MARSHMALLOWS AND CHRISTMASTIME IN FUUULL SWING

Have you always thought marshmallows came puffed out from a special device, something called the Mega Marshmallow Maker 6000 perhaps, or manually extracted from the clouds by cousins of oompa loompas, because everyone suspects that clouds are actually all made of marshmallows? 

...ME TOO.

That is until I stumbled upon this recipe and could not believe that making marshmallows could be so simple and decided to see for myself. You need some particulars, like a candy thermometer ($10 at Bed Bath and Beyond) and a mixer. I don't have a stand mixer, but the electric hand mixer worked fine (my hand just felt like it was vibrating for a few minutes afterwards).  The magic happens from the ten minutes of whipping on high, so you need a hand mixer at the least.

It goes like this: first, prepare a 8x8 pan by spraying with nonstick oil and powdered sugar. Then, put 1/2 cup of cold water and 2 1/4 ounces of gelatin packs in a bowl. Let it sit. Then, in a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups of sugar, 2/3 cups of dark or light corn syrup, 1/4 tsp of salt and 1/2 cup of cold water to a boil over medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar, clip on the thermometer and then leave it alone and just watch the mixture get up to 240 degrees F. When it gets to 240, carefully add the hot mixture into the bowl with water and gelatin, and whisk on low for a minute. Then whisk on high for 8 minutes until a fluffy batter has formed. At this point if you want to add flavoring, you can. I added 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of ground ginger and 1/2 tsp of nutmeg. Beat for another 2 minutes, and then pour the whole thing into the prepared pan and let it sit for anywhere from 4 hours to overnight to set.  Use a powdered pizza cutter to slice into small pieces, and voila! Marshmallows. This particular recipe then says to dunk one side of the marshmallow piece into melted dark chocolate and then into gingersnap cookie crumbs. Done and done.

I didn't know if it would work so it was with great delight that I found that, yes! marshmallows can be made in the kitchen! and they are not just harvested by hardworking cloud people.   Here's the thing about marshmallows though, I don't usually (although I know plenty of people that do) eat marshmallows straight out of a bag. So while they were super tasty, I would probably make adjustments for my personal preferences, which means: s'mores. The next batch is going right up against some chocolate and graham cracker. Another thing I'll try is to dunk the whole thing in chocolate and cookie crumbs, not just one side.  If you try it let me know what you end up doing with your 'mellows.

I realize I'm segwaying straight into a bowl of vegetables, which means I got you all hyped for some sugar and I am now hitting you in the face with kale and cauliflower, but it must be done.  For example, let's say, if for some reason you consumed too many marshmallows the night before and need to cleanse the palate with some hearty vegetables, this bowl is for you: ground cauliflower, corn, sautéed kale, a fried egg and siracha. It is a great way to start your day of errands. 

And now to knock off two plump birds with one stone: a photo dump of pictures from my phone while updating you on what we have been up to in recent days: 

Ken and sloane had identical hair lengths and styles right before he cut it last week. Similarity underlined by tying both their hairs in tiny tails. Also, new boots from my mother-in-law!

I have had all sorts of thoughts and feelings about my cast iron skillet this past week, more on this later.  Right now though I want to give a standing ovation to Trader Joe's triple ginger brew. 'Its not just double, it's triple the gjnger!' as the TJ's employer happily and helpfully informed me. I'm obsessed with the taste and the bottle. I'm a little bit of a walking advertisement when it comes to TJ's holiday goods, but who isnt? And this densely gingery brew mixed with some rum and topped with a squeeze of lime? diviiine.

SO noteworthy and amazing, my friend Ashley had her beautiful baby boy a couple of weeks ago and I am very proud of her for many reasons and excited to have another little one to love. And then to the left is ken and I with our little one.

My friend Megan held a class this past Saturday to teach us how to make natural honey cough syrup and breathing balm to fight off calamities that may come in the cold winter days...

Later that night was the ladies only Christmas party and the the next day, the Nutcracker!. 

I think maybe half of the joy of going to the nutcracker is seeing all the kids dressed up in their best theatre going Christmas outfits, prancing around and so giddy about a fancy outing. I spent a good chunk of my time wondering when the earliest I should bring Sloane to the theatre would be and the kinds of things I would talk to her about while we were there. 

Ken's family -his aunt and cousin Karen from Ohio, Karen's boyfriend, and Ken's mom and grandmother - all came up for the day on Monday to hang out with Sloane. She spent the day getting loved on by her relatives - what a lucky girl she is!

And now.... 7 days 'till Christmas!!

LADIES NIGHT CHRISTMAS PARTY

Have I mentioned I'm feeling festive? 

