So…I seem to have this love of food on “sticks”

Ingredients:

• 1 bag large marshmallows
• 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 package cinnamon or honey graham crackers (about 9 long/large crackers) Or any kind of biscuits.
• lollipop sticks or wooden sticks

How?:

Begin by twisting the lollipop sticks until they are securely in the middle of the marshmallows.  (Insert them on the flat, not rounded, side of the marshmallows.  Then push them in until they almost pop through.)  Then place the graham crackers in a strong ziplock bag, and use a rolling pin (or whatever you’d like) to crush them until they are finely ground.  Then place them in a small bowl.

Then heat the chocolate chips in a double-boiler or (carefully!) in the microwave until they are melted and somewhat runny.

While holding the stick, carefully dip a marshmallow in the chocolate mixture until completely covered.  Then gently roll the sides and top of the marshmallow in the graham cracker crumbs until they are well-coated.  Place on a plate or on wax paper to let cool and dry.  Repeat with remaining marshmallows.

Natalie’s 4th birthday party theme was camping.  She wanted a hammock birthday cake (I will post this on another day) and the invitations I made had a cute saying about smores.  She loves smores over the campfire!  But who doesn’t.  So I thought I would try and find a smores recipe that didn’t require the use of a fire since it is December.

I found this recipe here: http://www.cookie-recipe-club.com/smores-cookie-bars.html

I actually doubled the recipe because I was afraid 16 bars wouldn’t be enough.  It probably would have been but then I wouldn’t have left over for me!

Everyone loved them!  Except Natalie wouldn’t even try one.  Not sure why.  Maybe it was because she was overwhelmed with her party or because she didn’t get to roast the marshmallow over the fire.

Oh and this photo is courtesy of my dad.  My parents were here helping me get the party set up (and to spend time with Nat).  He took the picture with his new canon camera and I thought I would use it.

A quick and easy cookie recipe that doesn’t require a lot of time or ingredients. Note: If you like your cookies a little more on the soft and chewy side, then you might want to alter this recipe a little by adding more butter or using all brown sugar instead of half brown and half white.

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted Butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1tsp vanilla essence

2 Eggs

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup chocolate chips (or any kind of chocolate bits you have in the cupboard. I used chocolate seeds)

1/4 cup soft marshmallows (cut into small pieces)

1/4 cup crushed nuts (of your choice)

Method:

1.Preheat oven to 175 Degrees Celcius. In a bowl, mix in flour, baking powder and salt together.  Stir to combine.

2. In another larger bowl, combine butter and sugars and cream with a beater until light and fluffy.

3.  Add eggs in, one at a time, and whisking until well mixed

4.  Add in the vanilla essence

5.  Slowly stir in flour mixture, making sure to mix well.

6. Fold in the chocolate chips, nuts and marshmallows until well coated.

7.Line a cookie tray with baking paper and using two table spoons (or an ice cream scoop), drop balls of the cookie dough onto the baking sheet, making sure to leave space in between for the cookies to spread while in the oven.

8. Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes or until browned.

9. Take out and leave to cool. Then eat and enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkXrAuR951c

I feel like I can’t say it enough so I will say it again.  I LOVE the New Kids on The Block.  All of my Burning Questions are blogged out of love for them and the fact that they have a sense of humor about their old videos.  I would NEVER say anything to actually make fun of the New Kids in a derogatory way.  Please don’t hate me.  Especially this video.  It’s basically my favorite HomeBoy’s solo and these five guys truly changed the face of music.  They pioneered a new genre. 

1.  Again Donnie, the pants.  Dance belt?  There is a little girl on stage for heaven’s sake! 

2.  Speaking of that adorable little girl, I want to know how badly that little girl, now an adult, is trying to reach the New Kids and benefit from being Donnie’s original Cover Girl.  A part of me wishes she was the mother of Edub’s Cover Girl from the Houston webcast this summer. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6EWdA3l34Q

3.  Thank you Jon for embracing color in this video.  Without your awesomely orange shirt the only color any of you were wearing was in the giant smiley face on Joey’s shirt. 

