Culinary Thursday: Shmarshmallows!

Oh hai!  Ready?  I gots a great post today - we make'd shmarshmallows!  My mommeh's mommeh's birfday is on Hallyween, so we thought some orangey treats would be nice to send her in the mails.

 We begins wif some plain gelatin and ice water.  Mix it briefly in your big bowl, then leave it alone while you does the other stuffs.

Next you get your kitteh sized pot, and heat to a boil a mix of sugars, salts, ice waters, and light corn syrups.

Reduce the heat to the lowest you got, and let it simmer away for about 30 minutes, stirring every once in a while, until your thermometer reaches 245 degress.  Wowee, that's the hots!  Keep your furs away from this one, and let your mommeh halp you.

This is what it looks like when it is done.

 Now you has to pour it, verreh slowly, bit by bit, into your gelatin bowl WHILE you has your mixer going on low.  My kitteh sized pot has a pour spouty thingie, but yours may not, so I suggests ladling it into a pyrex measuring cup first.  The extra sticky dish is worth it so you don't burn yourself or drip it all over the place.  It is kinda hard to pour liquids from a pot to begin wif, and when you add the slow factor, you is in trubbles.

 

So this is what it looks like as you are mixing on low, immediately after it has all been incorporated.  Once it is all smooth and liquidy, get in front of the tv, turn the mixer up to medium-high, and prepare yourself to spend 15 minutes like that.

 As you can sees, it thickens up like crazy.  Make sure you move your mixer around slowwwwwwly or you might burn the motor out.  A hand mixer can't handle quick movements through this thick of a mixture.  During the last 3 minutes or so, adds some vanilla extract and your food coloring if you are using it.  I likes the plain white myself, but my mommeh insisted it be Hallyweeny orange.

 

 This is what you comes out wif.

Spray a disposable 13x9 pan wif cooking spray, and coat wif dusting mixture.  (Depends on your recipe, but many are just corn starch and powdery sugars.)  Make sure you taps it around in the pan, and dumps the extra, just like you would do if you was flouring a cake pan.

Scoops out all the shmarshmallowy goodness that you can wif a rubber spatula sprayed wif cooking spray.  You can not possibly gets every drop, so saves yourself the headache and do not try.  Spray a big flat utensil, preferably a wooden spoon, wif cooking spray, and spread the goodness out in the pan.

Looks like this now.  And do not freak about the way it looks.  You will never get it totally flat or smooth.  Just make sure it is all the same thickness, spreaded evenly.

Walk by for frequent sniffs, it is a great smell.  But uhhh, do not touch it yet.  MOL, I can tells you it is extremely stickeh at this point, and you will never recovers your furs if you puts a paw into it.

Leave it out uncovered for 1 hour.

Let your nosey little sis-ter has a sniff, if she must.

Sis-ters is annoying when you is trying to cooks.  Note my vexation face.

When the hour is up, there will be sort of a springy skin on top of the shmarshmallow.  If you touches it verreh lightly, nothing will come away on your fingers.  Paws.  Whichever you has.  So now you takes your dusting powder again, and dust all over the top.  Leaves it out uncovered overnight.

*Sniff-snuff!*  *Achoo!*

 The next day you is ready to starts the fun part.  Pop the shmarshmallow out of the pan.  This is why we used a disposable pan.  Sometimes it can be a little bit tricky to get out, and you does not want any trubbles there, so you can just peel the foil pan away if it argues wif you.

 Dust a pizza cutter or cookie cutters wif your dusting mix, and get to cutting!  You can does any shapes you like.  We was in the mood for plain squares/rectangles.  Oh by the way, this is the moment to taste test.  Steal one piece while nobuddy is looking.  But brace yourself.  You might just die.  It will be the BESTEST shmarshmallow you has ever hadded.

 

 We used chocolates, butterscotch chips, and graham cracker crumbs to decorate these.  If you is dipping in chocolates, remember to go slowwwwwly on this part.  Because of the dusting powder, the chocolate will  not stick if you just dip it quick. Takes your time, and it will has no problem clinging on to your shmarshmallow.

 

Ta-daaaaa!!!!! Totally nommy, huh?

 

 Lets those dry a few hours, then package up if you is making presents, or chow down!  These are the boxes we make'd to send down to my mommeh's mommeh.

