Pinterest Recipe Wins of 2012

Just call December 2012 The Month of Peppermint Marshmallows and Buffalo Cauliflower.

Because those two recipes are my Pinterest Wins of 2012.

Peppermint Marshmallows!! That I made!!

Ah, Pinterest- the website which answers life's greatest question: How do I view hundreds of things I like on the internet all at once? You may have heard your friends say, "Oh, don't give me any credit, I saw it on Pinterest..." or, "Pinned it!" or, "Pinterest win!" or maybe, "Pinterest fail!" Well I say, don't be ashamed of grand ideas you front as your own just because you got the idea from Pinterest. Pinning is one thing. Actually making/cooking/wearing/doing things found on Pinterest is all you, baby.

It was Pinterest who taught me to tie a belt like this:

And also where I saw this outfit, which I recreated for an interview:

But those minor outfit successes do not compare to the recipe inspirations pinned below!

Homemade Peppermint Marshmallows! Sounds impressive... because it is! The pin came from a blog, listed under the photo, and I was willing to try it after I saw the blogger used Alton Brown's recipe. Alton Brown, culinary geek and writer of foolproof recipes... thanks to science!

This is how you make marshmallows: Mix gelatin and cold water in a mixer. Heat sugar, corn syrup, and water on the stove until a candy thermometer says it has reached 240 degrees F. Then pour the hot, dangerous sugar into the mixer while it's on and mix on the HIGHEST speed for 13 minutes! Pour into a prepared pan and let it rest for 4 hours before cutting with a pizza cutter and dusting all edges with a mixture of 10X sugar and corn starch. Peppermint extract and crushed peppermints make them perfect for the holiday season! You can find Alton's recipe, and a video on how to do it HERE!

I took a few photos documenting the group marshmallow effort. So, in December, my parents moved home after spending 4 years in Germany! They arrived without their "house," which is coming in a container sometime this month. We had to improvise all month in their kitchen with minimal cooking tools.

Don't try this at home: a "candy thermometer," aka, a hot water thermometer delicately balanced over boiling sugar with a fork. It looks dangerous, probably because it is.

Pouring boiling sugar into a live mixing bowl is scary! That's what dads are for!

Whipping the sugars and gelatin for 13 minutes allows the mixture to cool to room temperature before handling.

So worth the effort! Peppermint marshmallows were a HIT this year!

Homemade marshmallows, a laborious yet worthwhile treat.

Now let's talk about buffalo cauliflower. Buffalo chicken wings impersonated by cauliflower. I originally saw the pin and thought... "That is just ridiculous." But who am I to turn my nose up to a vegetable as deliciously enticing as cauliflower? (Remember my cauliflower pizza?) Well... it's SCRUMPTIOUS! The original recipe, which appears to have come from PETA, goes like this: dip cauliflower pieces in a milk and flour batter, bake at a high heat, then cover with hot sauce mixed with a little butter, and serve with blue cheese dressing. It seemed like the batter ran off during the roasting, so I decided to skip that part the second time. (Yes, I've made it more than once!) Here's what I did...

Buffalo Cauliflower
1 head cauliflower
Olive oil
1 cup Louisiana-style hot sauce
2 tbsp butter (or Earth Balance, for the plant-focused!)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter and stir into hot sauce, set aside.
2. Cut cauliflower at the stalks into large pieces. Lightly dress with oil and spread on a large baking sheet.
3. Cook 18-20 minutes, until cauiflower begins to brown.
4. Remove from oven, toss hot cauliflower with sauce and return to pan. Cook another 5 minutes.
5. Enjoy with blue cheese dip, celery and carrots!

I must confess, I did not photograph my own. I was much too interested in eating it. Seriously people, try this. Even the cauliflower-hating, chicken-wing-loving friends at our New Year's party enjoyed it!

My last post was all about Christmas gifts for the foodie. I have to show you what my mom, a fabulous giver of gifts, gave to me/us this year...

Oh you know. Just a swan that holds your rings while you cook. And behind it- a spice key chain! Complete with salt, pepper, paprika, and curry. I am never eating a dull meal on-the-go again.

Here's to 2013- a toast to deliciously dangerous kitchen exploits and to the many ways to eat cauliflower yet undiscovered.