3.  BASS.  I don’t know who the man playing the bass is but I love him!  He rocked it out and distracted people from Donnie grinding on the other guitar player in the background while the four remaining New Kids performed over the back flips and some very intense double high fives.

4.  Back to Donnie’s pants.  (I find that a good way to start any statement about to come out of my mouth.)  I believe this was one of the first glimpses of the Marshmallow.  Very nice.  I appreciate it every single time.

5.  As always:  Nice shirt Danny.  The roses are extremely manly.  I’m still sad that the muscles were all covered up though.

                     I love the idea that Verve (and also Six Degrees among a few) tinker with vintage, nostalgic legendary sounds pasting it to new, hard driving bass lines or soft and quick snares that seem to frolic over trumpets, and wild piano riffs. The result is a shockingly pleasant auditory journey, which also does the trick of getting the young folk to appreciate legendary music through the language of modern instrumentals. Really though-Imagine if you will , Louis Armstrong for example singing to a De-Phazz instrumental? I understand there are those who value the timelessness of the “classic sound” created by greats such as Bing Crosby and Billie Holiday, but one must admit- the funky fusion cleans up nice when played. If you do not like the modern twist, that is okay- you dont have to indulge yourself in it, but if you are interested, it is most worth your time. I assure you, you will never look at Christmas songs in the same way after this, nor will the vintage legends of jazz lost your respect. Their music is relived thorough hip remixes that don’t stray too far from the past. (Also, “Merry Mixmas” and “Christmas Remixed” offer remixed and reworked Christmas music.)

I was in a unique boutique called Heliotrope looking at the dainty ornaments and uniquely humorous but cute coasters (i.e. “All I want for Xmas is to look like I do yoga” one of their more PG ones) when suddenly I heard what sounded like a classic jazz song with strong electronica influences. I went to investigate and surely enough, it was a Verve remix compilation. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Verve remixed, it is music thats samples classic jazz music, from Duke Ellington and Blossom Dearie, to Willie Bobo and Astrud Gilberto. The result is a smooth, and eclectic modern twist on a delicate old tune. So anyway, the song I was then enamored with was “The Christmas Song” by Mr. Mel Torme. I couldn’t gt the silken and catchy tune out of my head, and decided I needed to have this Cd, now. I researched Verve’s Christmas track list on Amazon, and thmore I heard, the more I drooled.. Wow, Ella Fitzgerald’s honey like voice gripping to trip-hop beats? Amazing..(And to think, I once hated the cheesy sound of predictable Christmas music, that uses the same cheesy sound effects to create a sense of naturalism.)

Verve has also compiled other, non holiday CD’s. I should’ve expected greatness, because I  do own their previous remixes! Here are the links to the page.On a scale from 1 to 5, I give it a 6 out of 5! Thank me later! 

 http://www.amazon.com/Verve-Remixed-Christmas-Various/dp/B001EOQTRY (<–Verve)

http://www.amazon.com/Merry-Mixmas-Various-Artists/dp/B000B66PR0/ref=pd_sim_m_5 (<–Merry Mixmas)

http://www.amazon.com/Six-Degrees-Collection-Christmas-Re-Grooved/dp/B0000DC3TL/ref=pd_sim_m_5 (<– Six Degrees)

Last week was my friend Rebekah’s birthday. Since I was working that day and until midnight the night before I was trying to think of something to bring over with me that evening that was quick and yummy. One option was the choco-hoto-pots that Caroline posted but I figured I would make something new that hadn’t been posted yet.

I got this recipe from Caroline and she grabbed it from here. The thing I love about this dessert is the marshmallow centre! It is a nice little surprise:)  I’m not entirely sure after making them for a second time if I love them as much as the choco-hots-pots but I do think these are a fun dessert.

Photo courtesy of the bf

Marshmallow Chocolate Pots
1 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
6 large marshmallows
Powered sugar

Over low heat, stir chocolate chips and butter until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Stir in flour. Fill 6 buttered ramekins halway. Press marshmallow into centre. Spoon remaining batter and cover completely. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes (tops should be puffed and crackly). Let cool for 10 minutes. Run knife around edge and invert. Top with powered sugar.

