Anonymous comments

Anon comments are off as of today because of spamming.

I tried to be nice and give someone who I noticed on here a chance to say something to me.  They didn't.  It's been a week.. anon comments are officially turned back off.

If you need to legitimately speak with me my contact info is right here 

International Delight Iced Coffee

Running through the grocery store the other day, I decided to give this stuff a try since I had a coupon in my purse... figuring the $2 off coupon would make it practically free.  HA!! at $4.59 a carton it took a chunk off, but was it worth it?

No, not really.  it was Okay.  I don't see myself buying it again.

I grabbed a carton of original and after getting home and pouring myself a cup I sat down to look at the nutritional information:

Not too many ingredients, but then again.. nothing that makes is special and at 150 cal for 1 cup not really worth that in my book.  Who drinks just 8oz of coffee anyway?  Surely not me with my gigantic 20 oz coffee mug and 24oz cold cup I carry around with me.

This stuff tastes similar to 7-Eleven iced coffee (which is made from a mix full of odd ingredients) it's got a smooth creamy texture. The flavor was alright but I found it lacking a good coffee flavor and wound up adding a little bit of creamer to it anyway.

I'm better off brewing my own stuff.... or better yet checking out some of the cold  brew techniques for iced coffee and doing it myself (more on that soon).

Well, it is June 22

So...

Surprise!

The last day I posted I got a HUGE surprise... my little  nephew decided to come into this world five weeks early!  He wasn't due until July 12th so I've been working really hard to finish the blanket that I had just started not expecting him this soon.

I went over on Saturday to see him and he's so little.

Thankfully all is good and despite the fact that he's real tiny he's healthy.♥

Teeny little Noah was born to my cousin A.& her hubby on June 7 weighing in at 5lb 7oz

Marshmallow making basics

I want to go over a few marshmallow making basics for those of you who want to go ahead and make them yourself.

Many of the recipes that I've read say to grease your pan... DO NOT grease your pan.  This makes the bottoms of your mallows, well, greasy.  Eww.   I line my pan with parchment and dust with a mix of 50/50 Sifted cornstarch and powdered sugar.

You MUST have a candy thermometer to make real marshmallows (sugar free doesn't require this step) you Must boil the sugar mixture to 240°f.  Too cool and it won't fluff up, too hot and as soon as it starts to cool you'll have a broken mixer.

Be very careful when pouring the hot sugar into the mixer!  Start on low and once all the molten sugar is into the bowl, then turn the speed up.  Otherwise it will splatter and you will get burned.

Time your mixing!  12 minutes is what you need to get a good fluffy marshmallow.  Once it's done don't walk away or you're gonna have a bowl of marshmallow that you can't spread into a pan.  This rings especially true for the sugar free ones, they begin to set up almost automatically.

Don't use a hand mixer for making marshmallows.  The first time I made marshmallows all I had was a hand mixer, and there was marshmallow all over me, in my hair, on the walls, on the ceiling and not only that... I broke the mixer before they were even finished.

Let the mallows rest in the fridge, if you leave them out chances are they're not going to set properly.

When they're finished you can freeze them in storage bags, just make sure they're dusted well with powdered sugar and cornstarch so they don't stick.

Sugar free marshmallows, round 2

I wasn't completely thrilled with the first batch of sugar free marshmallows I made.  I wasn't happy with their consistency, they were too soft and they didn't set quite properly.

They needed more gelatine.  That was a given... but something else was amiss with that recipe.  "Real" marshmallows have you pour the hot syrup into the gelatine with the mixer going.  The sugar free recipe had you heat the gelatine, add that to the mixer with the agave and then start to mix.  That didn't work out.

What I did with this batch was mix 3 packets of gelatine with 6 Tablespoons of cold water and let it bloom.  Meanwhile, heat the agave syrup in a microwave safe measuring cup for 3 minutes.  Add the gelatine to the mixer with the whisk attachment and start the mixer on medium.  Pour in the hot syrup with the mixer going and when it's all in turn the mixer up to high and let it go for 12 minutes.

