Mmmmmmarshmallows!

I finally made marshmallows from scratch.  Cole decided to make homemade graham crackers to go along with them.  Add a few pieces of good dark chocolate, and you've got some delicious s'mores.  Perfect for our chilly, foggy evenings.

For the marshamallows, I found a great recipe on Smitten Kitchen, and had I truly heeded her warnings, the process would have been a lot less messy for me.  [Consider how sticky melted marshmallows are when toasted over a campfire.]  That said, they aren't very difficult to make as long as you pay close attention to all of the directions and measure very precisely.

I wasn't going to chronicle this because I didn't want to get distracted and mess something up.  But Cole got the camera and went to town, so here you go.

I'd been wanting to try my hand at flavored marshmallows after having the lavender ones from Miette, so I added two teaspoons of mint extract to the marshmallow batter.  Mmmm, mint chocolate s'mores!

After chilling in the fridge for several hours, I turned the large marshmallow out onto a cutting board and sliced it into small squares.  Another dusting of confectioner's sugar, and the mint marshmallows are done.  They are super fat and fluffy and soft...a lot different than store-bought ones.

Each s'more has a square of Tcho dark chocolate (from our own Pier 50 here in SF) nestled inside.  They were divine, but extremely rich.  And I never want to eat another store-bought graham cracker ever again.  One caveat:  the marshmallows came out VERY minty.  Maybe even right on the edge of TOO minty.  Next time, I think I'd reduce the mint extract from 2 teaspoons to 1.  

Our friends and coworkers are getting little packages of s'mores makings, because it's just wrong to have that many marshmallows and grahams sitting around in a household of 2.

[After typing "marshmallow" several times, I started wondering where the heck that word (and the candy itself) came from.  Apparently the marshmallow first came into use as a medicinal substance, as extracts from the marsh mallow plant soothed sore throats.  The candy dates back to ancient Egypt, where those clever Egyptians mixed the sticky, saplike substance with nuts and honey.  The French are credited with developing the modern marshmallow.  One of the most famous of the marshmallow family is the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man of Ghostbusters fame.  That movie is in our Netflix queue right now.  I'm way overdue for a viewing!]