Late last night I was looking through Mod Cloth and found so many wonderful things so I need to put them all in a post so that they are no longer hundreds of open tabs on my browser! So here they are:

1. Hello Kitty Cutie Wallet – cutest wallet ever!, although knowing me it would get rather dirty in a matter of days in my handbag.

2. Panda-ora’s Bag – such a cute little bag, reminds me of an orange cat one that I own from Fruits Basket! I love the little leaf details on the zip pulls.

3. 23 Flavours of Fab Lunch Box – Dr Pepper – Im always a sucker for tin lunch boxes.

4. Arcade Parade Necklace – very cute retro game necklace, would prefer it in silver though, or colourful.

5. Modzilla Necklace – also comes in black!

6. Aesop’s Fable Necklace in Fox – amazing fox necklace! Reminds me of children’s fairy tales…

7. Camera Obscura Necklace – gonna see if my dad will make me one of these!

8. Time for Romance Necklace – very ornate fob watch, the back is pretty too

9. Friendly Robot Necklace – lovely robot necklace with movable joints!

10. The Poirot Ring – the funniest ring I have seen for a long time!

11. Urban Forest Rings – tiny ornaments on rings are fun, but I fear they will break off quite easily?!

12. Hello Tootsies Socks – love long socks, love Hello Kitty…

13. Winter Semester Socks in Marshmallow – they look so comfy!

14. Anything Bows Headband – I think this would look really cute in my hair.

15. Heartbeats Cuff – chunky cuff for your wrist, very bold design

16. Two Servings a Day Belt – I have been looking for a new belt, and this is so yummy!

17. A-Bot Time Keychain – I think I love robots!

18. Onassis Dress – plain and simple yet very wearable for me. I have an issue with dresses, as I dont own many and never did for many years, so I am forcing them upon myself!

19. Glimmering Girl Dress

20. Frock and Roll Party Queen in Sandy – I seem to love big bows on dresses…

21. The Christine Dress – so cute but out of stock

22. Auld Lang Syne Dress – big and puffy!

23. The Gilda Dress

24. Picture Day Jumper in Khaki – I would love to wear this with a comfy top on underneath

25. Creme de la Creme Sweater Dress – this is so me! If I had to pick one dress from this line up it would be this one.

26. Gettysburg A-Dress

27. Pump Up the Volume Dress – huge puff ball!

28. No Place Like Gnome Tshirt

29. Ele-fun Tee

30. Paradise Kitty Tank Top – its like your boobs are winking at you!

31. Frosting on Top

32. Kawaii Cuisine Bento Box in Giraffe

33. Coffee Nymphs Mug

34. The Vintage Home book – as I love inspiration

35. Apple of my Eye Mirror – would look great in the bathroom!

36. Pear-y Cute Bento Boxes

37. The Better to Bond with You Tape Dispenser – so so so so cute!

38. I See You Mug

39. Lovely Little Labbit Rabbits

.

Two of the hamsters were fighting today so I had to separate them to individual cages. I got hamster blood on my hands, I was not impressed!

Myself and Ryan are off to Bluewater this evening, mostly to see Rick Stein and hopefully get a book signed in Waterstones, but also to do some shopping! I cant wait, it should be fun. I should actually be getting dressed but I’m eating left over pizza

Jenn x

Good lineup today! =D

After School’s Comeback with ‘Because of You’ and ‘When I Fall’
~~yesssssss both songs =D both songs are so nice ^^ and they’re so prettyyyy!
~~IMO, better performance today than their stage on Music Bank, vocals were good

Other great performances under the cut:

