Friday, December 6, 2013

Marshmallow World

"Its a Marshmallow world in the winter,
when the snow comes to cover the ground.
It's the time for play, its a whipped cream day.
I wait for it the whole year round."
 
Well....its not exactly a "marshmallow world" here in sunny So-Cal, although the temp did finally dip down into jacket weather this week. (44 degrees on my way home from work!) For all of you out there who get to experience actual weather during the holidays, I am slightly jealous.  None the less, Dean Martin captures wonderfully the magic of a snow filled winter in this, one of my favorite Christmas Season songs. Oh ,how I adore me some Dean! Since we don't actually get snow here, I thought I would get started on some holiday projects to help usher in the holiday spirit. I wanted to make some wintry treats and decided I would start with Marshmallow pops. These versatile yummy goodies can really be made for any occasion and can be as simple or as fancy as you like.  They can even be made ahead of time as well if you wanted to get them out of the way early.
 
 
It all began with a quick trip to my local Target for some supplies.  I grabbed myself a bag of large marshmallows (not the UBER big ones, although I am sure they would also make some pretty awesome pops) some melting chocolates in a few colors and a container or Christmas sprinkles.  I found a really awesome set of sprinkles with 6 different kinds in one pack. I grabbed some candy sticks, cellophane bags and twist ties at my local baking/party supply store but they are also available at any Michael's or JoAnn craft stores. Once I had my supplies, I threw in my "Christmas with Dino" CD and got to work.
 
 
For the first step, I rolled out some waxed paper on my counter and lined up my marshmallows. I then pushed a candy stick into each marshmallow, being careful not to push them all the way through.  Once all of the marshmallows were given a stick, it was time to melt the chocolate.  I decorated using one color at a time to avoid each color cooling too much between pops.  I melted the chocolate 15 seconds at a time in the microwave, adding one teaspoon of vegetable shortening for smoother melting. I then poured my desired sprinkles into a bowl, next to my bowl of melted chocolate.
 
 

I dipped the top of each marshmallow into the melted chocolate. You can, of course, dip as much of the marshmallow in chocolate as you want or even dip it at an angle. I chose to dip just the tops straight up and down. 
 
 
 
Immediately after dipping the tops in chocolate, I moved them over the sprinkle bowl and lightly poured on some sprinkles. (please excuse my blurry picture. I discovered that taking a picture while holding a marshmallow pop AND dropping sprinkles on all at the same time is in fact a lot more difficult than I had originally anticipated)
 
 
Once they received their sprinkles, I set the pops in a juice glass to dry.  They dry relatively quickly and can then be placed in cellophane bags and tied with twist ties.  Your treats are then ready to be enjoyed! They can be given out individually (great for kid's school holiday parties)
 
 
Or, bundle them together with some ribbon as a wonderfully wintry treat bouquet or as part of a hot chocolate gift set for gifting to families.  So cute and so simple!!
 
This was the perfect holiday project for me to start with, especially this week! My sister came out from Arizona with her daughter Charlie to visit.  We had some great family visiting and they got to have some great cousin playtime too.


 
Charlie also got to meet my Boyfriend, which was pretty hilarious! She was very interested in his facial hair. I'm pretty sure he is the first fully bearded man she has met, and we all know how much babies love grabbing fist fulls of hair.  Imagine discovering someone with hair, long enough to grab, on their face for the first time! :)
 
 
We had a very nice visit and I am glad I also got to kick of my Christmas festivities!  This week will include Christmas tree and present shopping. Only 19 days till Christmas, AHHH! This is my favorite time of year! I love the cool(er) weather, the sparkling lights everywhere you go, the music, and most of all, the time spent gathered with family and friends. I hope you all are enjoying you holiday prep as much as I am! Happy Holidays everyone!

1 comment:

  1. What a great idea for a kids Christmas treat. Thanks for sharing. Sounds like your weekend was both fun and yet jam packed..

