Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Temptation

There are many foods that my British husband misses living over here in the US that either can't be had or can only be found at a very dear price.  The only food I truly missed when we were living in the UK was marshmallows.  I once bought what passed for marshmallows over there and tried to toast them over a campfire. It was awful - saccharine tasting stuff that just melted without toasting - and one of my favorite treats, hands down, is toasted marshmallows.  We have installed a wood-burning stove at the little house on the prairie, so I can pretty much toast marshmallows whenever I want throughout the winter.  You'd think the novelty would wear off, but no, each and every time I have a toasted marshmallow, I think it is the Best. Thing. Ever.

The way I like to eat them, I toast them ever-so-golden brownish - best done carefully over really hot coals - then gently pull the toasted outer layer off as a whole and pop it in my mouth.  The slightly crispy, caramelized sugar shell is absolutely sublime.  This leaves a ball of slightly melted marshmallow at the end of the stick, ready to repeat the process.  I think I once managed a record six "pulls" on one marshmallow.  I recently discovered that if I toast and pull a marshmallow shell off once or twice then simply eat the marshmallow ball left behind, I get delightful melted marshmallow covering a bouncy unmelted center.  Yu-um-my!

My dear husband is often kind enough to point out when the fire reaches perfect marshmallow toasting conditions, and on a recent evening when he did so, I confessed that I only had two marshmallows left in the bag and had decided not to buy more because I found it difficult to resist the siren call of my favorite treat.  And that reminded me of this video, over which we shared a giggle.

I love the little blond girl who nibbles away about 2/3 of her marshmallow then examines it and puts it back on the plate, like, "nah - they'll never notice."



 

5 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, your marshmallow rasting technique sounds amazing! Although I'm not sure I'd have the patience to roast it layer after layer.

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  2. We did a little roasting over the fireplace this winter now and then too. Kids like to stick them in the microwave because they get super puffy. They started sticking those little peeps in there too this past Easter.
    It's kind of comical and a little cruel at the same time.

    They get super puffy too.

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  3. Love roasting marshmallows. Of course, as you know, I prefer them to be served as s'mores. Come on...marshmallows and chocolate....mmmm!

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  4. I LOVE marshmallows. Particularly toasted ones. Yum.

    And you know, on some trip to England I discovered Hob Nobs, and they are on my list of Best Things Ever. I would trade them for marshmallows in a second.

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  5. ooo that was a cute video! My hubby can quite happily eat a bag of marshmallows by himself! heheh

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