Too Cute Tuesday: Homemade Marshmallows

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Too Cute Tuesday: Homemade Marshmallows

By Nicole Ouellette on February 23, 2011 in Too Cute Tuesday

This week, we decided to junk our initial plan when we saw the Too Cute Tuesday Saint Louis branch had a better idea: Homemade marshmallows. Not very difficult, these were all the rage a Christmas or two ago when I saw them in higher end gift giving magazines.

Sam got ready for the process of spreading the marshmallow mixture by oiling her hands...it didn't help a ton.

No matter what, it's kind of messy... but delicious messy.

We used this recipe but most of the other ones we ran into online seem similar: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Marshmallows

The mixture worked hard for us while we did our other dishes. That's right, at Too Cute Tuesday, we practice no trace crafting.

It was just Sam and I this week but since Dorrie is nice and also has a standing mixer, we crashed her house to craft. That said, we practiced no trace crafting.

You will also appreciate this week that I bought a bottle of riesling for the cocktail portion of the evening only to find Dorrie’s wine bottle opener was broken.*le sigh

Even without our cocktail though, we still had a great time!

Materials
Corn starch
Powdered sugar
Oil
Parchment paper
Pan
Non-flavored gelatin
Corn syrup
Granulated sugar
Pot
Cooking thermometer
Standing mixer
Water
Vanilla flavoring
Scissors
A willingness to get sticky

Cocktail of the Night: Some cheap riesling Nicole got at the grocery store for $6, couldn’t open because the wine opener wasn’t working, then left at Dorrie’s house. D’oh!

Cleaning up, if it involves a crapload of sugar, can be the best part.

1. Mix equal parts corn starch and powdered sugar. We did one cup of each and had way more than needed.

2. Put gelatin (3 packets) and cold water (1/2 cup) in the bowl of the standing mixer. Let develop.

3. While the gelatin is doing its thing, mix 2/3 cup corn syrup, 2 cups granulated sugar, and 1/4 cup water in a pot over medium heat. Stir and heat mixture to 244 degrees F.

4. Once mixture is at that temperature, dump it into the mixing bowl with the water and gelatin, which is now puffy.

5. Mix at the fastest setting for 15 minutes. During the last minute, add flavoring and/or coloring desired. We added a couple teaspoons of pure vanilla extract because we like regular marshmallow flavor.

6. While things are mixing, take a pan and line with parchment paper. Oil it and dust the corn starch/sugar mixture from step one.

7. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan. Sprinkle with additional corn starch/sugar mixture. Let set at least four hours (or in our case, overnight).

8. The next day, cover your scissors in the corn starch/sugar mixture and cut up your block o marshmallow into convenient sizes.

I won’t lie, Sam and I did take some tastes while cleaning up. “Wow, this tastes like marshmallow!” she said. That’s always a good sign at Too Cute Tuesday.

The true test was of course trying them the next day. And they’re actually good!

The magical Sam will now hold the whisk with only the force of her gaze... and the power of marshmallow goo.

So there you have it, an easy way to impress people the next time you serve hot cocoa and cleanup that involves a bowl lick. Aren’t you crafty, and a bit sticky?

Too Cute Tuesday is a weekly event involving friends, a craft, and a cocktail. To learn more, check us out on Facebook or browse our crafty archives.

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Too Cute Tuesday: Fused Plastic Bibs

By Nicole Ouellette on January 12, 2011 in Too Cute Tuesday

Every Tuesday, it’s an easy craft, cool cocktail, and fun friends. To learn more check out the archives at www.toocutetuesday.com or the Facebook page.

I may not have a kid, but I have a small cute model willing to try on my bib. Go Gidget go.

You may remember our first foray into fused plastic last year. This year, we did a specific baby related craft (dedicated to new mom Michelle and soon to be new mom Sue) with the fused plastic and ignored the extra step that could have involved stitching on bias tap as piping. Oh well, can’t do it all.

Dorrie took the plastic bags her newspaper comes in everyday and fused a few different colors. Ooohhhh, shimmery!

A fused bib made from grocery bags. I could have added the piping if I wanted to be ambitious!

Don’t have a baby in your life? You can use fused plastic bags to create bags, placemats, snowflakes, shower curtain, tablecloth, pouch, wallet, and much much more. Clearly you could fuse plastic bags all day long and come up with some fun stuff. Voila our original inspiration: http://www.homemademamas.net/2010/02/fused-plastic-bib.html

This week we were joined by Sarah and her daughter. Passing crafting onto future generations…

Materials
Plastic bags (3ish)
Iron and ironing boar
Scissors
Bias tape, needle, and thread (for the optionally motivated)

Cocktail of the Night: Gin and juice… laid back….

1. Heat iron to rayon setting. This is apparenly not 3 on Dorrie’s iron. We recommend starting on the one setting and slowly increasing the temperature if the fusion isn’t working. Too hot and the plastic puckers. Eww.

2. Cut into desired shape. If creating a bib, you can use a bib as a template. We made ours with a pocket and thick wrap around the neck.

3. Fuse the pocket onto the bib on three sides. You can inside out the pocket to hide the fusion.

4. Add velco for closure. Add piping with bias tape if you are feeling super ambitious.

Other variations of the craft also happened (see photo gallery below) and a good and recycling filled time was had by all. Aren’t we crafty, and kid friendly!

