Where I make Marshmallows

Marshmallows. Light, fluffy puffs of sugar. Make your own, its totally worth it. They taste nothing like store bought. P.S I roasted my first one today. O.M.G. utter bliss.

Now, it is a messy process. The marshmallow fluff is sticky and transfers easily (but dissolves quickly in water, so don't worry!). And when you cut it up the powdered sugar will get everywhere (make sure you wear an apron). But in the end the are delicious. S'mores, in hot chocolate, or just on their own they are a treat.

Ingredients:

3 envelopes gelatin
1 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Powdered sugar

Special Equipment:

Candy thermometer
Stand Mixer
Kitchen Shears


Sprinkle the 3 envelopes of gelatin over 1/2 cup on water in the bowl of the stand mixer.

Place the remaining 1/2 c water, 1 cup corn syrup, 1 1/2 cup sugar, and the salt in a pot over medium heat. Mix to combine. Once the sugar has dissolved place the candy thermometer into the mixture. Do not stir the mixture once it is heating.

Heat the mixture until it reaches 240 or the softball stage. Once it reaches softball, start the stand mixture. With the whisk attachment running on low add the sugar syrup. Once it has been added turn the mixer to high and whip the fluff for about 10 minutes. At the 9 minute mark add the vanilla.

 While the sugar syrup is mixing prepare a 12x9 inch pan. Coat the pan in cooking spray and then sprinkle powdered sugar over the pan, tapping to cover the entire pan.

After 10 minutes of mixing pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Spread quickly as it will be very sticky.

Let the mixture cool 12 hours to overnight. It will firm up and become less sticky.  After 12 hours you can cut the mixture up into individual marshmallows.The only thing I have found that works is kitchen shears. I find that about every other row I have to wash them off again.

Coat each individual marshmallow in powdered sugar. You could use a mixture of corn starch and powdered sugar but I find I don't like the taste of the corn starch so I used straight powdered sugar.

And voila! you have light and fluffy vanilla marshmallows.

If you wanted other flavors you could substitute those extracts for the vanilla. I've done orange and mint marshmallows before with good success.

Where I make my own drink coasters

One of the first things I found on Pinterest that I really loved was this coaster tutorial.  Once I move I want to stock my condo with stuff I really like, not just stuff I buy, so this project sounded perfect. Plus, it was an easy first step into crafting.

I bought most of the supplies weeks ago, but was still looking for the "perfect" paper to use on the coasters. To tell the truth I really wanted paper with owls on it, but since I hadn't found any I decided to just find four that I thought were fun and go from there.

I bought the tiles at Menards for $0.11 cents each. They were the 4 1/2 by 4 1/2 cheapest tiles they had. I ended up buying four sheets of card stock at JoAnn Fabrics at $0.25 cents each.  You can see two of the papers below.

 So, as part as my "catch up on my Tivo" morning, I pulled all of my supplies out.

I used:

8  4 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch white ceramic tiles
4 Sheets of card stock
1 2 inch foam brush (the 3 inch is shown in the picture but I changed part way through
Mod Podge
Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel
Scissors (my craft scalpel thing is shown but I used scissors to cut the paper).
Felt pads (not shown)

I decided to let the edge of the tile show around the edge of the paper, so I cut the squares just slightly smaller than the tiles. The card paper I choose had a grid on the back so I followed that (8 squares if you end up using the same kind).

I applied one coat of Mod Podge to tiles and then placed the paper on. Allow to dry for about 15 minutes. Apply a second and third coat allowing 15 minutes in between each time.  I did notice some bubbles underneath the paper. I tried to smooth them out but some of them persisted. However, they still looked ok so I kept going.

Here you can see the other two card stock papers I choose.

After the mod podge has dried, take to a well ventilated area (I choose my front porch) and apply a layer of the Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel.

I applied two coats, leaving about 15-20 minutes inbetween.  Finally, I added the felt pads to the bottom so they won't scratch!

So, here is the final product! They are still drying/setting so I don't know how long they will last but I think they look great and I'm excited to have them in my new place. And I also have about 20 more tiles (I bought in bulk!) so I can try with other papers and as possible x-mas presents!