Best leftovers ever

The homemade marshmallows turned out great, and I loved the little heart shapes...but no matter how closely I lined up my cuts, I still ended up with scraps.


Solution? Mini-mallows! It's as easy as chopping up the little leftovers into tiny bits. Then roll them around in the powedered sugar, to keep them from forming one big glob. Sure, they're not perfect little rounds like the ones you get at the store, but they're still sugar! No one will complain!

So now that you have fun baby marshmallows...you have to make something to go with them right? Perfect choice? Hot chocolate, of course! (I mean...you know I can't turn down hot chocolate!)

How about an easy Valentine's Day present? A gift bag, a couple packs of hot chocolate, and 1/2 cup of fresh marshmallows, and you're set!

Or you could try what has become my new favorite dessert....

Frozen Hot Chocolate!

Just mix packaged hot chocolate mix with milk, and pour into containers....

Add a couple marshmallows and throw them in freezer for a couple hours....

(I made these before I discovered homemade marshmallows. I can't imagine if they got even better!)

And be prepared to fall in love. I didn't even wait for this batch to freeze all the way...hot chocolate slushies? Yesssssss.

Fluffy Love

I'm always up for a food adventure....even more so if I get to make something deliciously complicated. So when I found a recipe for homemade marshmallows, I bookmarked it....waiting for the perfect occasion to test them out. I thought they might make good Christmas presents...but when that came and went, I decided they'd be this year's Valentines! (last year everyone got pie pops...can't have them thinking I don't still love them!)

So I called up my baking-goddess friend Lindsey and asked her to help. It was a win-win because she is great at all things cooking related, AND she has a standup mixer! (and by win win, I mean I won twice....there wasn't much in it for her. Unless you count hanging out with me). And as it turns out, she had actually made marshmallows before (because of course she had!) So now it was more like a win-win-win!

I chose two recipes, unsure of which would work better....And we actually ended up using both, as part of a semi cook-off challenge. First up was a Valentine's Day themed version, and second was Marth's swirled rendition. (we didn't add the peppermint oil....just went with a regular vanilla.)

They were actually very similar, the main difference was Martha's called for eggs, and the other didn't. And the ration of sugar vs. corn syrup is a bit different. But the good news is, they both turned out delicious! The first recipe was very simple...so big points there....and while Martha's was more complicated (always!) it was a bit fluffier and easier to spread.

Both recipes are very thorough, so I won't bother giving you instructions....instead, I'll just share some photos and tips!

I had never used a candy thermometer before....but it was a must.

No idea how "prairie women" as Lindsey referred to them, used to do it!


The first batch! We split it into a 13x9 pan, and a 9x9 pan. This made each batch a little shallower so I could make shapes with cookie cutters later. But you do have to move quickly....spray EVERYTHING with cooking spray, and coat it with powdered sugar, or corn starch to keep it from sticking. Having two people really helped with this step so we could get it done before the marshmallow got too stiff.

Next tip- definitely use a stand up mixer. I don't think our arms were up for fifteen minutes of mixing per batch....

Oh- and my favorite tip? Make them at someone else's house! Then the mess is their problem! (Just kidding....I helped her...but there was powdered sugar everywhere!)

Swirl it up, and let them dry overnight.

Cutting out the hearts wasn't hard, but it did take a while...Call your mom on speakerphone while you're at it. She'll thank you, and it'll feel like it's going faster!

I rolled the sides of the first batch in pink and red sugar, and coated the sides of the swirled batch in plain powdered sugar. (this helps keep them from sticking together)

So pretty, right?!? I "heart" them!

Then I filled little bags with one of each kind...

And sealed them with Valentine's stickers.

And that's it! I was so so excited to try this out, and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. It was a time consuming process, but who cares, when you're having fun?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Polish.

So, yeah, my birthday was a month ago.....But wanna see what my awesome husband got me?!?


Isn’t it beauuuuuuuuutiful? Oh, you're not sure what it is? Well....neither was I at first....
I opened it around 11:30pm, and when I got the paper off, all I saw was a plain cardboard box with some stamp about Poland. I was confused, but trying to act grateful, so I kept smiling. Only when I got it open did I realize that the carton actually said “polish”. As in nail polish....not like from the country of Poland. I was worried for a minute he got me sausage. But confusion aside, and ignoring the late hour, I insisted we set it up. It holds 50 bottles, which seemed like an astronomical amount.

