Published: April 04, 2007 10:55 am            

Gourmet only if you please

I’ve said it before, sometimes I’ve just got to love my job.

I get neat stuff in the mail lots of times. Recently, I got a box with an intriguing mailing address name — from Plush Puffs.

Question marks swirled around my head. Why would someone send me a box with tissues in it?

I had to open it right then, right there. Imagine my surprise when I found three bags of gourmet marshmallows. I had forgotten I had e-mailed the company with a request for free samples awhile back.

Two bags had “mini” marshmallows while the third had a larger version. These are not your everyday variety of marshmallows.

These are square marshmallows, handmade over a two-day process of whipping and flavored with all-natural ingredients. They don’t look like those barrel-shaped marshmallows we are all accustomed to eating.

Did I mention these marshmallows also come in a variety of flavors?

You can get Caramel Swirl, Chocolate Chipetta, Maple Pecan, Sydney’s Cinnamon, Peppi-Mint, Orange Honey, Toasted Coconut, Vanilla Bean, Luscious Lemony Meringue and Kona Coffee Crunch among other flavors.

I got two bags of Caramel Swirl, one containing the small version; and one bag of the cinnamon flavor.

With all eyes in the newsroom on me, I opened the bag of the miniature Caramel Swirl marshmallows and ate one. Not bad. So I ate another. OK, I was a bad person. I didn’t share. That’s a first for me. But I really needed to do my taste-testing on my own. (That’s a copout. I just like marshmallows a lot).

I decided just eating them plain was good but there must be even better ways.

I took one of the bags of Caramel Swirl home. My thought processes continued on what to do with them. Then I saw a box of graham crackers. S’mores! That’s what I could do. I knew I had a chocolate bar hidden somewhere (yes, I hide my chocolate from myself. It’s the only way I can keep chocolate around.)

And, I decided to not be selfish about my S’mores. It’s more fun to have S’mores with others, anyway. I grabbed the graham crackers, the chocolate bar and marshmallows and headed to my father’s house. I figured he would like to have one of these gourmet special S’mores. And it would be fun to make them in the microwave oven.

I did a little research on the Internet to find out how long to let the marshmallows cook in the microwave (my father has a long-standing habit of letting marshmallows cook too long in the microwave.) The Web site I found suggested letting them cook for about 45 seconds but it also advised keeping an eye on the concoction since microwave oven times vary.

I got to my father’s house, pulled out my bag of goodies and asked if he wanted a sweet treat. It didn’t take him two seconds to agree.

I layered one S’more with a graham cracker, one Caramel Swirl marshmallow and a piece of chocolate bar. I used a paper towel under the concoction as it cooked. Not a good idea. Ten seconds after I hit “power,” the marshmallow puffed up really, really big, collapsed and the chocolate piece tried to fall off. It didn’t because it was melting too fast. At least there was a paper towel under it so we didn’t lose all the chocolatey goodness on the microwave carousel.

I quickly got the goody out of the microwave, put the top graham cracker on and gave it to my father. Then I fixed mine. It was just as gooey and messy.

We sat in the living room to eat our special S’mores. They were so messy, I even ended up with melted marshmallow in my hair. My father had marshmallow on his face. We looked at each other and had to laugh. Messy but good.

I have to say my little experiment with caramel marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers was a good experience. We had a good time and got a great sugar rush.

The marshmallows are available online at www.plushpuffs.com.

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The Ladies’ Holy Week Salad Luncheon is set Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center, Second Street and Adams Avenue.

If you haven’t been to one, you’ve missed a lot. This is definitely a “go do” event for this area.

I’ve been told the luncheon has really grown in the past few years. In times past, it was held at one of the six churches in the downtown area but attendance grew until there was no fellowship hall large enough to hold everybody. That was when it was moved to the banquet hall at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center.

Now, it is probably one of the biggest events for women in this city. I know in the past few years, attendance has been at around 400.

There are so many salads — from meat based to fruit to vegetable to gelatin to whatever you can think of that might be considered a salad. I’ve even seen some made with Snack Ramen. There are cheese and veggie trays and the list just goes on and on. And it’s all good. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a bad salad at that luncheon. And it’s so hard to choose what to put on your plate. You hate to miss a taste of even one of those splendid dishes.

Each year, we are also treated to excellent music and a motivational speaker. If you haven’t gone to the luncheon, why not this year? I’ll look forward to seeing you there.

Contact Teresa Atkerson at family@mcalesternews.com

        

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