My family isn’t religious, but Easter is eagerly awaited every year for one reason– seasonal candy. There’s a long list of sweets we look forward to, including malted eggs, starburst jelly beans, but most importantly: peeps. It’s not because they’re particularly delicious, since we mostly end up watching as they get nuked to smithereens in the microwave (we’re easily amused). I’m not sure what it is, but marshmallow chicks definitely hold some indefinable appeal. In true childerhouse fashion, I decided they could be improved upon. I stocked up on white sugar and gelatin, and plugged in my KitchenAid.

The first step was to whiz together granulated sugar and some yellow gel food coloring in my coffee grinder, so I’d have a superfine, yellow sugar to coat the peeps with. The second step was to make a batch of Martha’s marshmallows. It’s a recipe I revisit every Christmas, but I’ve always dumped the marshmallow goo straight into a pan and cut it into squares after it’s set. This was the first time I’d tried piping it, and realized there were two very important factors in play: the marshmallows had to be whipped as stiffly as possible, and I had a limited window to work in before the marshmallows started to set and became too thick to pipe.

I used an Ateco #808 tip to pipe the peeps– it’s got a 5/8″ tip and is so big I haven’t even found a coupler it fits with, so I have to ghetto-rig it with a gallon size bag and a rubber band. After piping my chicks, I covered them in the yellow sugar, and let them set for about an hour. Then I dusted off the excess sugar and used a toothpick and some brown gel food coloring to dot on some eyes. All in all, they’re not as pretty as factory peeps, but they’re way more delicious.

I used some fancy tips to make some swirly, cupcake-icing-like marshmallows, and knew right away they’d be perfect for s’mores. I threw together the graham cracker dough from this book, and an hour and a half later, I was in heaven.

Well, I’ve been keeping myself pretty busy with non-crafty endeavors recently; hence the blog silence. Nick has been interviewing for a lot of jobs, so I’m perpetually crossing my fingers in the hopes we’ll be out of Ohio soon. I need a change of scenery, stat.

In spite of the fact we’ve had just about as much snow as Texas this year (next to none), it’s still plenty cold out. One way I like to stave off the cold is to make myself a bowl of oatmeal.

Ever since I whipped up some kheer for an Indian dinner party, I have been pretty obsessed with coconut milk. I used to always make oatmeal with cow’s milk, but I’ve been swapping it out for the coconut variety lately, and to great effect.

I also really lucked out recently when a coworker of Nick’s turned out to be an amateur apiarist, and brought me a jar full of raw Ohio honey. I’ve already made a pretty big dent in it, because it’s an excellent addition to oatmeal.

Oatmeal for one

1/2 cup old fashioned oats (or a mixture of rolled grains)
1 cup coconut milk
pinch of salt
large spoonful of honey
1/4 tsp ground cardamom

Simply combine all the above in a small saucepan, and heat over medium high while stirring frequently. Cook until the mixture is thickened. I like to top mine with a drizzle of cream and a fresh grating of nutmeg.

Let’s face it– gift baskets are super classy.

It seems like every holiday, my plans for our annual treats get a little more out of hand. I was really set on fancy gift baskets this year, and while I managed to talk myself down from weaving everyone their own personal basket, I made sure each of the baskets I thrifted was filled to the brim with homemade deliciousness.

Back in June, I sliced up a bunch of vanilla beans and stuck them in a huge bottle of bourbon, so I’d have extract ready for everybody. There’s a good tutorial here. I also made:

– Pink Peppercorn Mustard
– Apple Butter from a recipe in this book.
– Rosemary Shortbread
– Christmas-colored macarons
– English toffee
– Peanut Butter Cups
– Sea Salt Caramels

Nick was in charge of making some crazy tasty pork and chicken summer sausage. I wrapped it all in paper and string, and sent it off to some deserving recipients. Is it weird that I’m already planning next year’s basket?

(More homemade Christmas presents, coming up soon.)