About ten minutes later, after rearranging color groups in every possible configuration I realized we had one of two problems. I have too many bottles of polish....or too few holders. (I think you know which part I blame...) But I love it all the same. It’s a big step up from the old system (which was throwing them all in a plastic bucket). Look at them all....I'm practically a professional now!



Oh- and because he loves me lots...he actually added to the overcrowding, giving me this little beauty:



Yeah- those are real gold flecks. Mmm-hmmm.
Well done, Dus.

The Cheesiest

One of the things I often say about myself is that I "feel big". No, not like "I feel too big for these pants" (although that is sometimes the case....ok, often the case...) I mean my actual feelings. I have large emotions, and I express them dramatically at times. If I love something, I LOVE it. And there are few things that I love more than food. (maybe that's another reason "I feel big"?) and near the tippy top of my list of culinary crushes is macaroni and cheese.

Yep- Kraft Dinner has been a favorite of mine since as long as I can remember. At my dad's house especially, it was a weekend staple...we collected the box tops and I earned all kinds of fun stuff. Among my favorite were my Cheese-a-saurus Rex figurines, and "blue box" beach towel...(jealous?!) I love, loved it. Sure, we experimented with the spirals, and the wheels, and every once in a while some Velveeta Shells and Cheese (when we were feeling all fancy!) but nothing really beats the original macaroni (plus, as my frugal father taught me from a young age, it was the most economical. Would you pay the same price for a 5.5oz box of spirals that you would for a 7.25oz box of regular shapes? Would you?!?!)

And though I'm still known to polish off a box of the classic stuff from time to time, my palette has become a bit more refined over the years. But don't worry....that doesn't mean I've turned away from my cheesy roots. No....macaroni and I are in this for the long haul.

Which brings us to what is arguably the best idea anyone has ever had....The Macaroni and Cheese Cookoff. I mean, why should chilli cookoffs, and wing-fests get all the glory? Mac and Cheese deserves some hype too! So almost two years ago (Golden Oldie alert!) Dustin and I decided to host a mac-and-cheese-off. We invited a bunch of friends over, and each attempted to wow the group with their rendition of mac and cheese.... I have no idea why I've gone so long without blogging this event. Perhaps I just found it too hard to put all that cheesy joy into words. Even the photos don't do it justice!

The party was everything I could hope for....people got competitive, we got to try a ton of variations, and I ate like it was my last meal (afterwards I almost wanted it to be). We had some fancy trophies, but for the life of me, I can't remember what the winning dish was. But I'm pretty sure I liked it. For our part Dustin and I made Hoggy's version, and a rendition of the fried mac and cheese from The Cheesecake Factory (it was a TON of work....but honestly so ridiculously good). In addition to the main event (or main dish) we held a euchre tournament, which turned out to be the perfect pairing to all that food (we got to sit around and digest... perfect!)

I loved that party so much I hoped to make it an annual event, but time got away from us. All of a sudden it was 2011, and we hadn't managed to host a sequel. But never fear....my Birthday to the rescue!

You see, we didn't have an idea for a party this year, and were almost ready to skip the festivities, but then I realized it was the perfect excuse to combine my two favorite things once again- Mac&Cheese (that's one thing), and games! So we rounded up our friends, and put together The Bowdens' Second Non-Annual Macaroni and Cheese Cookoff.....2011!

We prepared a menu:

Prepped the games:

And let everyone else do the rest.......And oh boy did they.

(yeah, that's salad on the bottom right....I had to have something healthy, just in case someone's heart stopped.) We ended up having twelve kinds....and it was a really tough vote. I mean, look at these entries :
(click to enlarge)

Everyone voted for People's Choice, and then Dustin and I got to choose "Host Favorite" and "Wild Card".

And the results?

Drum roll.............

