While I have been at home vacationing, I decided to fiddle with some holiday dessert thingies that I love but have never made. Okay, one I have made before (two years back), the other never. The first would be chex muddy buddies or puppy chow. Pain to make, almost impossible to properly coat with powdered sugar, but so yummy and addicting. That project worked out fine.
The second were cornflake marshmallow green wreath thingies. The recipe calls them cookies, but really...who are we fooling here? There is no cooking involved. In fact, there is no baking involved. Just melting, pouring and waiting. The first batch turned out fine. Since it was my first time, I didn't bother trying to make them into pretty little wreaths. I just dropped them by the spoonful and sprinkled cinnamon sugar sprinkles on them and called it "done." I remember walking away thinking that they looked more like clumps of holly with berries than wreaths, but since it was just for B and I, did it really matter? We will ignore the fact that the first thing B said was "those don't LOOK like wreaths." He should know by now that I am not about presentation. Presentation comes last. Yumminess must be mastered first.
Well the wreaths were a big hit with the two of us while the poor puppy chow is still sitting there being munched on less enthusiastically. I passed some of it on to my parents today and then got the brilliant idea to make them some of the cornflake wreath marshmallow thingies. After all, why not share the yummy goodness with others? It is my holiday duty.*
Remembering that I had to add the vanilla and green food coloring in very quickly at the end before everything started cementing, I decided to premeasure it and put it into little bowls. This worked out so well last time. As I poured the green food coloring into the little bowl I remember thinking "less likelihood of spillage." Then I turned and knocked over the open bottle of green food coloring which proceeded to spill ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTERTOP. I let out a little "no" that I thought was pretty inaudible** and moved quickly to get papertowel.
As I tried to sop it up only to discover the papertowel, my fingers, the sink AND THE FRICKIN' COUNTER were all still a lovely Christmas green, I started to panic. Any minute B would come in and I would have to explain why our previously beige countertop was green and what an idiot I was for messing with food coloring. I decided I needed a rag. Hurrying back to the rags, I passed B who inquired "so what's going on..." to which I replied "you really do not want to know." He agreed. I quickly returned to the kitchen with a rag.
Fringing on losing my mind, I rush to the computer and google "how to get food coloring out of a countertop." The results all lead me to articles on how to get food coloring out of clothes involving presoaking, etc. Apparently no one gets it on their counter. Just me. I panic once more and start to wonder how much it costs to replace a countertop when it dawns on me...wait! How do I get it off my fingers when I cook? Dishsoap!
Off I run back to the kitchen to add dishsoap to the rag and it worked!! The green came off and you cannot even tell it was there. I swear it was only about 5 minutes this whole experience took place, but it felt like forever. Later, B made an appearance in the kitchen, looked around and said "well?" "Well, what" I replied all nonchalantly, "crisis averted."*** "Oh, the crisis that needed a rag?" So observant that one. He still has no idea what happened, although I gave him a little clue by saying:
"But whatever you do, do not wash your clothes with the rag in the washer. Unless you want them Christmas green, that is."
The wreath/holly marshmallow thingies turned out great. They are missing the red cinnamon things because B declared he did not like them. I figured my parents might not either.
Look at that yummy goodness! Makes me want to go eat another one. We still have enough fixings for one more batch.
That one will NOT be green.
*I know the holidays are over but in my head they last all the way until I go back to work on Monday.
**That B has supersonic hearing, I tell ya.
**Until later when I decided to heat up milk for hot chocolate only to have it overflow and burn while I was not looking. That was after moving it to a different burner as the first burner had pieces of green marshmallow on it that had escaped me. B came out and said "what is going on NOW? I hear fan on , fan off and something smells AWFUL." What? Can't a girl get a cup of hot chocolate?
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6 important things being said:
Yeah, those really do not look like wreaths. But they do look good!
Well I am going to rename them holly cookies. Better? And they are yummy!
Those look really good! And puppy chow is one of my favorite things ever. I don't have the recipe, and don't intend to find it because I'll gain an obscene amount of weight since I love it so.
I'm so happy to hear the food coloring came out of the countertop -- that sounds like something I would do. And food coloring is dangerous because it dyes anything it touches!
EP - I hear ya. That is how I feel about these wreath thingies. Luckily between my parents and B, I didnt get one out of the batch I posted about. One more batch to use up the cornflakes and I am done! And dye IS dangerous. But oh so pretty.
Ohh, my sister made those and brought them over to my Dad's. Everyone kept asking what the weird things in the bowl were. I ate 2 to be nice because no one else touched them. They were good but the color was kinda off-putting because she didn't even put ENOUGH green in. So it was just this kinda moldy looking cornflake concoction - like it had sat in a bowl, clumped together and grew mold. Tasted good though!
Lazy - that is all kinds of wrong. If I were actually taking them to someone's house, I would make sure that they were shaped like wreaths with the red candies and everything so they were recognizable. I would also probably announce what they are. And LOTS of green dye would be used. In my very protected and papered kitchen of course. Lesson learned there.
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