Marshmallow Goodness

The second turkey deep fry in a little over a month…  who knew my life would take this deep frying trajectory?  I’m off to celebrate winter with friends and turkey and was contemplating what little fun something or other to bring and last night it hit me:  Marshmallows.  I forgot how fun they are to whip up.  If you haven’t made them, dust that mixer off and treat yourself.  It is like magic.

The first time I really ever remember being inspired to make marshmallows was a few years ago after reading an article in Bon Appetit (http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/2008/07/cooking_life_fluff_piece).  Soon after the magazine arrived at my door, my very best friend called me up and was so excited that she and her husband had just made these great fluffy and delicious sweets after reading the same article.  I trekked on over and wow… those pillowy clouds of goodness were amazing.  I’m not a huge marshmallow fan, but these were not your average Jet-Puffeds.  I had to try.

There are several recipes out there, but they are all basically the same  - sugar, water, gelatin.  Wikipedia tells me that they used to be made with the gummy extract of Althaea officinalis  (a Marsh Mallow flower indigenous to Africa and similar to the Marsh Mallow we can see here in the states), but these days, gelatin does the trick quite nicely.  They may no longer have the medicinal properties they once had when made with the herb, but take a moment to consider the placebo effect; really, how can such a grand smile-inducer not be good for you?

 I’ve been tempted to kick them up a notch with liquors, but haven’t quite got there yet (I have read that gin instead of the water makes for excellent marshmallows, but something in me just can’t quite do it yet – the originals are just so good all by themselves…  maybe for my next Christmas party).  When you start whipping the hot sugar into the softened gelatin, prepare to be amazed.  The mixture goes from what looks like a mess to a wonderfully satiny soft glossy creaminess.  The whole cooking process, start to finish, takes less than 20 minutes.   Let that mixture stand for a few hours to set up, and voila.  The best marshmallows you will ever have are right there in your own kitchen. 

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup water, divided
• ¾ C sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Nonstick spray or enough veg/conola oil to coat the pan

Directions  

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of warm water.  In a small suacepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Place over medium high heat, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan, and continue to cook without stirring until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F (This doesn't take long, so keep an eye on it!). Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat. 

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the hot sugar down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick- approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping, combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Coat a 13 x 9  dish with oil – or better yet – oil and then coat with oiled parchment paper because they are hard to get out of the dish even with oil. 

When the mixture is ready, pour the yummy goodness into the oiled pan.  Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered until they don’t stick to your finger when touched (a good 4 hours (maybe less) would do).

Turn the marshmallows out onto a corn starch/powdered sugar mixture coated cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture (or an oiled pizza wheel works nicely too - or simply use a sharp knife oiled or dusted). Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional dusting powder if necessary.  Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks or freeze for a few months.  Really, just eat them immediately and you'll be happy.

Enjoy.

Go for the Food

Snow is falling here just outside of Boston.  Looking at the potential for lots of snow between here and home and so instead of leaving today as planned, I have postponed my departure.   Driving home in blizzard conditions does not sound like fun.  It is snowing with purpose now and so now that I’ve embraced my belated departure, I’m looking forward to the accumulation.   Tea in hand, I’m all cozied up and ready for it.  Not sure what the fridge has in store for us for food for the next 2 days or so, but I have my San Francisco food memories to keep me somewhat sated.

Busy with the conference, we were happy to punctuate our meetings in SF with forays into the foodie world.  For breakfast, I particularly enjoyed the Creperie at Saint Germain on 222 Second Street – a cute blue and white moveable truck on an intersection close to both our hotel and the conference center.  The people were cheerful and made an awesome crepe – I had three of them over the course of the week…   cheese and egg; cheese, egg, and ham; and cheese, egg, and mushrooms.  So tender and perfect for breakfast – lunch was often not even necessary.  They are big and delicious and made for an excellent start to the day.  Mel’s Diner was frequented by others in our group for breakfast and apparently has the best corned beef hash anywhere and I can vouch for the potatoes and eggs being great.  Fresh juice complimented the meals there. 