Have I also discussed how the busy schedule is catching up with me a wee bit? 

Those things are still true, but I'm also feeling that this is all going by too fast and the new and improved christmas-loving part of me wishes this all could go on for another month or so. The parties, the gold sparkle, the food, the decorations, the smell of pine, the anticipation of being with family, the music, even the shopping - if my body holds up and I get a little more sleep, I really think I could do this for a little longer than the ten days we have left.  But then again, the other day I said, "I can't wait for summer!!" Sadly and thankfully, time moves on, and I'm planning on being present for all of it. 

You guys, I made marshmallows! From scratch! I know!  It was much easier than I expected, more on this later, but I made the marshmallows spiced with ginger and cinnamon, then dunked it in dark chocolate and then dunked it in crumbled ginger cookies, for this party here.  If you've come wandering over here to look at pictures of lovely ladies eating delicious things, you've come to the right place.   It was a rainy night, and that set the mood for a perfect and cozy, food-eating, game-playing, baby cuddling, egg-nog drinking night with some really fun ladies. The rest of this post is going to be a gazillion photos because my brain is clocking out as we speak and I am going to dive into bed, but enjoy!

THE SOUND OF MUSIC AND A CHRISTMAS TREE

Since I am currently in the business of being nostalgic, I thought I'd go full hog this year. Apparently, this year that means getting a real Christmas tree and putting up with the television remake of the Sound of Music.

The original 1965 film is one of those that is so much a part of my history that hearing or singing the songs instantly transports me back to memories of being with my family when I was young. Like so many others, the soundtrack of that movie was the soundtrack for my early childhood, and I must want to pass on that experience to Sloane; its songs were some of the first few songs that I sang to Sloane when we met. My allegiance to this movie and its version is fierce (don't mess with Julie Andrews!) so when I saw that Carrie Underwood was playing Maria in the NBC's remake of the film/musical, I groaned a thousand groans. I had no plans of watching it, but the whole thing is available on NBC.com right now and one evening while searching for music to keep my cooking company, I decided I'd give it a chance. At the least, to have it playing for background music. My expectations were very low, but maybe because I had kept them there, it was bearable. Yes, the whole thing feels plastic and a little flat, it reminded me of a high school play, and Carrie Underwood's acting is sub-par (and her hair is so distracting), but it wasn't terrible, and I appreciated what they were trying to pull off with a live television version.  But I found myself missing the voices and actors of the original version and wanting to hear the songs is what kept me watching. I visualized scenes from the original movie the whole time and it was Christopher Plummer's face I imagined during that moment when he is first hearing the children sing and then breaks into song, which for some reason made me tear up; I blame the nostalgia.

This made me resolve to rewatch the original version and experience it as an adult; I can't wait to watch it with Sloane someday. Sort of a sidebar: I had totally forgotten that the movie was based on a musical that was based on a memoir by Maria Von Trapp based on her real life experiences. I'm not sure why I forget that; maybe because I feel like those characters are the figment of my imagination. Anyways, I did some reading up online about the real Von Trapp family and it's all so very interesting.

Now that's settled, on to the tree!

I got super excited when Ken agreed that we should get a live tree this year. Some of that excitement came down to a slow roll when we were faced with the very unenthusiastic customer service at Walmart this past Saturday morning. One full hour after we got there, we left the store and arrived home with the tree still on the roof of the car. Things were looking up!….until we tried to get the tree up and realized all the knobs on the trunk of the tree made it impossible for it to fit inside the tree stand. So there it lay, waiting for us to get our act together.  Ken and our neighbors came to the rescue and a hand saw took care of the problem. Christmas was saved!

The tree might need some more ornaments and I may slowly add more as we get closer to Christmas, but I love our tree right now. Simple, tinkly with lights and filled sparsely with handmade ornaments I've collected over the years.

 

We picked up this Mr. Fox at Target the other day.  Sloane picked him out and she seems to completely accept the fact that he lives in the tree, to be taken down once in a while to be played with and then put back on the tree. you know, because he lives there.

At first, Sloane just watched us put up the ornaments, observing and trying to figure out what we were up to.  Once she caught on, she was into it, asking us to 'elp' (help) her put the ornaments on the tree….which is why most of our ornaments are on the bottom half of the tree.

she did a little happy jig when she saw all the ornaments on the tree 

Every morning when we come downstairs and see the tree, she gasps a little in surprise to see the tree. It makes me so happy.

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P.S. right at the moment when the tree went up and Ken and I were like, "SLooooooane, look at the tree!!! Isn't it wonderful to have a tree indoors…!", she had found these sunglasses somewhere, wanted them on and this is the first photo I had on my camera of our Christmas tree event.  So.