in the middle of a storm

in the middle of a storm i am normally hiding in a closet. i do not like storms. right now, life feels like a huge storm has stopped and i have nowhere to hide. so today i decided to make marshmallows!

marshmallows??? you might say, but seriously i made marshmallows. it was like the storm started to lift a little with with the white, fluffiness of the sticky, gooey mixture. i had my own fluffy, white clouds! the storm started to turn into a partly cloudy, mostly sunny kind of day that i can deal with.

js and i are still house hunting and enduring all the stresses that that entails. on his way home from work the other day, js was in an accident. he was stopped behind another car at a stop light. for some reason, the driver of the other vehicle decided to put her car into reverse. she backed into js. the front end of the car looks like an accordion. nobody was hurt, except the car but it can hopefully be fixed.

we only have the one car, so it's been challenging. js did get a rental car, that helped. he's been dealing with the insurance companies and those headaches. i won't get into all of the other details but i needed some fluffy, white clouds in the middle of this storm.

here's the recipe for the vanilla marshmallows that i used. it is a martha stewart recipe so i was worried that it would be kind of difficult. it was really easy! (i was able to do it while pbs was napping. that's making the marshmallows and cleaning up and having time to write this post.) hope you have fun!

ingredients:
nonstick cooking spray
3 (1/4-ounce) packages unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, plus 1 vanilla bean, scraped (i didn't use the vanilla bean because i couldn't find one at any of the grocery stores!)
confectioners' sugar, sifted, for coating

directions:

1. lightly spray a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. line pan with plastic wrap, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides; set aside.
2. in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water; let stand for 10 minutes. in a medium saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water. place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil; boil rapidly for 1 minute. remove from heat, and, with the mixer on high, slowly pour the boiling syrup down the side of the mixer bowl into gelatin mixture. add salt and continue mixing for 12 minutes.
3. add vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds; mix until well combined. spray a rubber spatula or your hands with cooking spray. spread gelatin mixture evenly into pan using prepared spatula or your hands. spray a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place, spray side down, on top of marshmallows. let stand for 2 hours.
4. carefully remove marshmallows from pan. remove all plastic wrap and discard. cut marshmallows into 2-inch squares using a sprayed sharp knife. place confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. working in batches, add marshmallows to bowl and toss to coat.