Every meal was an adventure… from Kate O’Brien’s pub that had great fish tacos (though I must admit, the chicken pot-pie had mixed reviews) to the high-end La Mar on Pier 1 ½ where they served the most excellent Peruvian civiche (or cebiche as they would say) and fabulous pomegranate lemon mint coctails….   Eating out in SF was a delight.  Beer was $3-$5 and we all had lots of them at many different places.  Even random holes in the walls were inviting and friendly.  Fantastic samosas and curries were served at Mehfil Indian Cuisine on Folsom St, and Spanish tapas were abundant and tasty at the noisy Thirsty Bull.  We splurged for homemade fried pork rinds there and they were mmm so good.  Some of the beers here were a bit of a disappointment, but the Sangria was very satisfying.

We spent a day in Sonoma and didn’t have too much time to explore, but we did eat at The Girl and the Fig and had excellent cheese plates and pork shanks.  We also ate at the Harvest Moon Café which had the best atmosphere and some really awesome fresh and local food. The menu changes daily based on what is available, the waitstaff is excellent, and I highly recommend it.  We had a lunch there at the Sunflower Caffe where I had incredibly complicated and intense coffee to accompany my rich curried squash soup which was all served with fresh bread and butter.   Food everywhere all week was outstanding.

Here with a kitchen not fully stocked, all this talk of food is making me hungry.  I know there are Raman Noodles in there because it is my Brother’s Kitchen, but I’m not sure I’m up for it.  We also have leftover Moroccan from our Christmas dinner last night…   might be right up my alley.  It is amazing what one can do with chickpeas.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and are hunkered down for the snowstorm or are enjoying the weather wherever you are.  I’m looking forward to seeing 1-2 feet of snow even if I wasn’t quite prepared for it….    

Happy and un-hungry holidays to one and all.

DELTA Rant

Delta Rant. 

I am Finally in an exit row of a Boeing 737 looking out the window down at clouds, clouds, and more clouds from my 20,000-feet-up vantage point:  a mere 700 or so miles from my final destination.  This San Francisco trip is now indelibly emblazoned on my psyche.  An ill-fated venture from the inception, the AGU conference, was surely not the highlight of this adventure.  I doubt I will ever attend another AGU gig – at least not one in San Francisco a week before Christmas.  I’m woefully behind on everything and now my beleaguered flight back has me increasingly in the hole.  Focus for Posting:   Delta Sucks Big Piles of Monkey Dung.  Side note:  I do concede the weather and random customer crap had much to do with my crappy trips, but still…. I keep the Delta Rant title for this post.  Noted.

I am almost at a loss for where to even take my musings.  There is so much…  I will spare you the flight out there for the most part only because it would fill a volume if I went into the crazy details of it ALL, but I suppose the story starts there.  When things were still fresh last Monday, I vented a great deal about it to and with my friends and colleagues, and so my vehement agitation has mostly dissipated in its specificity…   the overall ugly purple aura remains, however, like toxic fumes left over from burning trash in a barrel and only intensifies with this follow-up trip back home.

My first flight last week was cancelled and so instead of having a lovely seat, I got stuck one row from the back in the noisy treachery of the unwashed masses.  And by unwashed masses, I mean Diana.  I will not divulge her full name or where she lives or the names of everyone around me (as by the end of the flight, Diana had pulled every little bit of information out about everyone ad nauseum), but suffice it to say, Diana will live on in infamy.   I made my way to the window seat, irritating this woman on the aisle who wanted me to step over her as she babbled on about being scared to fly and what was my name and oh great to have a seat mate sort of talk.  I cringed.  Probably visibly.  This is not the plane partner I seek.  My reaction was guttural and appropriate.  I’m the kind of person who hunkers down on the plane, pops the headphones in, and opens a good book.  Dive Dive!!!  This was not to my liking at all.  And it only got worse.  Her fake fur coat and all of her skeletal belongings reeked of smoke and alcohol.  She was drunk and grievously unhealthily coughing and complaining of lung cancer or pneumonia depending on the hour.  Thankfully, the 7AM crew only gave her 3 vodkas before they cut her off….   I cannot put into words how awful that flight was.  The incessant inappropriate blather and offensive probing had us all exhausted, unhappy, and in need of spa services.   We were on the plane with her for 6 hours (stuck on tarmac for 1.5 on overbooked flight to SLC).     This was the start of my trip.  I smelled like a smoke-filled bar by the time I got off that flight and desperately needed a shower.  Step one.  Diana done.  The second leg of that trip was a delight in comparison… I think I was so traumatized that I don’t remember much after that until arriving in SF.  