People's Choice: Lobster Mac by Barefoot Contessa (prepared by my friend Deb)
Wild Card: Chicken Enchilada (by Lindsey and Mike)

Host Favorite: 6 Cheese and Bacon (by Amy)

(we'll have to wait and see the chefs of the second two prizes want to share the link to their recipe in the comments....)

It was a hard battle because everything was so so (so so so so so) good. Dustin and I of course prepared entries, choosing to try a couple of offbeat versions on the theme:

Sweet Potato & Rosemary and Cornbread & Apple. Neither was a winner (or really a contender) but they certainly weren't bad.

I won't get into the rest of the night....but I can sum it up saying we ate, and played, and ate, and played, and ate. Oh, and laughed. A lot.

And let me give you a sure-fire party planning hint...if the macaroni doesn't make your party a hit (it will), just start handing out beaded necklaces. Best Birthday Ever.

What to wear...

Do you get the feeling you’re wearing the same thing over and over and over again?

Me too.

I admit I have a LOT of clothes (well....maybe a regular amount of clothes, but a ton of scarves?) but for whatever reason, I always gravitate to a few favorites, and form a small rotation of the current loves. It seems the same five shirts stay on the top of the stack (or the laundry pile) while the bulk of my clothes hide in the depths of my closet.

But I find it hard to even keep track of what I wear.....it sure feels repetitive sometimes, but do I really have a uniform? Is everyone at work rolling their eyes over me wearing that....again...? Or am I the only one that thinks about it? (I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to that...)
So I thought it would be fun to keep track of what I wore for a bit.....just to see? I couldn't deal with writing it all down....and there's no way I was taking pictures of myself everyday (documenting clothes I can do. Recording the hot mess that is my hair and makeup on a daily basis? Not ready for that one...) So I decided just to take pictures of my outfit each day.

And here's what we ended up with:

(click photo to enlarge)

I mean, have you ever seen so much grey and navy?!?

It was a fun little experiment. It did push me to step up my fashion game a little bit more than I might normally. It's usually too easy to keep reaching for the same pieces, but when I had fresh pictures in my mind (and on my computer) of what I had just worn, it made me want to mix it up a bit more. Let's not kid ourselves though...it's still all about comfort. And I do love a hoodie and a scarf!

It is a little funny to see all those outfits lined up. I didn't realize how similar I dress from day to day...I mean, they are all pretty different, but then they run together a bit too. Maybe because it's winter though? That at least explains the boot rotation...and the complete absence of color.

I'm not sure if I'll keep this up....it might be fun to see how my style evolves over the seasons. But there is also a very real possibility that I only have 30 looks to deal with, and from here on out I'd just be shuffling the (shallow) fashion deck. But it was fun for now, so we'll see where it goes....

In the meantime, anyone else want to share? Do you have an outfit in heavy rotation? Or are you more of a fashion maven then I'll ever be?

(Oh, and because I know you noticed...yes, there are only 23 outfits. I didn't start taking photos until a few days into the month, and even then let's be real- everyone knows you can reuse weekend outfits during the week, right? Come on....)

We came, we saw, we stayed.

How was the staycation, you ask? It was the best of times, it was the....not so best of times. I definitely wouldn’t say “worst” but please don’t be fooled- A vacation and a staycation may rhyme, but they are far more different than their names might suggest.

We really did have a great time overall. We slept in, relaxed, talked, shopped, laughed, watched movies, explored, did projects, ate, ate, and ate. The week was full of many traditional “vacation” type activities, as well as an almost complete disregard for time (which is half the fun of taking off work. You don’t have to be anywhere) BUT- the week also lacked many of the typical “vacation” benefits that I look forward to; most notably- the sun. And warmth. No, it wasn’t a surprise that Pittsburgh would be grey and freezing this time of year, but I think I may have underestimated its affect on my mood....even during a week off. Scraping the car and driveway got old quickly (or so I’m told!), and it was hard (nearly impossible) to resist the urge to bail on plans to stay home and curl up and nap instead.

