Do marshmallows quality has an ancient delicacy? Hard to believe that the stale little things found in a box of Lucky Charms were once only created for ancient royalty and gods. The roots of the marshmallow plant were harvested and turned into medicine. It was much later that the roots were boiled and turned into a gummy confection.

When I think of marshmallow’s contribution to my life I think of Easter Peeps and chocolate covered marshmallows shaped like eggs. The marshmallow made a come back a few years back when Oprah listed these fudge dipped marshmallows in O magazine as one of her favorite things.

Without having ever thought about it, marshmallows are made with gelatin, which means that if you’re a Vegetarian or Vegan, you’ll have to shop around for all no animal product marshmallows heck, if you keep a Kosher diet you’ll also have to pay attention to these little fluffy guys. Who knew there was so much to consider with a little marshmallow!

If you want to tour a marshmallow factory and you’re in Las Vegas, hit the road East for 20 minutes to Henderson and you can tour the Favorite Brands Marshmallow Factory.

There was several recipes I was considering when making marshmallows, but I went with a simple recipe that had been reviewed on Cooking for Engineers by Thomas Keller of the French Laundry. I followed the C4E recipe to a T (including the decision to boil the candy to the Hard Ball stage).

As the marshmallows mix, they will begin to fluff. I mixed mine for 8 minutes and by that time I was getting the consistency I was looking for.

One thing I wasn’t ready for is how sticky the mixture was. I found myself in a catch 22 when pouring it out. Everything I touched became sticky and everything that touched me was sticky. This is one recipe that you’ll need someone around to help you pour and scrape the bowl.

After I allowed them to sit for a day, I took them out of the pan, cut them with a pizza slicer and tossed them in powered sugar. The vanilla taste is so much more pronounced in these homemade marshmallows than I’ve ever experienced in store purchased ones. And besides the days wait, the recipe was really quite easy to follow and the results were spectacular.

I didn’t grow up baking. I grew up making candy. I know of the scale of time, talent and patience; Candy takes the cake? But that’s how it was. My mom making pralines, my grandmother making divinity and fudge and my job was making the peanut brittle.I was 12 or 13, and that was 16 or 17 years ago, when a revelation was made in our candy making world, Microwavable Peanut Brittle.

There was a lot of excitement in the kitchen that year. Here was a candy recipe that didn’t require constant attention; it didn’t require a thermometer, just a wooden spoon and Pyrex. My mom’s original recipe card says it’s from B. Hill. I don’t know who that is, but she was Betty Crocker for us that year.

The trick to this recipe is that you don’t do a lot to it while it’s being nuked. Just leave the wooden spoon the dish while it’s cooking. Make sure you choose a spoon that will fit in your microwave and because the candy is pretty harsh on the spoon, you might as well just dedicate it to this recipe and use it each time you make it.The brittle has such a great buttery flavor (see the glean on the picture) and it’s just the right combination of firm on the outside and gets slightly softer in the middle. 

Microwave Peanut Brittle

1 cup sugar
1 cup raw spanish peanuts
Dash of salt
1/2 cup white Karo Syrup
1 T. margarine
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda

Mix syrup, salt, peanuts and sugar with wooden spoon in a 1 3/4 quart size Pyrex
Put in microwave for 8 minutes, turning four times.
LEAVE SPOON IN THE PYREX. DONT STIR IT EITHER.
Take out of the microwave and add the margarine and vanilla.
Put back in the microwave for 2 additional minutes.
DO NOT STIR.
Take out and mix in the  baking soda.
Quickly pour mixture out onto a greased cookie sheet.
Cool 30 minutes.

“You’re Daddy and I have been sick all week and I haven’t had a chance to much of anything.” That’s part of a conversation my Mom and I had this week while I was planning my trip back home for Christmas. I really didn’t understand the ramifications until I got home. Everything looked normal.

Christmas decorations were all set, a fire was burning and the stockings were all hung with care. What did she mean, “We haven’t done much of anything.”

Then I noticed it. I started investigating the cookie jars and they were almost all empty. Most notably, there were no pralines. Now, I know this might not be show stopping for most of you, but in my house pralines are an integral part of the Holiday.

My super sweet Mom, looked at me and said, “I’m making a batch today.” Yay!

This morning, my Mom and I had coffee and pralines for breakfast. It was awesome.

Pralines

Makes 3 dozen

1 t baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups sugar
2 T light corn syrup
1 stick margarine
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans

Combine all ingredients except vanilla, pecans and baking soda and buttermilk in a Dutch oven.
Disolve soda in the buttermilk and add to mixture on stove top.
Heat mixture to 240 degrees stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and add pecans and vanilla.
Beat until creamy. Drop from a spoon onto wax paper.

Fa-la-la-la! Do you think there is such a thing as Christmas Song Attention Deficit Disorder? Baking away today I’d find myself singing one song and before I knew it I was on a totally different song.

But it’s not a bad thing to have happy songs running through your head. For two days in a row we (in Phoenix) had temperatures that were in the 60s. It’s Holiday-time Folks! Yippee!

Peppermint was the flavor of the day.

Peppermint Mocha Bark

Crushed candy canes, to yield 1 cup
1 pounds semi-sweet chocolate
Peppermint flavorings, optional

Place candy canes in a plastic bag and hammer into 1/4-inch chunks or smaller. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Combine candy cane chunks with chocolate (add peppermint flavoring at this point if desired.) Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet layered with parchment or waxed paper and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes or until firm. Remove from cookie sheet and break into pieces (like peanut brittle.)

To make the Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes I made a mocha cake recipe from Hey There Cupcake, used a white frosting and placed a piece of bark on each cupcake.