-2PM with ‘Heartbeat’ + #1!
~~grats to them! they mention Jaebum in their speech actually
~~don’t rly dig their outfits XD but awesome stage setup today…and the ending with Taec is woooooooooooooooow kekekeee
-SHINee with ‘Ring Ding Dong (remix vr.)’
~~no Taemin of course…he’s getting better though! i hope that boy eats more or he’ll have no energy to fight the flu. he’s soo skinny!
~~the remix is to celebrate them winning Triple Crowns on Inkigayo. for those who don’t know, you can actually only win 3 Mutizens on Inkigayo and after that you can’t anymore. i like this remix! =D
-SS501’s Goodbye Stage with ‘Love Like This’ + Interview
~~well…this officially marks their last stage. byebye for now SS501, and get some rest!
~~they talk about winning Mutizen last week
-BEAST with ‘Bad Girl (remix vr.)’
~~remix to keep our interest up! it’s not bad
-Taeyang with ‘Wedding Dress’
-Kim Tae Woo ft. Lyn with ‘When I Say Hey, You Say Yeah!’
-CL + Minzy with ‘Please Don’t Go’
-IU with ‘Marshmallow’
-U-KISS with ‘Man Man Ha Ni’
-SHU-I with ‘Please Help Me’
-Hwanhee with ‘Because I Missed Your Heart’
-SeeYa with ‘His Voice’
-Woo Yi Kyung with ‘What Do We Do’
-Digital Chart Ranking with Mir + G.O. (MBLAQ)
~~even though MBLAQ isn’t performing, at least we get to see two of its members fooling around =P 2PM wins with ‘Heartbeat’ waaah Mir is so cute hehehe they’re such dorks

2PM with ‘Heartbeat’ + #1!

SHINee with ‘Ring Ding Dong (remix vr.)’

SS501’s Goodbye Stage with ‘Love Like This’ + Interview

BEAST with ‘Bad Girl (remix vr.)’

Taeyang with ‘Wedding Dress’

Kim Tae Woo ft. Lyn with ‘When I Say Hey, You Say Yeah!’

CL + Minzy with ‘Please Don’t Go’

IU with ‘Marshmallow’

U-KISS with ‘Man Man Ha Ni’

SHU-I with ‘Please Help Me’

Hwanhee with ‘Because I Missed Your Heart’

SeeYa with ‘His Voice’

Woo Yi Kyung with ‘What Do We Do’

-Digital Chart Ranking with Mir + G.O. (MBLAQ)

SS501’s Goodbye Stage with ‘Love Like This’

Perfs under the cut:

-SHINee with ‘Ring Ding Dong’
~~no Taemin since he has H1N1…hope he gets well soon! but he should be, since Tamiflu is like a miracle drug lmfaooo
-2PM with ‘Heartbeat’
-Brown Eyed Girls with ‘Sign’
-BEAST with ‘Bad Girl’
~~their ‘competition’ MBLAQ isn’t performing this weekend; both Lee Joon (waaah) and Thunder have H1N1
-IU with ‘Marshmallow’
-Rainbow with ‘Gossip Girl’
-Lee Young Hyun (Big Mama) with ‘Sorry, I Love You’
-U-KISS with ‘Man Man Ha Ni’
-Kim Tae Woo ft. Lyn with ‘When I Say Hey, You Say Yeah!’
-Memory with ‘Luv’
-E-Tribe with ‘Mother’
-Lyn with ‘True Story’
-Wheesung with ‘Trickling’
-Kim Jong Wook with ‘Sunflower’
-SeeYa with ‘His Voice’
-Secret with ‘I Want You Back’

SHINee with ‘Ring Ding Dong’

-2PM with ‘Heartbeat’

Brown Eyed Girls with ‘Sign’

BEAST with ‘Bad Girl’

IU with ‘Marshmallow’

Rainbow with ‘Gossip Girl’

Lee Young Hyun (Big Mama) with ‘Sorry, I Love You’

U-KISS with ‘Man Man Ha Ni’

Kim Tae Woo ft. Lyn with ‘When I Say Hey, You Say
Yeah!’

Memory with ‘Luv’

E-Tribe with ‘Mother’

Lyn with ‘True Story’

Wheesung with ‘Trickling’

Kim Jong Wook with ‘Sunflower’

SeeYa with ‘His Voice’

-Secret with ‘I Want You Back’

“Today, I read a MLIA that said not to eat two marshmallows at once because it’s a choking hazard. Naturally, I took two marshmallows, stuck them in my mouth, and almost choked. MLIA”

Oh, of COURSE. You see a warning that could cause you to die, so you NATURALLY ignored it. Obviously. Because it’s so smart to disobey death warnings because you wanted to prove a point. That makes all the sense in the world!