So while we had big goals, and lofty ideals, our Staycation ended up feeling a little like one too many snowdays in a row. You know when kids reach their boredom threshold and actually beg to go back to school? Well, it wasn’t quite that bad (I can assure you no matter how much I love my job, I don’t ever beg to go to work) but we did wonder if perhaps it would have been worth the money, and the hassle to actually take a trip. I think next time around we might try a Staycation during the warmer months. For some reason laying in the sun for five hours a day feels like more productive than catching up on a Big Love marathon.And that’s what I’m after- all the feeling of accomplishment, none of the work. Plus a tan.

My husband, making a path to our car....

But- I actually don’t regret a minute of our lazy, slow, indulgent week off.....we really did have a great time, and only slightly wanted to claw each others eyes out (and that wasn’t until Friday!). We tried to make the most of our time- trying new places, visiting old favorites, and not bothering to feel bad about the amount of TV and movies we watched (Let’s just say that if cable was ala carte....we’d be in trouble.) We ate as much as we wanted (which was lots) as often as we wanted (which was lots) and laid around in between. And like I do every vacation...I tried to document it...

We started off big- with a dinner out at The Original Fish Market (Thank you Groupon!).

Does that look like enough? Don't worry....we got salads too.
And bread.
And soup.

I may have been on a sushi high....

From there the eating pretty much never slowed down.
We had hot dogs at Ikea:

And all KINDS of stuff at the fanciest Giant Eagle in the world....

Seriously. A gelato stand at a grocery store!

We had breakfast....

And breakfast...

Oh, and breakfast...

What? If a bakery sells it...it counts as breakfast!

But don't worry....though we made sure to prioritize the most important meal of the day, we didn't skip other meals....Especially the cheese course! Which means I got to use one of my Christmas presents from Dustin:

Aren't they the cutest things you've ever seen?

And we ended the week the same way we started.....by spending far too much, on far too much food. Yum.

Yes, we went to Table....would you expect anything different?

But don't worry, in between all that face stuffing, we did find time for other pursuits. Like shopping! I dragged poor Dustin to no less than four different antique stores.

Look how excited he is!

But it paid off in the end (for me)....I found a globe, and a vintage book of children's stories.

Oh, and maybe we stopped at the dollar store.....you'll see what all this is for soon....


So those are the highlights....
We did take on a few projects around the house (other than just ripping things apart... repeatedly.) but I'll share those soon. And we cleaned a bunch (you'll have to trust me on that one). We hung out with some friends (Make your own grilled cheese party? You betcha!), and we played games (Check out Bezzerwizzer...so fun!)...

So all in all? I leaned I'd go, or stay, anywhere as long as it's with Dustin.
(but if he suggests we head to the tropics? I won't even flinch. Let's jet!)

Wouldn't It Be Nice: February

With the start of February comes a new resolution.....
Since it’s the “month of love” I wanted to go with that theme, and my original thought was to make this month’s goal “Give someone a compliment every day.” Not a bad thought, but when I saw this blogger’s idea, I knew I wanted to follow suit.

So for the entire month of February, I’ll complete one act of kindness, everyday (by the way, I’m not a big fan of the phrase “Random” acts of kindness. I get the idea, but I’m striving for “intentional” acts....Maybe to the recipients they’ll seem random, but hopefully my heart will be focused on others, and I’ll get better at directing my thoughts and actions towards creating joy for other people).

Here are the 28 acts I settled on. Feel free to join me if you feel inspired!

1. Hold the door for a stranger.
2. Give a compliment (and really mean it.)
3. Share a smile and a warm hello.
4. Pray for someone you don't know
5. Call someone you’ve been thinking about.
6. Bake a treat for someone.
7. Do an extra chore.
8. Tell a loved one you’re thankful for them.
9. Be patient.
10. Be sincere when you ask, “How are you?”
11. Hide a note for your love.
12. Write a letter to a friend and mail it.
13. Make a new friend.
14. Give a hug.
15. Avoid judging others.
16. Leave an encouraging note somewhere.
17. Make a yummy meal for someone.
18. Listen. Really listen.
19. Reach out to an old friend.
20. Donate to someone in need.
21. Compliment a stranger
22. Send someone a surprise gift.
23. Leave an happy note on the windshield of a stranger's car.
24. Personally encourage a friend
25. Leave a generous tip.
26. Call your grandma.
27. Treat someone to something...
28. Say “I love you.”