Hope you enjoyed today's Culinary Thursday post about shmarshmallows!  It is some work, but amazingly yummeh when you is done.  And now for the announcement:

AttieCattie Shmarshmallow Kits!

Yep.

We is working on the demo kit right now, double checking the measurements and getting label and instructions printed, but soon we will post pik-shers of what it is and how to get it.  (Also, if you is feeling kinda lazy, you can also request we makes them for you.)  We is starting wif shmarshmallows, but will soon be offering a number of AttieCattie mixes, kits, and more!  This way you can cooks along wif me on Culinary Thursdays and take the culinary kitteh fun to a whole new level!

Hitting the bottle.

Sorreh for the lack of posts.  We has kinda been shirking most responsibilities lately.  As you can see, on occasion we likes to hit the bottle, and that definitely distracts.  Howevers, we has a pretteh cool Culinary Thursday post coming your way this week, so gets ready for that, AND something else verreh neat-o my mommeh and I is working on that kinda goes along wif it...  Announcement soon!

Kitteh Heavens?

When my mommeh was on the plane last week, she taked these pik-shers.  When she showed them to me, all I could think about was the book ZK recommended, called "Cat Heaven," about where us kittehs go when our life here is done.  She says we gets to sit on god's counters and get treats, and play on any clouds we want, and sleeps on them too!  Do you think Cat Heaven looks a little bit like this?

It is comforting to know that our furrends who has gone to the Bridge might be somewhere like this.

Movie Monday

We has a new chair.
.....It sniffs weird.
(We did this for like two hours.)

Wordless Wednesday: Audrey is Trashy!

Mommeh Monday

Well it is my mommeh's birfday tomorrow. She is SO OLD. And I am verreh crabilated wif her. Some furrends buy'd her a plane ticket so she is leaving for teh rest of teh week for a little celebration vacation. Sigh. I is so neglected. I does not unnerstands how it can be a celebration OR a vacation wifout me and BA, but okay, what does I know, right? I is only the light of your life. Why should I give a smelt what "nonrefundable" means? She should stays home wif me instead and halp me blog instead of leaving me cutted off from the CB for a week! Whateverrrrrs... Trying not to be too mads about it and hoping my furrends and my Lolo will unnerstands. Happeh Birfday tomorrow, Mommeh. I does loves you.

Pee-Ess, I thinks this kitteh must be relateded to BA... Right?!

Culinary... Friday? (Sammin Stuffed Mushies.)

Well since I used Thursday to tells you guys about Booshi's relocation, I decided to make today Culinary Friday, which feels verreh strange to me but whatevers, I wanted to get this recipe up! Me and my mommeh maked this up as we went, and it turned out to be the BEST stuffed mushie I's ever had. You has to try it.

We starts out wif a nice size sammin fillet. We has these in our freezer most of the time, so we just taked one out to defrost and then putted it on a foil-covered baking tray. Preheat the oven to 350F and pop it in for 15 to 20 minnits. (We covers trays wif foil all the time cause my mommeh hates to wash dishes.)

While the sammin is baking, put three pieces of turkey bacon in a pan and crisp them up! Mmm!

And while you has that going, you can gets the mushies ready by taking the stems out. Do this to 18 mushies. Save the stems!

We has a little chopper thingie, but you can does it by hand if you has to. Chop up (pretty fine) all the mushie stems and half a cup of onion.

By now your bacons are done, so lay them on paper towel to cool and drain, then tear into little pieces wif your hands. Set aside. You can use the same pan wifout rinsing to melt 2/3 of a stick of butters.

When the butters is melted, throw in your chopped stems and onions, and grind in some black peppers. Sautee over medium heat.

By now your sammin is done, so after letting it cool a bit drop it into a bowl and smush it up! Make sure to taste-test of course. Ohhhhh delishus.

Add in half a cup of seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs.

Then throw in your butter-mushie-onion mixture, your bacon pieces, and one generous squeeze of honey. Stir and smash it all up!

Now it's time to stuff the mushies. Get your first one ready.

Spoon the stuffing into the mushie, and pack it in as tightly as you cans.

Then takes your spoon and make a nice round mound of more stuffing on the top, so it looks like that.

Do that to all the mushie caps, laying them out on a foil-covered pan as you go. We putted a little cooking spray on ours too, so nothing would get stucks. Brush tops wif a bit of melty butters.

Into a 425F oven for 20 minnits, and they comes out like this.

Plate some up.

Nom.