Some warnings are okay to disobey. Like the ones on board games that say “For ages _ to _!”. We all know that not following this will cause us no harm except possible temporary boredom.

But to ignore something that could cause you to choke and die? Nice job. You made yourself look like an idiot on the international Internet.

If you’ve ever enjoyed a rice crispy treat in your life, no matter how many years ago, chances are your mind will be blown by the delicious creations produced by The Crispery.  I don’t typically consider rice crispy treats when I think of dessert – I’m more a cookie / brownie / cheesecake / flan / molten lava cake kind of a girl.  But when I saw a towering display of these at Central Market, I had to have one.

The first thing I noticed was their size – one of these could feed a family of four, I’m sure.  The ones that caught my eye had been sliced horizontally down the middle and sandwiched around a thick layer of gooey caramel and another of marshmallow.  Once I had it in my hands, I couldn’t get over how soft it was (seriously, I couldn’t stop poking it. I know – it’s weird).

I figured after so much manhandling I should probably buy one, so I did.  It was so good, I kept cutting little pieces off for days and enjoying it a bit at a time (much like Homer and the party sub – except that rice crispy treats have a perfect shelf life for this kind of bizarre behavior).

Since I was visiting my sister in Texas when I made this crispy discovery, I was pretty sad thinking that I might not have access to The Crispery’s stuff back in Michigan.  But no!  All of their crispies are available for order online!  There’s a minimum purchase amount of $12.95, and then of course shipping, so I might have to wait until I seriously need a fix to indulge, but it eases my mind to know that I don’t have to fly all the way back to Texas to get one.

After School’s Comeback with ‘Because of You’
~digging this song! =D

On Countdown

Under the cut…

-2PM with ‘Heartbeat’ + #1
~~yaaay congrats =D liking the song more now kekee
-SS501’s Goodbye Stage with ‘Love Like This’
~~doesn’t it feel like they didn’t promote for a long time? it’s been a month but it feels shorter for some reason
-KCM’s Comeback with ‘One Day’ ft. Park Sae Mi
~~he sings some really nice ballads ^^. cool stage; he’s playing piano and there’s a lot of people around him playing instruments
-E-Tribe’s Debut Stage with ‘Mother’
-Brown Eyed Girls with ‘Sign’
-BEAST with ‘Bad Girl’
~~Doojoon is back! Turns out he was volunteering in Africa, and the show will air soon
-U-KISS with ‘Man Man Ha Ni’
-IU with ‘Marshmallow’
-SeeYa with ‘His Voice’
-MC Sniper with ‘Magic Castle’
-H-Eugene ft. Sunday (CJSH The Grace) with ‘Love Warning’
-Rumble Fish with ‘Are You Serious?’
-Wheesung with ‘Trickling’
-DNT with ‘The Love in My Heart’
~~this is a great song.
-K.Will with ‘Miss, Miss and Miss’
-Rainbow with ‘Gossip Girl’
-Lady Collection with ‘Peeking’
-Yurisangja with ‘Bad Person’
-SHU-I with ‘Please Help Me’
-Lee Young Hyun (Big Mama) with ‘Sorry, I Love You’

2PM with ‘Heartbeat’ + #1

SS501’s Goodbye Stage with ‘Love Like This’

KCM’s Comeback with ‘One Day’ ft. Park Sae Mi

E-Tribe’s Debut Stage with ‘Mother’

Brown Eyed Girls with ‘Sign’

BEAST with ‘Bad Girl

U-KISS with ‘Man Man Ha Ni’

IU with ‘Marshmallow’

SeeYa with ‘His Voice’

MC Sniper with ‘Magic Castle’

H-Eugene ft. Sunday (CJSH The Grace) with ‘Love
Warning’

Rumble Fish with ‘Are You Serious?’

Wheesung with ‘Trickling’

DNT with ‘The Love in My Heart’

K.Will with ‘Miss, Miss and Miss’

-Rainbow with ‘Gossip Girl’

Lady Collection with ‘Peeking’

Yurisangja with ‘Bad Person’

SHU-I with ‘Please Help Me’

Lee Young Hyun (Big Mama) with ‘Sorry, I Love You’
[yotube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5Qf2wm_R1c]

Alright.