San Francisco itself was DELICIOUS.  Food was awesome.   I will not taint that thought with the craziness of flying vent, and so stay tuned for a much more enjoyable posting after this one.

Flight Back.  Started yesterday.   Arrived at SFO to find big lines and angry people.  At the time of hotel departure, the flight was still on time and all was well.  We got there a little over an hour early only to get to check in line and have a woman trying to get to Paris cut in in a most rude way.  She was cancelled and not getting out for 2 more days (had she seen the news about Europe?? je dis, non).  She had lips that will never decompose.  I took small comfort in that.  We were told we were probably going to miss our connection and that the computer had re-routed us, but that we wouldn’t know for sure that we would miss connection unless we actually flew because everything was delayed.  Sigh.  OK…  so 2.5 hour delay later, we were faced with SFO=>SLC=>PHX=>ATL=>PHL.  We tried desperately to do better… at one point, someone proposed even a connection through Bermuda…  This actually appealed to me.   

Salt Lake City found us working with a few women at the Delta Club who apparently were just as sick of things as we were.  One in particular was woefully rude and not terribly ‘with’ it.  A bad combination, for sure.  I have gold status and my travelling companions thankfully are platinum and so ultimately we got a couple of over-night vouchers out of it, but we had to fight for those and me with my lowly gold status was out of luck.  We stayed in SLC after opting out of the chaos of all night flights through 5 airports and we were lucky enough to procure a few overnight bags from delta with tooth brushes and old spice deodorants and such.  Apparently, only men are expected to need these.   Finally on this flight.  hooray!!

After the scarring of yesterday, I feel lucky the flight left this morning… the pretty bits of snow and the de-icing had me worried, but here I am almost back to Philly over a day later.  Next up:  Rush hour.  Wish me luck.

All in all it has not been a good experience flying the friendly skies this trip…   not one little bit.

Post Script.    Made it home!   And I send send send this little beaut.   Hopefully I will be back soon with the good parts (yum).    My thoughts are with those poor souls still stuck around the country due to the craziness that is our weather…   California is a big soggy mess.  I can vouch for that as I sit on my nice happy rain-free couch with chicken braising in the oven.  I am glad to be out of the state and home safe and sound in mine.   Be well!   More soon.

L.E.S.S.

It seems almost all the people around me are experiencing holiday stress.  Me included.  What happened to those carefree childhood years when the biggest worry was if it would be a white Christmas or how quickly the end of vacation would come?   As we grow older and the responsibilities grow larger, so do the expectations and often the self-imposed challenges.  This year my close family has decided to go back to a ‘stockings-only’ philosophy and I embrace that whole-heartedly.

Even with little stocking stuffers I can show the people I love that I’m thinking of them specifically and can individualize each stocking appropriately.  It doesn’t take a huge drain on my bank account to tell and show people I love them.  I remember one childhood Christmas when only hand-made gifts were allowed.  I don’t want to go that far (I tried one year in a former life and was insanely busy for months before Christmas), but I do support the less is more philosophy.  

I’m not up on all of my psychology research, but I do know that scientists in Britain and Israel have studied the genetic disposition for happiness and have independently concluded that about 50% of your happiness is genetically determined.  And even when something horrible happens or something great happens, we tend to find our own baseline happiness again on average in about 2 years.  I find these figures oddly comforting…   mostly because I think my baseline happy is not too bad.    I also find it comforting that I can control the other 50% and that I can choose to make efforts to improve my contentedness.

I have to admit, I just read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, and while I think she is completely an over-achiever and has crazy amounts of unrealistic energy, she also has some very good points.   I am constantly in search of a happier me, too.  Not that I’m über unhappy, mind you, because I’m not, but I certainly could use some tweaking.    

As I move into the holiday season with all of its concomitant craziness, it will be good to be mindful of how sometimes less is more and that the nows are just as important as the impending thens.  The smell of cookies wafts from the kitchen.  Music is playing.  Lights are twinkling. Snow is threatening.  Red wine is nosing from my glass.  I think I can at least catch glimpses of the center I’ve been seeking… now if only I can hang onto that through the next couple of weeks I’ll be doing something.