Time Flies!

How did a month go by that fast? I'm still trying to figure that out.

In the mean time I am finally feeling a little bit relaxed as the list of Christmas presents to be made is: 2. It helps that Many of the items simply fell off the list when I found other things that I preferred to purchase. Yes, making things was my attempt to save money. But when sanity and the joy of the project comes into question it might just not be worth it after all.

"Here is your present...I detested the process of making it, and I hope you love it."
Yeah, just not right and I couldn't bring myself to do it!

Something I did do was make edible goodies for some stocking stuffers. I only have a few people who'll receive these who actually read this blog (if they still do that is) so I'm not too worried about showing them off. But since these aren't the only stocking stuffers...the full surprise isn't ruined.

Homemade Marshmallows paired with Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate.
I used this recipe, but left out the salt & peppermint - both completely on accident. But leaving out the peppermint was probably a good thing since several people receiving these don't like that flavor. I've tested these, and they work wonderfully in hot chocolate, though they don't melt away completely link the mini's do.

This was my first time making marshmallows, and it was quite interesting. Somehow I expected them to be firm...to which I give you the next image to proove they certainly are not!

The mixing, boiling, mixing & moving to the glass dish was nothing compared to the tedious cutting. Before every cut you need to coat your knife in butter. I used a stick straight from the fridge and simply rubbed it on. Once you cut through the majority stays on the marshmallows thus prompting you to either coat the knife in butter again, or get marshmallow stuck on it with the next cut.

When it came to the 2nd smaller cuts I was able to do multiple at a time since some of the knife still had butter on it. But still, that's a lot of standing! I had also never thought of using powdered sugar to take the edge off the stickiness (think of how you use flower while rolling out cookies). I certainly learned a lot with this experience.

If you make these I suggest covering the 'raw' sticky sides with powder after the first cuts (while they are in long stripe like shown above), then the other two raw sides once you make the individual cuts. Makes the whole ling a lot more manageable.

I opted to use small plastic candy bags from Wilton's brand (Michael's Craft Store) and used 4 per bag. Then I realized that it would probably be smart to give the hot chocolate too! That got me creative with a label, stamps, and some old ink pads that are about 6 years old (and amazingly still worked)

If you look carefully you can see a faint cream and slightly glittery coffee cup stamp. I had hoped that and the small snowflake would show up a little better, but they are delicate and give a little sparkle in just the right light.

Tomorrow: Homemade Thin Mint Cookies!