Homemade Peppermint Marshmallows [Re-post]

Homemade Peppermint Marshmallows

3/4 cup water

4 packets Knox gelatin

3 cups sugar

3/4 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup light karo syrup

1 Tbsp peppermint extract (optional)

powdered sugar (for cutting)

'Tis the season for hot chocolate! Three years ago I got pretty ambitious on the holiday treats I made for our friends and neighbors. I'll admit I was slightly intimidated at first, but these really were pretty simple to make. A little messy, but nothing that doesn't clean up in 5 minutes with a sponge. Initial prep time is 30 minutes. Then the mallows must sit for 10-12 hours before cutting. Final prep is another 30 minutes. This makes 48 - 60 mallows, depending on how large you cut them. Yummy when added to hot cocoa!

Credit to Morgan at http://morganmoore.typepad.com/one_more_moore/ for inspiring me to try these. :)

If you're interested, here are step by step instructions and photos I put together.

1) Place 3/4 cup water and 4 envelopes Knox Gelatin in mixer bowl to "bloom."

2) Affix splash guard to mixer bowl so it will be ready when you add the hot syrup.

3) Mix 3 Cups Sugar, 3/4 cup water, 1/2 tsp Salt and 1 1/4 Cups Karo Syrup in a medium sauce pan.

4) Bring to boil with lid on and NOT stirring.

5) Once boiling, remove lid and continue to boil until syrup reaches soft ball stage (234 - 240 degrees). Do not stir.

6) With mixer on medium speed (and already containing gelatin/water mixture), add hot syrup. Then increase speed to High.

7) Mix on High for 8-10 minutes until stiff peaks form.
8) Add flavoring at the end so you can adjust to your taste. I added 1 Tbs Peppermint extract. You may also use vanilla if you don't like mint.

9) Pour hot mixture into a 9 x 13 pan, lined with parchment paper that has been sprayed with vegetable oil.

10) If desired, add red food coloring. I used 8 or 9 drops and spread around with a toothpick.

11) Let mallows sit uncovered at room temperature for 10-12 hours.

12) After 10-12 hours, dust a piece of parchment paper or cookie tray with confectioner's sugar. Invert mallows onto dusted sheet and peel away parchment paper. Sift sugar onto the surface you just uncovered.

13) Slice mallows with a pizza cutter (it's helpful to continually dust the pizza cutter with confectioner's sugar. 14) With each new cut edge, roll each side of the mallows in confectioner's sugar. 15) Dust off excess sugar before plating or packaging.

Voila!

We ended up doing one peppermint batch and one vanilla batch. Here they are, ready for delivery!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Vegetable Barley Soup

This soup is soup-er easy. It's a great last-minute meal, because I tend you have all of these ingredients on hand.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
1 medium potato, diced
1 can corn (or frozen)
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles (with juices)
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup barley
salt and pepper to taste

Saute veggies in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add corn, tomatoes, broth and barley. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes until potatoes and barley are cooked. Salt and pepper to taste. The green chiles in the diced tomatoes give it a nice kick if you like a little spice.

Jimmie grilled a small steak, diced it up and quickly made it a Beef, Barley & Veggie soup. Yum.

Serve with homemade foccacia.

Chewy Carmel Corn

Carmel corn takes me back to my childhood. It seems like we made it every Halloween. Until last week, I hadn't made it in about 15 years. Now I remember what I've been missing!

Chewy Carmel Corn

1 cup unpopped popcorn

Pop popcorn -- I use a hot air popper

Place popcorn in the oven to keep it warm while making carmel.

In a medium sauce pan combine:

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup light karo syrup

2/3 cup fat free sweetened condensed milk

1 cup brown sugar

Cook on med/high heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat at 234 degrees. This is before the soft ball temp and keeps it chewy. If you let it go above 240 it will be more crunchy.

Add 1 tsp vanilla and stir.

Pour over popcorn and turn until mixed.

To make popcorn balls, put some butter on your hands to keep from sticking.

My favorite method is to put a sandwich bag over each hand, then rub a little butter on both bags. When I'm done I toss the bags in the garbage and my hands aren't sticky.

Wrap popcorn balls individually in saran wrap to keep them fresh.

Red Chicken Chili

Yum! Two chicken chilis in one week! This one is very different than the first. Here's what you need:

Red Chicken Chili

Saute:

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

Add:

1 can chicken broth

1 can chicken breast

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can white northern (or canellini) beans

1 can diced green chiles

1 jar (16 oz) green salsa

1 can corn (I used frozen)

Bring to a simmer until throughly heated. Garnish with cilantro and corn tortilla chips. This was about 5 minutes of effort and has a fantastic taste. Love it.

White Chicken Chili

Jimmie is telling everyone he 'took second place' at the annual church chili cookoff yesterday. They announced a winner (which was neither of us), but no second or third place awards were given. We both made a pot of chili - mine was white chicken chili; his was black bean elk chili.

All I'm going to say about our little competition is a) he went around telling everyone which was his chili, then asking them which one they liked best; b) every last drop of mine was eaten, while his had leftover; c) several people have asked for MY recipe. The defense submits the above to the jury for deliberation. :) We're not competitive. at all.

White Chicken Chili

8 cups [cooked] white northern beans (or 5 cans)
2 (4 oz) cans diced green chiles
3 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced

Cook and drain the beans ahead of time. I put 2 lbs of white northern beans in the crockpot on high for about 2.5 hours.

Cook and shred chicken breast. This can also be done ahead of time and refrigerated.

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil. Combine all ingredients to crock pot and heat on low for 3-4 hours. Add salt to taste.

For thicker and creamier chili, place 3 or 4 cups of the beans in a blender and puree.

Garnish with shredded cheese and tortilla chips (optional).

Cranberry Cornbread

I've been adding cranberries to everything lately. So, naturally, when it came time to make cornbread for the annual chili cookoff, I decided to make a sweet bread and add cranberries. It turned out pretty great.

Cranberry Cornbread

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2 cups flour
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups plain greek yogurt
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can creamed corn
1 cup dried cranberries

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add/combine yogurt, milk, melted butter and creamed corn.

Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Fold in dried cranberries.

Bake in a greased 9x13 pan at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, or until golden brown on edges.

Cran-Apple Walnut Crisp

There's a freeze warning tonight. We've turned the heater on. Fall is officially here. I had 6 'not-so-crunchy-anymore' apples in the fridge....and an idea. Here's my new spin on an old favorite.

Cran-Apple Walnut Crisp
preheat oven to 350

6 small apples, sliced thinly (skin on!)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

*Mix ingredients and toss with apples. Place in an 8x8 casserole dish.

1/4 cup steel cut oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter, melted

*Combine ingredients and sprinkle on top of apple mixture.
*Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

These iPhone pictures don't do it justice.

Nutty, Crunchy, Apple-y goodness!