Fluffy, light sugar free marshmallow batter :)

Right now the mallows are in the fridge setting up.... I'll have pics of the finished cut mallows tonight :) 

The Great Marshmallow Experiment

Ok, so y'all know that I made the sugar free marshmallows on Saturday (and I'll be making another batch tonight...more on that in a few).  I also made a batch of regular marshmallows on Sunday and then yesterday I got an idea in my head... Flavored marshmallows.  Over the past 3 days I must have made around 200 marshmallows!!

I have a recipe for Cherry almond cupcakes that looks amazing.  My only problem?  I'm allergic to Maraschino cherries (not the cherries, but the sulfates that are used to preserve them) so even though technically I can make them, I wouldn't be able to eat even one so that kind of kills it for me.  I started to browse around for recipes for flavored marshmallows and learned that you can use fresh fruit like berries, bananas, and peaches.  You can Not use pineapple, kiwi, mango, or guava because of a particular enzyme that breaks down the gelatin so the mallows won't fluff up at all.

I also don't like to use food coloring.  I try to avoid it as much as possible because I think it adds a weird flavor to the marshmallows and I try to keep things as pure as I can. I make my own Vanilla extract and I'm going to make my own almond extract soon too since that stuff is seriously expensive.

I had a thought in my head yesterday and wasn't going to let it go until I got home and did it and I was So happy that I went through with it because even my kid said they were the best marshmallows that he'd ever had!

I bought a packet of dried cherries and put about 1/2 cup into my food processor and chopped them really fine.  I put the chopped up cherries back into the measuring cup and added 1 tsp of almond extract and just let it sit and steep while I made a batch of regular mallows.  I added the cherries in the last minute or so of whipping up the mallows and they came out a very very pale pink with little bits of cherries in them.

Absolute Perfection!!  I'm going to make a batch of cherry almond sugar free ones tonight and I'll also let y'all know how those turn out.

I'm thinking the next batch will be orange vanilla.. or strawberry vanilla... or maybe.... banana coconut?  I'm not sure... there are so many options :)

Sugar free marshmallows (yes, it can be done!)

My Bestie is coming home tomorrow and as much as she loves all the goodies I make, she's gotta watch her sugar intake.  I know she loves the home made marshmallows I make so I decided to go on a hunt for a recipe for sugar free marshmallows.  It took very little searching to find a good one.

I've got step by step pics, then I'll go through the recipe along with a note or two.

Sugar Free Marshmallows (revised 6/5/12)

6 Tbs cold water

2 envelopes* 3 envelopes unflavored gelatine

1 cup light agave syrup

1 tsp Vanilla (I make my own)

cornstarch for dusting the pan and then dusting the mallows when they're finished

Line a 13x9 inch pan with waxed paper or parchment and dust liberally with cornstarch

In a small bowl add water and then sprinkle in the gelatine, leave to bloom.

In a small bowl add the water and gelatine, microwave for 30 seconds.

Pour agave into a microwave safe measuring cup and microwave on high for three minutes.

In the bowl of your stand mixer** fitted with the whisk attachment add the gelatin mixture, turn the mixer onto medium and carefully pour in the agave syrup.  Turn the mixer onto high and beat for10 minutes. 

Add the Vanilla and beat an additional 2 minutes.

Spread marshmallow into prepared pan and let set in the fridge for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.

When they're ready cut into squares (I use a pizza wheel) or shapes with a cookie cutter dipped in cornstarch.  I dip my pizza wheel after every cut to prevent sticking.

After they're cut dust them again in cornstarch to prevent them from sticking together and store them in an airtight container in the fridge.

*I found that using just 2 envelopes of gelatine made a very soft mallow.  The next time around I'm going to use 3 like I do in my standard marshmallow recipe.

**Do Not use a hand mixer for these or any marshmallow recipe.  Besides the fact that it will make a colossal mess, you will break your mixer.  Trust me on this, I have first hand experience.

Of course I had to make a batch of regular marshmallows to compare the two:  Because of the amber tint of the agave syrup the sugar free marshmallows aren't pure white like the regular mallows and aren't quite as firm or fluffy as the regular ones.  

These sugar free marshmallows also taste a lot like store bought marshmallows, which I think is really weird.

Kiddo gave them thumbs up so hopefully everyone else will too :)