Coffee Marshmallows

If there are two things Hannah loves most, it’s coffee and . . .marshmallows.  So when I found this recipe on Pinterest for coffee marshmallows I knew I had to make them for her.   If you read the instructions it seems a bit complicated, but trust me, these are really easy.  The only thing I did different was used cold dark roast coffee instead of using instant coffee and I used vanilla extract instead of vanilla beans.  I also made mine in a 9×9 pan.

It took about 10 minutes for it to get up to 240 degrees.  Once it starts whipping up in the stand mixer, it nearly quadruples in size and starts to look like jarred fluff.

I ended up getting 25 good size squares out of this recipe.  Once it sat for 4 hours, I simply took a spatula around the side to release it from the pan and flipped it on my cutting board.  I used a serrated knife to cut the squares, and ended up tossing the cut sides of the marshmallows in the cocoa/powedered sugar mixture that fell on my cutting board when I flipped them to cut.

I took a few to work to share and the first reaction was “you can make marshmallows from scratch?”  Um, yes!  And homemade marshmallows take a long time to melt in cocoa too.

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I had lunch plan yesterday so I had a super simple breakfast – half a honey crisp apple, 1 ounce of fontina cheese and a granola cluster I made over the weekend.  That recipe will be coming later this week.  First time in a long time that I’ve made granola clusters that are crunchy once cooled, yet stay cooled even when kept in a ziploc bag over night.  #winning!

At my last job I worked with a guy named Frank – we called each other our work wife/husband.  We hit it off right off the bat, had fun together, we used to have lunch together a couple times a week.  We even would go to the golfing range by our office at lunch.  As with most jobs, it doesn’t matter if I’ve eaten lunch with you for years, if you leave the job or I do, that’s usually the last time I’ll see you.  I have a few exceptions (Hi Whit, Hi Alison, Hi Kim!), but for the most part that’s it.

So imagine my surprise when a couple weeks ago I get a friend request on Facebook from Frank.  I accepted his friend request, and then he immediately saw that Tony passed away and wanted to send his belated condolences.  He and Tony used to hang out at our softball and flag football games.  On a quick side note, I cannot change my status profile on Facebook, because as far as Facebook is concerned, Tony is still alive and well.  I don’t want to delete his Facebook page because I like going back to read some of the stuff he posted and his son does too.  In any event, we decided to get together for lunch and we met at wok n fire for lunch.  Literally a 5 minute drive for each of us to get to, so it’s ridiculous we’ve let 10 years go by.

Frank got the thai curry noodles, and I got my usual, the Steak Red Curry with brown rice.  And it was as if we’ve never spent a day apart, we basically picked up where we left off.  Weird though because when I left Hannah was graduating 8th grade and his oldest was in 1st grade and he’s since had his third child whose 7 now.  It was great catching up, and we’ve promised not to let another 10 years go by without seeing each other again.

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On my way home from work I had to pick up a couple things and had to stop in my tracks when I saw this pork shoulder for .89 cents a pound!  I have to cook it or freeze it before Christmas day, so I might cook it up Christmas Eve so I can send some of it home with my Mom and SIL.  This cider braised pork shoulder looks amazeballs, no?

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Hannah’s finished all her classes for the semester – with Straight A’s I might add.  So proud of my girl.  So #beef Monday’s will go by the wayside for a while.  I thought for sure she’d eat these Greek marinated chicken pitas, but she thought about it for about a minute and was like “I think I’ll just eat my leftover Portillo’s salad from lunch, but I’ll take some tots on the side.”  Ever the carb lover!

Jacob and I loved the chicken – although I made his a top a salad with the last of our romaine lettuce.  And seriously, is there anything better than a crunchy tot?!

Jacob and I, however, have already begun a Beef Bucket List.  Places we want to eat beef, and we just added a new on to the list.  My sister was making reservations for her boss at Remington’s on Michigan Avenue.  She sent me the link and I sent this picture below to Jacob and was like “is that what we are having for dinner?!”  Um, no.  That would be the $57 bone in New York strip, but holy balls does it look delicious.  We’ve already told Hannah that they have mac n cheese or a loaded baked potato on the menu so she’s covered.  Jacky, have you heard of this place before?

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Here is your daily dose of cuteness – Roman!

Alright, off to get some steps in, I was a bit short yesterday since I missed my walk at lunch.  Make it a great day!