A little rant I have here.

To begin with,

I hate them.

Well, not all of them. Most of them. I like the old ones a lot, but there are these ones made in the eighty’s that sound like soundtracks for bad horror movies. This one rendition of  ”All I Want for Christmas is You” where the beginning has this metallic chung going throughout it. I feel like I’m walking into a mad scientists lab and eating marshmallow flavored popcorn. Just plain nasty. Also, Have you noticed that almost all Christmas music is Jazz. I like Jazz. One of my favorite genres. It brings you back to when everyone dressed nice and that drank scotch and had good haircuts and movies were good and actors were cool and collected and didn’t make stupid choices. But there was WWII also, so that kind of dampens things.

-james

Some uma criança, uma mesa, um marshmallow e a seguinte instrução: “Não coma este marshmallow até eu voltar e você ganha outro.”

O que acontece? Isso:

Quite a bit of video releases…

2PM + Kim Tae Hee CF for Paris Baguette
~super cute! dunno who’s luckier, 2PM or Kim Tae Hee!

Making of 2NE1’s Baskin Robbins CF
~very cute, and like i said, their image in the CF is rly different from their usual image

Clazziquai + Mighty Mouth + Navi + As One + Bizniz, Dok2, MBLAQ, G-Dragon, and IU all under the cut!

Mighty Mouth, Bizniz, Navi, As One, and Alex of Clazziquai all came together to collaborate for a winter mini album =D The mini album’s called Winter Line, and 2 MVs have been released featuring two of the tracks on the mini album. ~omg yes! I totally love Alex, Navi and As One!!
Alex (Clazziquai) + Bizniz + As One MV for ‘White Winter’

Mighty Mouth + Navi MV for ‘Lonely/Hollow Christmas’

Dok2 with ‘It’s Me’ MV
~he’s under Map the Soul (aka Epik High’s company)

Behind the Scenes with MBLAQ for Vogue Girl
~Vogue always releases a vid along with a photoshoot, and here’s MBLAQ’s! OMG Mir looks soo adorable eating and drinking milk! HHAAHAAA and Lee Joon…*faints*

Behind the Scenes with G-Dragon for Vogue
~like I said, Vogue always releases a vid along with a photoshoot…I’ve got to say G-Dragon’s photoshoot was one of the weirdest ones I’ve ever seen…actually pretty much almost all the weird ones I’ve seen were of him XDDD

MV Making of IU’s ‘Marshmallow’
~not a big fan of the song, but IU’s a great singer and super cute too!

This week’s latest pot of fun comes in the form of IU’s new song, Marshmallow. In an attempt to deepen and further your understanding of the Korean concept of “Cute” and to convert you to its sweet and sickly ways, I’ve devised a cunning listening test whereby, should you listen to the song, you post the English words you hear in the song. There are a fair few… Can you get them? No cheating please… And check out the poll down below, I want to know if you think this is Cute or Horrendously Annoying.

From my own personal baking box, I release for the first time: my infamous Chocolate Caramel Marshmallow Cookies.

Ingredients:

1 (12 oz) pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup caramel bits (or a bag of caramels, chopped to tiny bits…which is much, much harder)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Approximately 50 miniature marshmallows

Preheat oven: 400F

Directions:

In a bowl off to the side, combine:  flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside until later.

Note: It is important to use a decent-sized pot for the next part, because the pot is going to become your mixing bowl.  Keep that in mind before you start melting things!

Melt the butter and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips over low heat, stirring almost constantly (burnt chocolate smells and tastes icky, so pay attention).  Once liquid, turn off stove and remove the pot from the burner.

Stir in sugar and vanilla.  Allow to cool for a minute or two to avoid cooking the eggs you are about to add…then add eggs (okay, okay…stir them in, one at a time).

Now, retrieve the small bowl and stir flour mixture into the pot a little at a time to avoid making a huge mess.

