Homemade Peppermint Marshmallows

Easter may be a few days away, but the weather here has gone back to cold temperatures of early March. This means that my evening cup of hot chocolate has begun again. Although, to be honest, I have been known to drink hot chocolate regardless of how warm it is outside.

It is a known fact that hot chocolate feels a little sad without fluffy marshmallows melting on top. If you are looking to upgrade from the supermarket bagged variety, try making them yourself at home (recipe here) It takes a bit of practice to get the consistency right, but one you do - pure marshmallow-y bliss. The ones shown here are flavored with peppermint and swirled with red food coloring, but you can also make the equivalent of the plain kind with vanilla extract.

Tips:

•  don't be afraid to use a lot of non-stick spray, otherwise you will get one giant marshmallow mass
• they might not look perfectly square the first time you make them, but they still taste delicious
• feel free to eat them alone as a snack ;) 

You say tomato, I say tomato

After my last post about biscotti, I realized that I failed to mention an important detail - how to pronounce them. I try not to be a language snob, you know the ones who turned up their noses and correct you with an overly dramatic accent. There are, however, a few things that sound like nails on a chalkboard to me, and the way 95% of people pronounce biscotti is one of them. Growing up with an Italian mom, I was taught they are pronounced biz-co-tee (the key is the long 'o'). You can also listen to audio pronunciation in both male and female here. After looking online, there seems to be a slight variation called biscotto, and here the first 'o' short and the second is long. That concludes this portion of language lessons! Now you can impress your friends and family with homemade biscotti AND an accent that even Mario Batali would approve of.

Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti

Sometimes a cup of coffee feels a little lonely sitting there on your kitchen table or desk. In comes the biscotti. Not quite a cookie but so much better than a cracker, this classic Italian treat and coffee were made for each other. When I was little, I desperately wanted to eat biscotti. They looked liked cookies, often drizzled with yummy chocolate. Imagine my disappointment when I took my first bite only to find that it was extremely hard and dry, not all like the cookies I was used to. After watching my mother dip them in her coffee, I would grab a mug, fill it with milk and proceed to soak my biscotti. Since then, my relationship with coffee has begun and so has a true love for these hard cookies. 

I stumbled upon a biscotti recipe online here and was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to make. Essentially you are double baking a sugar cookie dough, first in a log form and then in pieces to create the crispy texture. These pistachio ones are my favorite mostly because I have a special weakness for pistachios anything and because they somehow feel more Italian. That being said, you can customize them any way your heart desires. Enjoy with a piping hot coffee, latte or even a late night glass of milk :) 

Hello my name is...

After much thought and time spent staring blankly at my keyboard to write the perfect opening post, I have decided to just dive right in. Welcome to my blog! If you like to cook, bake or look at pictures of cooking and baking, then you are in the right place. There will also be posts about non-food related things, such as rainbows, unicorns and dancing babies. Just kidding. But seriously, I hope you enjoy getting a glimpse of what inspires me, feel free to comment and say hi! -xoxo Rachael Rae