Marshmallow 101 A few months ago, I promised a marshmallow tutorial –WITH PHOTOS! – to Laura and Karen, to prove that, YES!, they can make marshmallows at home. Are you ready for the challenge? Let’s go! There are many marshmallow recipes out there, but my favorite comes from the December 1998 issue of “Gourmet.” So, let’s get started! Adapted from Gourmet (December 1998)1 cup confectioner’s sugar (a.k.a. powdered sugar)3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin1/2 cup cold water2 cups granulated sugar1/2 cup light corn syrup1/2 cup hot water (You want it to be around 115°F, which takes about 15 seconds in the microwave. )1/4 teaspoon salt2 large egg whites (or meringue powder reconstituted according to the manufacturer’s directions) 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon vanilla extract Go ahead and measure everything before we start. 1. 2. 3. 4. Tip: Yes, you MUST have a candy thermometer to do this. . 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Voila! You glorious example of humanity.
“Homemade Fruit Leather” | The Official Site of Chef Georgia Pellegrini | Food, Travel, Lifestyle, Hunting and Redefining Slow Food Fruit roll-ups were a big thing when I was growing up. There were so many iterations at one point that I was in pure fruit candy bliss. Then there were the healthy versions that we’d always find at the health food store. They were called “fruit leather,” because they were thicker and made out of pure fruit I suppose… not the other nasty bits that were probably in the fruit roll-ups. My editor told me that they needed a few more recipes for my book Food Heroes a little while ago for “layout” reasons. And since I had so many strawberries left over from the pie and shortcake I made, I gave this home made fruit leather a whirl. And I’m so glad I did. I may or may not have eaten the entire tray. I may have. I did. You start by dicing up the strawberries into small pieces. Then in a pot they go, with a bit of water. And a squirt of lemon juice. Then you stew them. Next you place some plastic over a sheet tray and brush it with olive oil. Pour the mixture on the plastic covered tray. Like so. And voila!
Inspiration and original craft ideas for weddings, parties, children, such as home decoration, gifts, cards, personal accessories and templates Hazelnut Chocolate Cake Saturday night we had a special dinner with family friends. For one weekend all 8 of us were around before starting vacations and school again; one of is even spending a year studying at Oxford(no, it’s not me; yes, I’m jealous). That called for cake. I had been wanting to make this recipe for a while and wanted to wait until just the right celebration. I actually made this cake for Father’s Day last year and featured it as a guest post on Gena’s blog. Hazelnut Chocolate Cake {Raw/Vegan} Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 0 minutes Ingredients(makes 5 2×3-inch frosted cakes): 2 cups hazelnuts1 cup pitted dates3/4 cup cocoa powder, divided1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup, divided1 medium avocadoCrushed hazelnuts for garnish Method: These took from start to finish about 20 minutes to make, maybe a little more than that because I was distracted.
DIY projects Glitzy Easter Placecards By Ashley Page Norton Easter is right around the around and these egg and nest placecards come together super fast. The supplies are easy to pick up or if you’re like me you probably have most of them on hand – I love pipe cleaners and always have some around! I’m also total sucker for good alphabet stickers so I pick them up whenever I see them, but you could always handwrite the names instead. Click through for materials & instructions… (more…) Loopy Paper Garland by Kathleen Ballos I don’t think there will ever be a shortage of garlands to make for parties! Click through for instructions … (more…) Printable Birthday Pull-Card by Alix Sorrell Did you see Kathleen’s adorable Matchbox birthday card? Click through for instructions… (more…) Jelly Bean Garland Don’t you love the candy selection around Easter time? Click through for instructions … (more…) Pretty Paper Party Horns DIY by Chiara Alberetti Milott Click through for instructions! (more…)
Fruit Rollups I am not one of those people that eat strictly organic, natural, and whole foods. Just check this, this and this. Overall, I am not a very healthy eater. My diet consists of mostly bread, pasta, cheese and sugar. Even though these fruit roll ups cannot be considered healthy I think they can be called healthier. Here is what you'll need. Add the strawberries to the food processor And the sugar Puree Transfer to a sauce pan Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 1 hour Pour the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with a Silpat Spread evenly Bake for about 3 hours and then let dry Cover with parchment paper and then roll Slice as desired and enjoy! Ingredients4½ cups strawberries, halved (about 1½ lbs.) ¾ cup sugar DirectionsCombine strawberries and sugar in a food processor and puree until smooth. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with a nonstick liner, such as a Silpat. Notes: I would do 2 things differently next time: 1) I would spread the puree out more evenly.
