It has been a while

I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life has been crazy I've got lost of excuses. Wanna hear them? I am old, tired and lazy! Just kidding!
I am now a proud grandma of a beautiful little girl. It has been a little crazy because she decided to come really early. She was born at 25 weeks on March 5th and was only 1lb 8oz. The good news is she is strong little girl and will be home really soon.
What other excuses do I have.... I have been on a few trips, my sweet hubby got my a really nice camera, lovin' it! Hopefully I will be taking pictures like a pro really soon. I am sure I could come up with a few more excuses, but that will have to do for now.
Anyway I still have been baking but I haven't been to good about taking pictures. I do have a few that I will share with you.

Homemade Marshmallows

I have never made nor tried homemade marshmallows. I heard they were delicious, but hard to make so I never gave it a try. Well today I was surfing the net and I came across a blog that said they were easy, so I figure I should give it a try. This recipe came from- foodiewithfamily.com

Well I can tell you they were easy and I am glad I made them and so are my kids!
I can't wait to try them again with different extracts. I think next time I might try orange extract, or maybe peppermint; doesn't that sound yummy?
I bet these marshmallows would be fantastic in Hot Chocolate!!! I will let you know!

Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients:

•.75-oz unflavored gelatin (3 envelopes of Knox gelatin)
•1/2 cup cold water
•2 cups granulated sugar
•2/3 cups light corn syrup
•1/4 cup water
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or other flavor extract)

•Confectioners’ sugar
Line 9 x 9-inch or 8 x 8-inch pan with plastic wrap and lightly oil it using your fingers or non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil. As soon as it is boiling, set the timer and allow to boil hard for 1 minute.

Carefully pour the boiling syrup into soaked gelatin and turn on the mixer, using the whisk attachment, starting on low and moving up to high speed. Add the salt and beat for between 10 and 12 minutes, or until fluffy and mostly cooled to almost room temperature. After it reaches that stage, add in the extract and beat to incorporate.

Grease your hands and a rubber or silicone scraper with neutral oil and transfer marshmallow into the prepared pan. Use your greased hands to press the marshmallow into the pan evenly. Take another piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap and press lightly on top of the marshmallow, creating a seal. Let mixture sit for a few hours, or overnight, until cooled and firmly set.

Sprinkle a cutting surface very generously with confectioner’s sugar.

Remove marshmallow from pan and lay on top of the sugar.

Dust the top generously with sugar as well.

Use a large, sharp knife to cut into squares.

Separate pieces and toss to coat all surfaces with the sugar.
Store in an airtight container.

S'more Cupcakes

My family and I recently went camping and of course we had to have s'mores. (Yes, I am one those crazy women that loves to camp.) So I thought why not make s'more cupcakes. They look yummy and it was a great excuse to try the little butane blow torch (so cool).

I am all about easy, so I mixed together a chocolate box cake and poured it onto a graham cracker base in the bottom of the cupcake wrapper. I then sprinkled the top of the batter with more graham crackers and a few chocolate chips(you can't have too much chocolate). I then baked them according to the box mix. While they are cooling I made a marshmallow frosting.

So here are the pros and cons- I thought the icing was OK, but I don't think I made it right because it was only suppose to take 7 minutes to make but it took me over 20. It also taste more like meringue than marshmallow. Maybe next time I will top them with homemade marshmallows or maybe put some marshmallows in the batter. I also was not a big fan of the graham crackers at the bottom of the cupcake. I did this because I have read about other smore cupcakes lacking in the graham cracker flavor. Maybe next time I will just put more graham crackers on top of the batter.
Having said all that, they still tasted yummy and I loved getting to used the mini blow torch. Now what else can I make with the blow torch??????

Graham Cracker Base
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp melted butter


Marshmallow Frosting
2 cups white sugar
3 egg whites
2 tbsp light corn syrup
3 tbsp cold water
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt

Combine all in a stainless steel bowl and set on top of a pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly (electric beaters would've been great here, but old fashioned elbow grease will do just fine!) until mixture is glossy and holds a stiff peak when whisk is lifted.

Cupcakes and Candy

I was recently asked to make the refreshments for a church youth activity. And as you can see I went for color! The colors actually represented something.
White- Faith
Yellow- Good Works
Orange- Choice and Accountability
Green- Knowledge
Red- Individual Worth
Blue- Divine Nature
Gold- Virtue
Purple- Integrity
I was able to find candy in all my colors. But I wasn't able to make Gold cupcakes, but it still turned out very cute.
By the way, I made 3 kinds of cupcakes; Chocolate, Vanilla and Red Velvet. They were all frosted with Butter Creme frosting.

Brrrrrr, Baby it's cold outside!

Here in the Tampa Bay area, we are setting new records for all time low temperatures for the month of January. The temperatures are currently in the 20's and my yard is looking pathetic! Yes, I know, I know, temperatures in the twenties are nothing for some of you, but for a 5th generation Floridian, it is like being in the Arctic! Not to mention many of my plants don't know what hit them.
I am really not very fond of this time of year because most of my plants have been burned or killed by the cold temperatures. Just a few months ago when I looked out at my yard it was lush and green and now it looks like a neglected waste land. Sadly enough we still have a few more months of this cold weather. I hope we don't have to many more of these drastic drops in temperature, I don't know how much more my plants can take and frost blankets only go so far.
As horrible as my yard looks now I know that everything is not as bad as it seems. Many of my plants will just lose their leaves, while others will die back to the ground and return in the spring, and the rest will probably die and go to plant heaven. So for now all I can do is wait for spring and hope that my plants are tough enough to endure this crazy weather.

By the way the pictures above are before and after pictures of the same areas. Soooo sad!

Lions Tial - Leonotis leonurus

Well the holidays are just about over and make baking has come to a temporary stop, so I thought I would share a plant that is currently blooming in my garden, Leonotis leonurus aka Lion's Tail. You can see from the picture why it is called Lion's tail. The orange flowers clustered together like the end of a lions tail. It can bloom sporadically through out the year but it's best display is in the fall when the day start getting shorter.
I like this plant for its unique appearance and because the tubular flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds, which I love. Lion's tail is a pretty tough plant surviving much of Florida's temperamental weather. If you have a hard frost it can kill it to the ground, but don't worry, it will rebound bigger and better in the spring. Lion's tail can grow 4ft-6ft and grows well in full sun.

Platter of Goodies

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

I wanted to share one more picture with you that shows some more of the goodies I made this year.

Reindeer Cake balls

Mini Pumpkin Pies

Mini Eggnog Cheese Cake

Chocolate Covered Marshmallows

"Turtle" Pretzels

Chocolate Peppermints Circles

and of course more Meringue Snowmen