Fun part: Add in caramel bits and remaining chocolate chips.  Keep an eye on how much caramel you are adding, though.  The hardest part about these cookies is getting them off the sheet if you’ve added too much caramel, so be aware!

Drop by rounded teaspoon (or melon baller) onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Tricky part: Press one miniature marshmallow into each cookie on the sheet.  Then, pull up the sides of each cookie until the marshmallow is hidden.  This keeps the marshmallow from burning, so don’t forget this step!

Bake: 6-7 minutes at 400F.  Cookies are done when they appear less shiny and there is a slight change in the color of the edges.  Be careful; since these are darker brown cookies, it is tempting to let them stay in the oven too long.  Don’t do it!  Not only will they burn in a short time, but caramel is a b*%&@ to get off cookie sheets once burnt on.  That being said, I must also insert the obligatory, “Your first sheet is the test batch; all ovens are not created equal, so adjust time according to how that batch turns out,” warning.

Important Removal Note: Remove these cookies from the cookie sheets promptly (ie. no more than 10 minutes after getting them out of the oven) .  The goal is to remove them before the caramel cools completely.  Once it is cooled, you will have to fight to get the cookies to part from the sheet, and that never, ever, ever ends well.

These cookies store reasonably well and ship well (when frozen and protected from being squished).  As always, I recommend putting them in tupperware of some sort soon after baking to keep the moisture in.

Mini Dipped Marshmallows

The only thing better than a fresh, handcrafted marshmallow?  A fresh, handcrafted marshmallow dipped in Belgian chocolate and decorated with sweet little holiday designs!  The cuties above are minis, just two bites, ready to get wrapped up and snuggled into our Gourmet Advent Calendars (sold out, sorry!).

If you’ve never had fresh marshmallow . . . oh my . . . it is simply nothing like the rubbery, chewy things you buy at the grocery store.  Fresh marshmallow is light and fluffy, and melts like cream into your hot cocoa.  You’ll never go back, once you’ve had the good stuff!  At Truffle, we offer classic Marshmallows, jumbo sized in a four pack, as well as holiday Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows–cut in fun holiday shapes and decorated with an array of gorgeous, eye-catching designs.  Packaged up in cellophane bags tied with ribbon, they are perfect for holiday gifts for coworkers and friends, as a table favor for your holiday parties, and as stocking stuffers!

Dipped Marshmallow Gift Box

As always, we can CUSTOMIZE your order with a logo, message, themed packaging, gift note, or just about anything else you can dream up!

Order online at www.portlandtruffle.com, or call or email us today!

Dipped Marshmallow Favor

]]> http://moonlightunes.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/091120-kbs-music-bank/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:17:41 +0000 moonlightunes http://moonlightunes.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/091120-kbs-music-bank/

Taeyang’s Comeback with ‘Wedding Dress’ + Countdown

Other performances under the cut include:

-SS501 with ‘Love Like This’ + #1!
~~congrats to them! they finally got #1!
-2PM with ‘Heartbeat’
~~for some reason this song isn’t that addictive for me…i actually like the remix more rofl
-H-Eugene’s Comeback with ‘Love Warning’ ft. Sunday (CJSH The Grace)
-MC Sniper’s Comeback with ‘Magic Castle’
-U-KISS with ‘Man Man Ha Ni’
-Brown Eyed Girls with ‘Sign’
-DNT’s Comeback with ‘The Love in My Heart’
-Wheesung with ‘Trickling’
-f(x) with ‘Chu~♡’
-IU with ‘Marshmallow’
~~the song’s cute but I really prefer songs like ‘Mia’
-K.Will with ‘Miss, Miss and Miss’
-SHU-I with ‘Please Help Me’
-Lee Soo Young with ‘Don’t Call My Name’
-December with ‘Love Is So’
-Kim Tae Woo ft. Lyn with ‘When I say Hey, You say Yeah!’
-Yurisangja’s Comeback with ‘Bad Guy’
-Secret with ‘I Want You Back’
-A-Force with ‘Wonder Woman’
-Mighty Mouth ft. JiEun (Secret) with ‘Smile’

SS501 with ‘Love Like This’ + #1!

