CTB 2014 - Marshmallow Madness!

I hate to admit this, but I haven't sat by a campfire in 4 years. The last time I sat with friends and toasted marshmallows was the summer of 2010. Weeks away from picking up once again and moving from Boulder, Colorado to New Haven, Connecticut, I just spent the day on the reservoir with my fitness family.

With the sun setting over the Rocky mountains, we settled into foldout chairs with fuzzy blankets and bags of marshmallows, graham crackers and Hershey bars. I learned that the best way to enjoy a s'more is to stuff a Milk Dud into the center of a marshmallow before toasting it. Chocolate, caramel and marshmallow. So amazing.

Since moving from Boulder to the East coast, I haven't found myself in the presence of a campfire. You aren't really allowed to start fires in an apartment building. In order to fully enjoy this summer, I wanted to recreate a summertime treat in my kitchen. No fire required.

This s'mores cupcakes was the perfect way to reminisce, without setting fire to my kitchen. Though I'm not going to lie, there totally was a series of small fires when I made these beauties. Did you know that cupcake liners are flammable? When toasting the marshmallow frosting, be careful not to light the actual cupcake on fire!

Key Lime Mallowpuffs

Yesterday was one of those days.  You know what I'm talking about, right?  Day starts and it's so humid that you can't tame your hair to look like something other than a wild animal.  Your walk to work is punctuated with drops of rain and gusts of wind.  Finally arriving at work you realize that you have to start your day with the thing you hate the most, running a column (insert your least favorite task in place of "running a column").

I don't know if it was the rain or my crazy person hair or my dislike of running columns, but the day just wasn't happening for me.  I also blame the book that I've been reading.  I keep getting sucked in and wind up going to sleep at midnight each night.  A totally normal time, except when you wake up at six every morning.  So tired...

I drudged through my day, things getting better, then worse, until finally it was time to go home!  A mere fourteen hours after I had entered the building.  I blame that last hour on the NMR, it just wouldn't tune.  Appartently that was my fault because I forgot a step while changing the probe.  (Sounds sciencey and fun, right?)  I'll have to remember next time I do that, don't wear hair pins while changing the probe.  Why?  The NMR is a 500 mHz magnet, and it tries to eat hair pins, ie, pull them out of your hair.  It's a very strange sensation.

Even though my day was kind of a bummer, at least I had these cookies to help me through.  Originally I was asked to make Griffins Mallowpuffs.  If you are a native New Zealander (like the person who made the request) you'll know just what I'm talking about.  If you're from the northeast, then you know them as Mallomars.  Unfortunately, Nabisco only makes mallomars in the fall as they tend to melt in the summertime.  Instead of sticking with the traditional vanilla marshmallow on vanilla cookie (like a mallowpuff), I decided to continue my key lime trend and make a Key lime pie Mallowpuff!  Make these and your day will be a little brighter!