Homemade Marshmallows

These were so easy to make.  When you read the post, she makes it sound so hard, but I didn’t have any problems at all.  So I am going to repost the recipe here and interject my comments.

Springy, Fluffy Marshmallows
Adapted from Gourmet, December 1998

Makes about 96 1-inch cubed marshmallows (If you can cut them that small.  I couldn’t, so mine were much, much larger.)

About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin (I used 3 envelopes and it worked fine)
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla (alternately: 1/2 of a scraped vanilla bean, 2 teaspoons almond or mint extract or maybe even some food coloring for tinting)

(I got all my ingredients measured out and ready to go so I wasn’t scrambling)

Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.

In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften. (I used my big mixer – Bosch - for this part.  I have a smaller hand mixer, and I used it later so that I wasn’t washing bowls and beaters mid recipe.)

In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

With standing or a hand-held electric mixer (again, I used my big mixer) beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer. (Some reviewers felt this took even longer with a hand mixer, but still eventually whipped up nicely.)

(While the big mixer is going, do this next part.) In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters (I used my hand mixer here) beat egg whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks.

Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined. (I poured the sugar/gelatin mixture into the egg whites and mixed together.  Make sure your bowl is big enough to do this.) Pour mixture into baking pan and don’t fret if you don’t get it all out. Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.

Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. (An oiled pizza cutter works well here too.) (Skip the oil, just use cold water.  Run the pizza cutter under the cold water, then shake off the excess water.  You can cut 2-3 rows before you will need to run it under the water again.) Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away. (I put the powdered sugar into a Ziploc bag and shook the marshmallows in batches.  Much cleaner for me!)

So that’s it!  Cleanup was a breeze, just lots of hot water!  I am going to make them again, and instead of hardening them, I am going to add melted butter and pour them right onto rice krispies to make treats!  So much fun!  If you do this, I would love to hear how it worked out for you.

I have been so awful at blogging for several months now.  But I have had several things happen that have made me question why I am putting so much of myself out there for everyone to judge and criticize.  I don’t need that.  I am totally content with who I am and the choices I am making with my life.  I don’t know why I am saying this because I will get criticized for saying it.  But I am who I am.  And if people don’t like it, I don’t want to hear about it. 

Love is spelled T - I - M - E.

We need to let our children have a childhood.  Don’t let them grow up too fast!

http://memoriesoncloverlane.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-about-our-girls-childhood-cut.html

A teacher's attitude is not taught, it's caught.

I know I have blogged about this before, but I have to mention it again, just because it is so wonderful!

They (meaning whoever is in charge of these kinds of things) have taken out all of the phosphates out of the dishwasher soap.  And it’s awful! It leaves white film on everything!  But I have the solution.

Put TSP in your with your dishwasher soap.  1 teaspoon with each load.  I just put the tsp in first, then fill the cup with soap.  It works wonders!  No more film, and the dishes come out perfect.  You can use vinegar too, but it’s not as easy. 

Rationalization is one of Satan's special tools.

Today’s links are to blog posts that I love and have made me think.  I hope you enjoy them too.

I Know Where Susan’s Going to Be

E Ticket

The Benefits of Ticking People Off

Keep Marching

The Joy of Lent for Mormons

Choose the right, even when it's possible to get away with choosing the wrong.

Phony.

Judgmental.

Hypocritical.

Why is it that so often we can be the opposite of what our church teaches? That’s not how it is supposed to be. Church is supposed to be the place where we don’t have to pretend that we’ve got it all together, that we don’t have any problems. A place where we can be who we really are and not feel judged.

Take 30 seconds and think: Who have I judged?

I am just as guilty of this as anyone else. I am not perfect.  I am trying to better myself.  I resolve to try harder to be more accepting and understanding.  I beg of you to do the same.  We don’t know what is going on in the lives of others.  We don’t know the struggles and trials that they are facing. 

We need to stand together as sisters.  We need to be supportive.  We need to be understanding. 

Please.

I thought it would be fun to share some cleaning tips with you.  It won’t be regular, but I have some pretty good tips, I think.

So, tip #1.

Do your dishcloths smell?  For years, I have been putting baking soda in my washer.  1 cup per load.  And that has worked, for the most part.  But it was starting to not work.  I would get them out of the drawer and as soon as I got them wet, they would stink again.  And then your hands stink.  Ewww.

But since I discovered my newest tip, my dishcloths have never smelt so good.  I pull them out and get them wet and smell them and I have a big smile on my face!  They smell so fresh and, well, clean!  I love to smell them!

So what’s the tip? 

I put a bucket under my kitchen sink full of water, with 1 cup of vinegar in it.  And every night, after the dishes are done and the kitchen is cleaned up, my dishcloth (and my scrubber) go into the bucket, and new ones are pulled out for the next day. 

And then on laundry day, when I wash the rags and towels, I take the bucket and dump everything, including the water/vinegar, into the washer along with the detergent.  I then rinse out the bucket and fill it with fresh water and vinegar and put it back under the sink. 

I have never been so happy!  I know it’s a silly thing to be so happy about, but it’s the little things that make me happy.