[Show picture list]

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Too Cute Tuesday: Candied Pecans

By Nicole Ouellette on December 22, 2010 in Too Cute Tuesday

Too Cute Tuesday is a craft, a cocktail, and friends. To learn more check out the Facebook page or check out the cooking related Too Cute Tuesday posts in the archives.

Candied pecans cooling on the sheet, absorbing their own deliciousness.

Jen and Dorrie taste our wares, and Sparks hopes they'll drop something.

Twas the week before Christmas, and everyone was stressed, so we gathered in Dorrie’s kitchen to make a mess.

The sugar was melted on the stove with great care in hope that tasty nuts soon would be there.

Soon all were gathered to sample the treats, so crunchy so tasty, salty yet sweet.

OK, I’ll stop rhyming now. But the nuts were great and something we’ll do again I’m sure.

Materials
Pecans
Sugar (brown or white)
Salt
All spice, cloves, and nutmeg
Vanilla extract
Parchment paper
Cookie sheets, wood spoons, and pans

Cocktail of the Night: Modified Black Santa (Creme de cacao, peppermint schnapps, Baileys)

1. Queue up the recipes.

Nut recipe #1: Candied nuts from Cafe Johnsonia

Nut recipe #2: Candied walnuts from Simply Recipes (we used brown sugar instead of white to change it up)

Nut recipe #3: Sugared and Spiced Nuts from Cooks.com (Jen added nutmeg to the mix and *gasp* didn’t measure

Recipes one and two need to have the pecans seperated quickly so have the parchment paper, forks, and helpful friends ready.

2. Cover three cookie sheets with parchment paper.

3. Roast nuts in a 350 degree oven for about five minutes. We used pecans but Dorrie made a batch of almonds after the fact for her dad and they were also great.

4. Prepare coating of your choice. Coat and separate on a cookie sheet. Let dry. Yum.

Of the recipes, #3 had the best coating and overall consistency. Number 1 was clumpy and not so uniform and number two was better if only because we roasted the nuts in the oven precoating (note: this does make a difference).

Anyway, these nuts can almost make a salad tolerable and they make good presents when you put them in little jars. Aren’t you crafty, and festive?

Happy Holidays from the Too Cute Tuesday crew!

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Too Cute Tuesday: Recycled Paper Coasters

By Nicole Ouellette on December 2, 2008 in Too Cute Tuesday

My mom bought me a cool little gift a few weeks ago: coasters made of recycled foreign newspapers. I added them to my drawer of cute little things I tend to have: candle sticks and napkin rings and other entertainment cuteness. That's right, this stuff gets a whole drawer in my small kitchen because these little things make me smile when I use them.

But as I looked at the coasters again yesterday, made of basic elements with recycled materials, I thought, pfff! I can make that! So tonight I recreate something with a potential gift-giving possibility. (If you have enough coasters, you can make a trivet or tray!)

On another unrelated but actually kind of related note, I noticed a Women's Day article (no judgement please) about some weird put-lemon-juice-in-everything diet. Now, the fact that WW has a new diet every issue with a normal person that isn't fat anymore on their cover makes me a little suspect but, eh, I like lemons and willing to passively see if lemon juice/zest revs up my digestive system and makes me lose 5 pound in a week! (That' WW's exclamation mark and not mine.) So tonight I'm drinking a Disco Lemonade, mostly due to it's name but also because I may be the next star of Woman's Day if I do.

Let the crafting begin!

Materials
Newspapers and magazines I'm recycling anyway (if you're looking for newspapers, visit your local paper for back issues… I'm sure they'd be happy to give them to you!)
Ruler
Scissors
Modge Podge or spray adhesive or, if absolute last resort can't find anything else, a glue gun($5-$10 depending on weapon of choice)
Pencil (to twirl the strips of paper around, you'll see in a minute)

Cocktail of the Day: Disco lemonade—orange liquer and vodka (equal parts) plus lemonade (I'm adding some lemon zest, WW style)

1. If you don't have T.V. put on some crafting upbeat (dare I say disco?) music. Make your lemonade.

2. Cut pages or parts of pages into rectangles of equal sizes (10 strips will make one coaster). Wrap part of your pencil on one end of the page to start the party. Spray adhesive or Modge Podge or hot glue the page as you roll, baby roll. You are essentially making a strong strawlike piece of paper. Set aside to dry. Repeat with the other pieces of paper. (Attention: Glue out of a glue gun is hot!)

3. Now that your straws are ready, glue them together to form a little raft. While it dries, confuse the dog by discoing with your disco lemonade.

4. After your "raft" is dry, you can finish the edges with strips of magazine/newspaper but you can also try yarn, fabric, or anything else you think would look nice on the edge that you may have around the house. Adhere to the edges and tada!

Ok so the real things looks a lot better but with some practice, I can see the TCT equavalent looking pretty cool. Just remember a couple things:
1. Shorter strips are easier to roll.
2. Hot glue should be a last resort.
3. Something slightly thinner then a pencil would be ideal for rolling, but I can't quite think of what that object would be.

Happy crafting!

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A New Idea For A Yankee Swap

By Nicole Ouellette on November 21, 2007 in Current Affairs

I was reading in a magazine today about hosting a Yankee Swap where people had to bring in something that was already in their house. I thought this was a fabulous idea because I think everyone has at least a few things they could easily part with and no one enjoys buying some cheap under $10 to bring to a company party. We all have enough to think about (and spend money on) this time of year.

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