DIY Project: Tiered Hanging Pots When you collect as many things as I do, floor and table space can quickly become precious commodities. Having shelves full of plants is just not feasible in the studio, but I was not going to let that stop me from pursuing my dream of building a little greenhouse. If you have an interest in going vertical with your greenery, you could whip up this tiered hanging planter in a day. You just need a tiny bit of scrap wood, some rope and a few basic woodworking tools. The best part — which should have been obvious to me from the start, but being a total gardening novice, it wasn’t — is that the system makes watering a breeze. All the runoff from the previous pot drips into the plants below, so you only need to place a little dish or bucket under the bottom. Read the full how-to after the jump . . . Materials scrap woodjigsawterracotta potsrope3/8″ boring bitpaintbrush and paintdrillplantsmetal ring Instructions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. You’re done!
Cookie Dough Pie It’s a trick actually. There is no cookie dough in this pie at all. Just cookies made so they seem like cookie dough. Magical really. This pie could easily be named 1.2.3. Pie as there are only 3 ingredients, cookies are dipped at a super, quick count of three, and the whole thing takes about three minutes to make. My little niece, Mia ate this and said, “Hey did you put cookie dough in here?” Cookie Dough Pie 15.25 ounce package Chips Ahoy Cookies- Original kind8-12 ounces Cool Whip- I used 8 ounces2 cups milk* Quickly dip cookies in milk, shake off excess liquid, and layer in 9 inch pie plate, breaking cookies to fill any gaps. *Last night I used 1 C. strong coffee mixed with 1 C. milk for dipping instead of plain milk. Note- You must dip quickly or your pie will be very soggy. Can you imagine other cookie combinations? Top photo courtesy of Rob Klause (my brother.) Want another great pie…try this Banana Split Pie- WOW!
How-To So, I’ve been wanting to do another concrete craft ever since I participated in, and WON, the Panduro concrete challenge a few years ago. See my entries to the challenge at the end of this post. Anyway, I had envisaged doing a concrete circle grouping like I showed here, but as the time went by I decided against the idea. I still had some bags of concrete in the garage and was itching to do something fun with them. So I dug them up. My idea was to use this piece of chunky cardboard tube which I’ve saved for a long time to make a house number. So I took my tube and searched online for a font that would both work with the age of the house and would work well with concrete. 2 and 7 tend not to go well together I realized (I think it’s those diagonals again!) I should mention that I’ve have a lot of help on this project by a certain girl. To be continued. While you’re waiting , check out my other concrete crafts: Project 1 + 2: Table weights and outdoor candle holder Project 3: Bookend
Frozen Banana Bites Frozen Banana Bites are coated in healthy things like peanut butter, ground flax seed or trail mix and then dipped in chocolate. A recipe that represents equilibrium: a perfect balance between health and flavor. All the ingredients are healthy. And all the ingredients rank high on flavor, especially when combined! Do you know the saying implying we should avoid “form over function”? We need a little form, don’t you think? I’ve been mulling a new saying lately, health over flavor. And I’ve tipped the scale when I’ve opted for too much flavor. I like it when I can find that perfect balance in a recipe. The inspiration for this one came from my mother-in-law, Diane. I elected to add a little bit of peanut butter to my sliced bananas. And then I started getting creative. Then I got really creative. A few years back in my non vegetarian/non vegan days, I used to love Skittles combined with M&Ms. Ingredients Directions: Place your chocolate in a small saucepan and melt over low heat.