Hello, marshmallow.

It's December 13th, and there's still no snow. We have lovely frosts, some mornings...

But the ground is lamentably bare. The bare dirt where our tomato plants grew this summer looks especially forlorn.

At least this soft ground means that the squirrels can easily dig up their buried treasures!

To cheer myself up a bit, I spent a morning at Goodwill recently. I started going to Goodwill in high school and, up until a few years ago, was a regular visitor. However, they're raised their prices quite a bit and it's harder and harder to find a really good deal. Sometimes, though, I get lucky. I found this glass soap dispenser for $1...this exact model retails for $13 on amazon.com.

This little terra cotta pots usually sell for around $1 each, but I got these for a quarter. I will use them as garden-themed egg cup displays this spring. Eggs fit in them nicely!

This rubber stamp, which cost $1, still had the original $8 price tag on it. Score!

I got 10 of these silly envelope seals that I'll use for Valentine's Day for .50.

Eddie Bauer sweaters usually start around $55, but I got this beautiful one for $3.

Sometimes I find amazing things that would be difficult to find in a store. I found this German rabbit cake mold - unopened - for $5.

It has an ingenious construction. Included are long metal poles...

...which you slide into the slots around the rabbit form. Then the cake bakes, upside down. After baking, you can slide out the poles and separate the halves to reveal a solid rabbit. This will be perfect for Easter!

Another amazing find was this picture frame. At first glance, it looks like a large cross-stitch that probably sat in someone's attic for years.

But if you look closer, you will see that the cross stitch is contained within an amazing wooden frame.

It's a beautiful rich color, and the leaf design is perfect. It's solid wood, with no nicks. It was an absolute STEAL for $5. The woman behind me in line noticed the frame right away and lamented the fact that she hadn't seen it first.

It was a good trip!

Since I decided recently to cut down on my sugar intake, it was only natural that I would immediately go out and purchase a candy thermometer.

I discovered a recipe several years ago that I've been meaning to make. I learned that if you mixed copious amounts of sugar and corn syrup with a single box of gelatin...

...you can make homemade marshmallows. They make great gifts this time of year. Martha Stewart has some beautiful ones in her magazine - peppermint flavored and marbled with delicate red swirls. I decided to try the basic model first, and I apologize in advance for the photo quality...dark day + dark room + Todd's point and click camera = poor photos.

Basic Marshmallows
Martha Stewart
Makes one 9 x 12 pan full

Ingredients
4 envelopes (3 tablespoons + 1 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
3 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions
First, line a 9 x 12 pan with wax or parchment paper, and brush the bottom and sides with vegetable oil. Set it aside.

Mix your sugar, salt, and corn syrup together with 3/4 cup cold water and bring to a boil. The recipe says to boil it without stirring until your thermometer reaches 238 degrees, or about 9 minutes. My thermometer goes from 200 - 250 degrees, so judging 238 was a bit difficult. In the end, I decided to just boil it for 9 minutes and move on.

While your mixture is boiling, put 3/4 cup cold water into your mixer bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin on top and let it sit until your syrup mixture is completed.

After your syrup mixture has boiled for about 9 minutes, pour into the mixing bowl. Starting at low speed and gradually increasing to high, mix for about 12 minutes. I wasn't sure how stiff the mixture should be - like egg whites? It became glossy and moderately stiff after 12 minutes, so I hoped that was enough.

Pour the mixture into your prepared pan and let sit at room temperature for at least 3 hours.

Next, spread some powdered sugar on your counter and flop the solid marshmallow brick on top of it. Cover it with powdered sugar...

...and start cutting! You can use cookie cutters, but I just cut mine into logs...

...and then squares.

The final step is coating each square in powdered sugar, which is easily done by swirling them, a few at a time, in a bowl of powdered sugar.

Now you've got a big stack of marshmallows, ready to be dunked into hot chocolate, wrapped up in cellophane as gifts, chopped up and mixed into cookie dough, or whatever you'd like to use them for.

They last about a week, stored in an air-tight container.

Enjoy!

Flower (and Flour!) Power

It feels like spring around here...in the house, anyway. As far as I'm concerned, spring begins on March 1st, and I'm making the appropriate preparations. I've bought some new white enamel vases at IKEA that are perfect for spring tulips.

Other vases have been pressed into service. I read somewhere that you can take a small bouquet and split it into several different vases, making it appear that you have many more flowers than you actually have. This is just one small bouquet from the grocery store. I think I'm in love!

I spent a long time inside my local Jo Ann's last week, carefully choosing fabric that will help me change the seasons inside, too.

I chose this natural linen-like fabric, and a pretty pale blue striped one, for the living room couches. I'll cut and sew covers for the seat cushions, replacing the dark red plaids that I'm currently using. I've got enough fabric for some throw pillows, too!

I bought these cheerful colors for various bookshelves. I'll create a small fabric runner for them, lightening up all the dark wood and bringing a bit of spring cheer!

I love blue and red ticking. I splurged and bought two Martha Stewart ticking bags several years ago and I never get tired of looking at them! I bought this red ticking fabric to make fabric ties and pillows, and I think it contrasts nicely with the tan linen.

This happy fabric was only .50 at Goodwill! I'll use it as accent fabric and for other small projects.

I'm starting to pull out my spring dishes...a pale green set from IKEA, and some of my spring-themed Emma Bridgewater dishes, like these robin cereal bowls that Todd bought for my Valentine's Day.

I love that detail!

I treated myself to some new rubber stamps that make me think of the coming season - mason jar stamps, which remind me of the mason jar bouquets I have all summer long...

...and mums, which are technically a fall flower, but can be brought into spring with light colors. I love this design and am planning on stamping some wrapping paper next week!

All of this planning and organizing, plus my regular work, has left me a bit too busy for knitting lately. Valentine's Day planning kept me from it the first two weeks of February, and I'm confronted with knowledge that for the first time in two years, I don't really have anything "on the needles." I've finally selected a next project, but with garden planning scheduled for later this week, I'm not sure when I'll get to it!

One place that's received plenty of attention in the midst of my hustle and bustle is the kitchen. It seems like I've been cooking and baking daily! This week I've made miniature apple pies, jam stacks, homemade baguettes, and Martha Stewart's Christmas crinkle cookies...and that's just the baking! It seems like more and more, I walk down the grocery store aisles thinking, "No, I could make that. I could make that." It feels really good.

I had another kitchen victory recently when I discovered that I could make bagels at home that tasted just as good as those at the local coffee shop. I met some girlfriends at a bakery and had my heart set on a big, crunchy bagel. I was really disappointed to learn that this particular location didn't sell bagels...but I couldn't get them out of my mind. I looked up a recipe and went to work!

Whole Wheat Bagels
Adapted from This Chick Cooks

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup white flour
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt

Mix water, yeast, and honey together, and then add remaining ingredients. Mix for about 5 - 7 minutes. Cover, and let dough rise in a warm place for about an hour. Your dough should double in size.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, and let a large pot of water come to a boil. Separate your dough into balls and poke a hole in the center with your finger, twirling it around until the bagel shape naturally forms.

Now, in order for your bagel to have that nice, chewy exterior, it needs to be boiled. I boiled mine for 2 minutes per side, flipping carefully with tongs halfway through.

Then, I baked them for about 15 minutes, until a nice golden brown.

They were delicious! And so easy! Toasted, with a bit of cream cheese...yum.

Of course, these are incredibly versatile...the sky's the limit when it comes to flavor combinations. I can't wait to make another batch...after I take this latest batch of rising dough and make more jam stacks, that is! :)

Enjoy!