Squares

I'm not sure this was really necessary, but have you seen these?

These are Kraft's new marshmallows. They are flat and square, the better to fit s'mores.

When I was buying a bag of marshmallows to make s'mores, these were cheaper than regular large marshmallows. It grabbed them, not giving a care what they looked like. It wasn't until I actually set out to make s'mores in the microwave about a week later that I noticed the odd shape and then read the package.

How do they work? Well, they are okay. For me, half the fun in making a microwave s'more is watching the marshmallow puff up and then shrink down. I'm not sure these get as gooey inside as the other, bigger, kind. I know big marshmallows tend to be less expensive than the miniature ones and I have, in the past, purchased the big ones and cut them down for recipes. These square ones will be much easier to cut if their price stays as low as it was. I tend to think this will be a niche market that won't last beyond a couple years.

Still, they were fun to use. These would not work, I don't think, on the end of a stick held in fire. Mmmmm. That's the best way to make s'more, over an open fire on a crisp autumn evening with friends or family and the inevitable discussion. Which is better, a lightly browned marshmallow or a charred one?

Beverage:  Edinburgh's Finest tea

Deb

I Miss Fires

The title is not something people battling with wildfires want to hear. I've never experienced the roaring power of something that large and I hope I never do. What I mean by this is that I miss the fires we used to make as kids with mom and dad in the burn barrel north of the house. I miss the prep work to get a good fire going in the grill . Those kinds of fires I miss.

I miss them because they make the best marshmallows for s'mores.

Could anything else typify summer more than a s'more? Zeke, who mows my lawn, was going to have a bar-be-que on July 4th so I thought one of the best things I could bring was fixings for s'mores. Not everyone would eat them, but I would probably be taking home only the graham crackers and a partial bag of marshmallows.

As it happened, he came by about 2 and said he was cancelling the party, that the near 100 degree heat just made being outside oppressive. I can't say I blame him. I wouldn't want grill duty either when the air temperature is near 100 and you have heat coming off white hot coals. This leaves me with the ingredients for s'more. Yeah, yeah. Life could be a whole lot worse.

I know how to make microwave s'mores which is what I've wound up doing.

They are still wonderfully gooey, in fact, almost too gooey. The microwave melts the chocolate from the inside out so the exterior looks the same. The minute you smash that top down and then pick the whole thing up to eat, the melted chocolate runs like a river. If you don't have the plate handy, it's all over your hands and t-shirt. (Make sure the design on the front is busy enough that chocolate drips aren't that noticeable.)

These are good but I really miss roasting marshmallows over a fire. I prefer my marshmallows charred on the outside and gooey with a somewhat firm center on the inside. I like setting them on fire and frantically blowing out the flames before the mallow falls off the stick. Yes, stick. You find a good sturdy stick and shove that marshmallow right onto the end of it. Then, when you yoink it off and onto the chocolate and graham cracker, you stick that stick dead center in the coals and let any marshmallow residue burn itself off. I suppose today's parents would be horrified that we just used a stick. Sometimes dad would cut twigs for us but most of the time, we used something we'd found on the ground.

I don't have a working grill anymore and it's not something I would replace. A big kettle grill is too much for me. There are table-top models which would probably do the trick. I miss grilling as it adds a flavor to food you can't get anywhere else and no, I'm not referring to the smoke from grilling a particularly fatty food and having that fat drip onto the coals to produce smoke.

This will suffice. It's adequate for satisfying the craving for a treat of summer and it's easy to make.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Happy July 4th a day late.

I've spend a leisurely weekend just lounging. I have to head to Iowa in the next few hours. I will be installing equipment on a road construction job in Fort Madison tomorrow morning at 10. I'm going to see my mother. It won't be a long visit. I'm fairly certain I need to be on the road early tomorrow morning to be where I have to be on time. The weather is supposed to be nice. Rain on Tuesday so I think just taking off the windows is all I can do.

It rained most of yesterday. For some reason, it was far noisier around the neighborhood this year than in past years. Fireworks, beyond sprinklers, small firecrackers and smoke bombs, are prohibited in Illinois. Certainly what went off several times over the last 3 days has not been of the "small" variety. I was tempted, when one blast shook my house, to call the constabulary, but I know they had their hands full last night.

It got really foggy last night late, the kind of fog I love to walk in. When I went to bed the fog had blurred the house lights across the street. I almost expected to see Humphrey Bogart, trench coat and cigarette, leaning against the street light north of my house, as he waited for Lauren Bacall or Sydney Greenstreet.

Shall I go see "Public Enemies", the new Johnny Depp movie about John Dillinger? I have a date Wednesday night. He has suggested dinner and a movie. I'm not a rabid Depp fan. I would probably go to see the locations around Chicagoland which were used for filming. I heard the ending is not how Dillinger died. As it's something of shrine in Chicago, perhaps I should go so I can say, "That's not what happened". Some day, I should take the "Gangster Tour".

I was invited to the neighbor's cook-out last night, but the thought of jockeying for protection under a tent from the steady rain was not my cuppa. I made cheeseburgers and cottage fries and had myself a Belhaven Scottish Ale. Perfect holiday fare.

Time to move on to other things. I don't like leaving a messy house. Pam is coming over to feed the girls tonight and tomorrow morning. I'll be back in the late afternoon. I need to clean litter boxes, damp mop floors and pack a bit for myself. Then I head over to the office to pick up the equipment and I'm good to go. Gas here is $2.79/gallon. What will it be in Iowa, I wonder?

Beverage: Orange juice

Deb