    ReplyDelete

Friday, December 6, 2013

Marshmallow World

"Its a Marshmallow world in the winter,
when the snow comes to cover the ground.
It's the time for play, its a whipped cream day.
I wait for it the whole year round."
 
Well....its not exactly a "marshmallow world" here in sunny So-Cal, although the temp did finally dip down into jacket weather this week. (44 degrees on my way home from work!) For all of you out there who get to experience actual weather during the holidays, I am slightly jealous.  None the less, Dean Martin captures wonderfully the magic of a snow filled winter in this, one of my favorite Christmas Season songs. Oh ,how I adore me some Dean! Since we don't actually get snow here, I thought I would get started on some holiday projects to help usher in the holiday spirit. I wanted to make some wintry treats and decided I would start with Marshmallow pops. These versatile yummy goodies can really be made for any occasion and can be as simple or as fancy as you like.  They can even be made ahead of time as well if you wanted to get them out of the way early.
 
 
It all began with a quick trip to my local Target for some supplies.  I grabbed myself a bag of large marshmallows (not the UBER big ones, although I am sure they would also make some pretty awesome pops) some melting chocolates in a few colors and a container or Christmas sprinkles.  I found a really awesome set of sprinkles with 6 different kinds in one pack. I grabbed some candy sticks, cellophane bags and twist ties at my local baking/party supply store but they are also available at any Michael's or JoAnn craft stores. Once I had my supplies, I threw in my "Christmas with Dino" CD and got to work.
 
 
For the first step, I rolled out some waxed paper on my counter and lined up my marshmallows. I then pushed a candy stick into each marshmallow, being careful not to push them all the way through.  Once all of the marshmallows were given a stick, it was time to melt the chocolate.  I decorated using one color at a time to avoid each color cooling too much between pops.  I melted the chocolate 15 seconds at a time in the microwave, adding one teaspoon of vegetable shortening for smoother melting. I then poured my desired sprinkles into a bowl, next to my bowl of melted chocolate.
 
 

I dipped the top of each marshmallow into the melted chocolate. You can, of course, dip as much of the marshmallow in chocolate as you want or even dip it at an angle. I chose to dip just the tops straight up and down. 
 
 
 
Immediately after dipping the tops in chocolate, I moved them over the sprinkle bowl and lightly poured on some sprinkles. (please excuse my blurry picture. I discovered that taking a picture while holding a marshmallow pop AND dropping sprinkles on all at the same time is in fact a lot more difficult than I had originally anticipated)
 
 
Once they received their sprinkles, I set the pops in a juice glass to dry.  They dry relatively quickly and can then be placed in cellophane bags and tied with twist ties.  Your treats are then ready to be enjoyed! They can be given out individually (great for kid's school holiday parties)
 
 
Or, bundle them together with some ribbon as a wonderfully wintry treat bouquet or as part of a hot chocolate gift set for gifting to families.  So cute and so simple!!
 
This was the perfect holiday project for me to start with, especially this week! My sister came out from Arizona with her daughter Charlie to visit.  We had some great family visiting and they got to have some great cousin playtime too.


 
Charlie also got to meet my Boyfriend, which was pretty hilarious! She was very interested in his facial hair. I'm pretty sure he is the first fully bearded man she has met, and we all know how much babies love grabbing fist fulls of hair.  Imagine discovering someone with hair, long enough to grab, on their face for the first time! :)
 
 
We had a very nice visit and I am glad I also got to kick of my Christmas festivities!  This week will include Christmas tree and present shopping. Only 19 days till Christmas, AHHH! This is my favorite time of year! I love the cool(er) weather, the sparkling lights everywhere you go, the music, and most of all, the time spent gathered with family and friends. I hope you all are enjoying you holiday prep as much as I am! Happy Holidays everyone!

1 comment:

  1. What a great idea for a kids Christmas treat. Thanks for sharing. Sounds like your weekend was both fun and yet jam packed..

    ReplyDelete