Recipe: Homemade Marshmallows

What a crazy winter it has been! Not only has it been cold by Florida standards, but the rest of the country, it has been blizzard after blizzard. I love the snow. I know those of you up north are hating me for saying that right now, but some of my favorite childhood memories involve the snow. For those of you who follow this blog that don't know me personally, I grew up right outside of Nashville, TN. It doesn't snow there often, but when it does, EVERYTHING shuts down. Especially the schools. There was this puppet on the news (y'all let me know if he's still around)his name was "Snow Bird" and he was the one who announced the school closings. We used to sit around the TV waiting for Snow Bird to appear. I remember hearing my mom say on a few occasions, "I want to rip Snow Bird's beak off!". hahahaha! As a kid, he was great, as a Mom now, I can see how she would feel that way! My siblings, cousins and I loved him, it meant NO SCHOOL! We would then spend the day outside sledding, skiing and ice skating. SO much fun! We would top off our day with bowls of soup and hot chocolate. Great memories. This is one memory I would like my children to have.

Since we now live down here in South Florida, there is NO chance of a snow day for Luke and Ashley. So I figured I would bring the fun memories to them! We loaded up in the car and went to the local ice skating rink. It's definitely not like iceskating on our frozen pool or the Pizza Hut parking lot, but it will do. Luke and Ashley were SO excited.

At first they hated it. The second they stepped onto the ice, they started slipping all over the place, their noses started running and they complained of being cold. ha! FLORIDA BABIES...... But after a few minutes, they caught on and took off. Of course there were some falls, but they got right back up and kept trying. They laughed a ton. I laughed at the old lady who was out there in a complete ice skaters outfit. I mean tights and a l.i.t.t.l.e. skirt (Something that should only be worn by an in shape young woman)she thought she was hot stuff so it made it even funnier. I personally was afraid she'd fall and break a hip. I feel the need to make fun of her, because she came awfully close to my kids, almost knocking them over doing her twirls. I should have gotten a picture of her, but decided just to take some of Luke and Ashley on my phone.

Ashley:
Luke: that's Phoenix behind him.Talk about being sore for a couple days. Maybe it was from all the triple axises I was doing. (is that what they're called?)

We've been eating a lot of soup this winter. Some days, I have to crank the air conditioning down low so it's bearable, but some evenings, it's really cold! With the cold comes Hot Chocolate and with Hot Chocolate comes MARSHMALLOWS! Most of you know how much Ashley loves marshmallows, so we decided on a cold day to stay inside and make them. Turned out to be easy and they were delicious. For my friends up north who are dealing with yet another snow storm and are stuck inside, this is a great activity to do with your kids.

Here is the recipe, I copied from Alton Brown.

Homemade Marshmallows:
- 3 packages unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup ice cold water, divided
- 12 oz. granulated sugar, (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 t kosher salt
- 1 t vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- nonstick spray

Place the gelatin into a large mixing bowl along with 1/2 cup of water.

In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, 7- 8 minutes. Once it reaches this temp., immediately remove from the heat.

While waiting on syrup to heat, prepare a large 13 by 9- inch baking pan, by lightly spraying with non stick cooking spray (be sure to include the sides).
In a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle the mixture onto the baking pan and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12- 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping.


When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan and use a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly. dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Be sure to eat the left over marshmallow whip!
Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of the each marshmallow with the remaining mixture. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did! I'm not much of a marshmallow eater, but these were REALLY good. I bet they'd be even better roasted. Now I want to go camping. Hmmmm... maybe that will be our next adventure....

I am thankful to have had such a wonderful childhood with such special memories. I hope I am making special memories for my children as well.