2PM with ‘Heartbeat’

H-Eugene’s Comeback with ‘Love Warning’ ft. Sunday (CJSH The Grace)

MC Sniper’s Comeback with ‘Magic Castle’

U-KISS with ‘Man Man Ha Ni’

Brown Eyed Girls with ‘Sign’

DNT’s Comeback with ‘The Love in My Heart’
[yotuube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNyx73WQ6k0]

Wheesung with ‘Trickling’

f(x) with ‘Chu~♡’

IU with ‘Marshmallow’

K.Will with ‘Miss, Miss and Miss’

SHU-I with ‘Please Help Me’

Lee Soo Young with ‘Don’t Call My Name’

December with ‘Love Is So…’

Kim Tae Woo ft. Lyn with ‘When I say Hey, You say Yeah!’

Yurisangja’s Comeback with ‘Bad Guy’

Secret with ‘I Want You Back’

A-Force with ‘Wonder Woman’

Mighty Mouth ft. JiEun (Secret) with ‘Smile’

Brief: To pick a random word from the dictionary, then create a 500 word book, focusing on the layout,typography and images.

My random word was marshmallow, I tried to based my book around the shape and texture of what a real marshmallow was like.

The top two photos are close ups of my front cover case, then there were 9 pages which slotted inside this. Below are a selection of pages from my book.

The book represents the word very well, as I made it into the shape of a marshmallow and used lots of different textures and materials to represent the word. It allowed the reader to interact with the book and want to feel the different page textures. Although I think that I should of worked into and developed the typeface on the front cover, because it is quite flat and basic. For it to represent a marshmallow I think it needs to be more 3D and have texture. 

Nyinspelad vacker studie i frestelse. Se videon här.

Tidigare i maj i år pratade Joachim de Posada om just den här klassiska studien på en TED-föreläsning. Studiens resultat: barn som inte äter marshmallow blir framgångsrika och vackra, de andra barnen.. not so much.

Last night I tried my hand at making these adorable marshmallow pilgrim hats.  Mine don’t look nearly as good as the ones in the photo at Family Fun but I love them anyway.  They were so easy! And turned out so cute!

These photos are extremely crappy due to the poor lighting situation in my kitchen at night.

The cookies were also extremely messy to make.  I’m kind of glad that I did not involve the boys.  Given that I was covered in milk chocolate, I can only imagine what the boys would have looked like!

I used milk chocolate instead of a dark or semi-sweet chips so the tops of my hats don’t exactly match the bottom of the fudge striped cookies.

I did not use the fine tip to draw a little square buckle on the brim of the hats.  I found the Easy Squeeze icing that I used was a little too thick even after kneading it until my hands cramped…  The flower tip worked well to give the impression of a buckle.  I suppose I could have made up a batch of my own icing but it was late.  And even I am not crazy enough to whip up the measly one ounce of yellow icing for required for hat buckles…

The kids are going to be so excited when I bust these out for snack!

Want one? If you wait, you can have two.

I recently tweeted about the Marshmallow Experiment after reading about it in the Toronto Star. Yesterday, I listened to the Radio Lab podcast that discusses the same experiment.

The gist of it is that children are given the choice of taking one marshmallow or waiting a few minutes and taking two.  At around 4 years of age, many people develop the ability to delay their gratification.  Not all, but many.

More interestingly, when researchers followed up with the children who had been tested years later, those that were able to delay their gratification were more successful on a number of measures ranging from SAT scores and GPAs to whether they were overweight.  Fortunately, these skills can be developed, so even if a four-year-old swipes the marshmallow at the first opportunity, she is not predetermined to be an obese dropout.

As a teacher, I’m thinking about how this skill translates to my classes.  I suspect that I can identify a few students in my class who are instant-swipers and some who are probably still waiting to take the second marshmallow in case they will be rewarded with a third marshmallow.  Some students cram for tests, while others forgo fun in favor of studying and reviewing.

I find it encouraging to learn that these skills can be honed, but I wonder if this is true for the adult students that I work with.  How can we help this message reach them?  How can we help them to apply this information to their academic and, eventually, professional careers?

Maybe I need to bring a bag of marshmallows to class.