Several hours later, I have a new pair of jeans, two new shirts in bright colors (all I ever seem to wear is black, and I realized I only have three shirts in my "casual shirt" rotation for Fridays at work), and I have replaced my missing frosting tips. Hurrah. My feet are cold, because the jeans I wore were too long and one of them worked its way out of being tucked into my boots and got all wet and all over my foot.

And now I am home, considering what I am going to do with my evening. I restarted The Hamlet Project last weekend, and wound up watching Mel Gibson's Hamlet in two parts (I got tired, and went to bed when he went to England). At some point I am going to write up my thoughts on it. But I don't think I'm up for starting the Brannaugh Hamlet this evening, or even Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

My purple sweater is now so close to completion I think I will have it done by the end of this weekend, so I want to put something relatively mindless on TV and sew it together. I have wine colored yarn with shots of sterling silver through it that has been calling me for nearly a year. I have promised myself that I am not even balling up the yarn until the purple sweater is done, but it will be turned into a lovely lace cardigan I have already named Lleu, which is a joke that is so obscure, there are only two of us who get it.

Maybe I will find someplace that will bring me sushi. And or fresh rolls. _

Most days, I don't mind the carless thing. And then I decide to run a series of errands in Everett, which Google Maps says is 11 minutes by car, but ~1 by public transit. ((sigh)) _

The weirdness of Facebook is news from cousins: two days after Christmas, I saw one cousin and his wife on the way to the hospital and then two hours later a "welcome baby x" message. And found out another cousin is engaged this afternoon. Via Facebook. Several hours later, I got an email from my dad with a forwarded message from my aunt and uncle that includes things like the girl's name. _

In a fit of productivity this morning (or, really, early afternoon) I went to Whole Foods. Because I am making a gluten and cow's milk free quiche (potato crust, which I had all the igredients for, and goat cheese, which I didn't) for my fit of sociability this evening. But. I want to curl up on my couch all covered in blankets and knit and watch reruns of Bones through Netflix on the Wii. ((sigh))

Also, I bought a hair straigtener. Hm. _

Temptation is: gorgeous red yarn shot with silver sitting at home, tempting you, despite the promise to yourself that you're not taking it out of the plastic bags until the purple sweater is finished.

I am so close with this purple sweater. I really want to wear it. _

We asked Subhash last night what language he dreams in, and after we haltingly described dreams ("you know, when you're sleeping, how you see things?"), he told us that there was no talking in his dreams. Weird. I have never heard of people only having silent dreams. Just, you know, black and white dreams, or not remembering their dreams at all. (I don't remember my dreams, almost ever, but when I do remember them they are in color. Also, I have totally read books in dreams. I remember reading A Swiftly Tilting Planet in a dream and the ending was different and I had some perfect dream logic of "oh, I must have read it x number of times which changes the ending." This is not to mention the Benedryl induced dream I had while trying to read the Book of Kings sophomore year. This is why I don't take Benedryl. I should have skipped that seminar.) _

When we started an hour ago, there were three of us trying to put the saran wrap stuff around the windows. Subhash has waved us off and is trying it himself. Hm. I suspect that the stuff isn't long enough for our windows; we really should have measured. My blow dryer is out, I will blow them dry. We are still not finished with the first window

(This is the stuff you put on your windows to prevent cold air from getting in, not the anthrax and duct tape scare of ten years ago.) _

It's nice when you know gifts you gave are appreciated; my brother figured out what I got him as soon as it was handed (wrapped) to him, based on the size. (I got him custom playing cards, with the Brew Gene logo on the back; he knew I was getting him Brew Gene something, but not what.) Last night I got a text from my stepmother telling me they'd just finished Sherlock, and how could they find season 2. (Wait, I replied. They are working on it.) _

I am sitting here, ordering my favorite Harney and Sons' teas online (because you can buy them by the pound online, and they have the Valentine's Day blend all year round), and their website is warning me that they are no longer able to ship in time for Christmas, would I like to buy a gift certificate. ha ha ha...Time to change your message. Or, of course, get better delivery service, because if you can't ship me tea by Christmas 2011, I will go track down a store where I can buy my teas in person. _

Because Tania asked

My basic marshmallow recipe is:

Ingredients
3 packages unflavored gelatin
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Instructions

• Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.
• Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat.
• With the mixer on low speed slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin. Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.
• With a sieve, generously dust an 8 x 12-inch non-metal baking dish with confectioners' sugar. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan, smooth the top and dust with more confectioners' sugar. Allow to stand uncovered overnight until it dries out.
• Turn the marshmallows onto a board and cut them in squares. dust them with more confectioners' sugar. I find that cutting them is easiest with a pizza cutter, if you have one (but if you don't, it's not the end of the world).

I think my recipe was originally from the Barefoot Contessa. When I was making marshmallows before the party, I did 2/3 size batches, so I used two envelopes of gelatin instead of 3. That's not hugely important, except you ought to know that I always use way more vanilla extract than recipes call for. Plain vanilla marshmallows are delicious. Flavors are exotic and fun.

The easiest variations I did were the honey vanilla and the candy cane. For the honey vanilla, replace the corn syrup with honey, and follow the recipe as stated. Easy peasy. The candy cane flavor is 1 Tbsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract (peppermint extract goes a long way); you can taste and add more if you want. I added a red food dye swirl, but that was all for effect. Last year, I used crush candy canes with the powdered sugar on top and bottom, but they melted and got crunchy and kind of ruined the whole light and fluffy marshmallow thing.

The salted caramel are also pretty easy. Replace the white sugar with brown, and cook to 230 instead of 240, since brown sugar reaches soft ball about ten degrees lower. (If you cook to 240, they will not get as fluffy.) Also, instead of using a tiny bit of salt, I used like a teaspoon of salt, because I was shooting for the sea-salt caramel flavor rather than the super OMG so sweet caramel flavor. I split the amount of flavoring, and you use half vanilla half artificial butter flavoring (it smells kind of like a movie theater.) Other than that, easy.

Gingerbread marshmallows had the most changes. I replaced the white sugar with brown (so, again, cook to 230 instead of 240), and replaced half the corn syrup with molasses. I cooked gingerbread spices in with the sugars, using 1 tsp of cinnamon and ginger, 1/2 tsp of cloves, and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg. I thought about adding no extacts, but I decided to use 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of cinnamon extract.

Anyway. They were all delicious. I also might try making them at some point replacing the corn syrup with maple syrup. We shall see. _