of food to load as well as the gifts.

Sure wish I could get some "Whip-it." I've never heard of it and we don't have a Cost Plus World Market. The most "uptown" thing we have is a Fresh Market, with Publix being the best grocery store here.

Annie, I always think of you as being strong as a ox with all of the farm work and everything you do. It sounds like even you were a sick little kid. So glad you are feeling better and the little ones didn't get it.

My two grandchildren had received one H1N1 injection each and so far they don't have the flu.

Thanks to everyone of you for the suggestions and hope you are all having a great Christmas!

AFter your suggestions I googled and this is what I found on Ochef.

How to Stabilize Whipped Cream
I have a recipe for a potato chip dip that calls for whipped cream. Is there any kind of preservative to put in it to make it stay?

Whipped cream, as you know, is a very fragile foam of air bubbles, a water film, and droplets of fat. The fat wants to turn into butter; the water wants to weep out of the foam; the air wants to escape back into the atmosphere of your kitchen. And you have the bright idea of trying to incorporate it into something that you're going to slather on potato chips. How long do you expect this wonder dip to last?

There are a few things you can do to stabilize whipped cream, but we can't guarantee how long they will hold. Nor can we predict what will happen when you add your other dip ingredients. One method to stabilize whipped cream is to add two teaspoons of nonfat dry milk powder for each cup of cream before you whip it.

Another more elaborate method is to add gelatin to your whipped cream. The challenge is that you want to keep the cream (and bowl and beaters) cold, but that you have to heat gelatin in order to dissolve it. Add hot gelatin to your whipped cream and you will defeat your purpose and deflate the cream. The best approach is to soften the gelatin by sprinkling it on cold water and waiting a bit. Then heat the mixture enough to get it to dissolve (but keeping it below boiling, which reduces the gelatin's holding ability). Allow it to cool to roughly body temperature, and then incorporate it into the whipped cream. If you allow the gelatin to cool too much, it will set into one large sheet the moment you stir it into the whipped cream. If it is the right temperature, you will be able to incorporate some amount of it into the whipped cream, without causing the cream to deflate.

Another method for incorporating gelatin into whipped cream involves melting a marshmallow and incorporating that into the whipped cream near the end of the whipping (but we're assuming you don't want the sweetness of the marshmallow in your dip).

There are also some packaged stabilizers you may be able to find in supermarkets and cake decorating stores. Dr. Oetker's Whip It is one brand name, and is a starch product that binds the liquid parts of the whipped cream together, helping it to remain stable for several hours.

Annie, I don't know if there's a difference between the fresh cream you probably use and the store-bought stuff, but mine seems to barely deflate in a couple of hours. In fact, I whipped it at home on Thanksgiving, drove an hour to my aunt's, and stuck it in the fridge for a couple of hours while we ate and digested. When we finally had dessert and I took the lid off of the container of whipped cream, it was still full to the tip top, and tasted great.

Nope, Jessica, I don't have dairy cattle, I have beef cattle, so the cream I buy is from a local dairy, all hormone and antibiotic free, but still commercial cream that's been pasteurized, etc.

It all tastes great but mine sure didn't hold any where near that well, it never does. I whip right before serving because it just doesn't keep as well as I hope.

Hopefully Beverly's is fine...

Annie