Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Elephants Marching

The elephants go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah..the elephants go marching one by one HUUraaaah HUUURAAAAH…….the song goes on…but I think its ants not elephants. Anyway, I love this sweet little scene of four elephants walking along in a line one after the other. I created a 5th little mini fondant elephant to go on top of my marshmallow. My hand molded fondant elephant is resting carefully atop a chocolate covered marshmallow in line right behind the 4th (and smallest) wooden elephant. It is mostly resting on the back two legs, as the chocolate marshmallow top was a tad sloped as you can see. I used my appetizer pick and knife to make the elephants folds and wrinkles, I also like how in some of the areas my fondant started to wrinkle like real elephant skin all on it’s on as it was drying out. I forgot the tusks but I there is a tiny pink mouth that I applied with my bamboo tweezers. A real elephant weighs about 12,000 pounds… my marshmallow weights about .5 grams.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

National Toasted Marshmallow Day

There is a national holiday for every day it seems. Today is National Toasted Marshmallow Day. No kidding!  Who comes up with this stuff?  I didn’t have fire pit or time to fire up the grill today, so, to view an amazing perfectly toasted marshmallow, click on this link here. It will take you to an Amazing Marshmallow toasted marshmallow picture, that you may have missed previously. Enjoy (twice!).

Monday, August 29, 2011

If the shoe fits...

After a weekend of being cooped inside it sure was nice to go outside and enjoy a simply beautiful day. You’d never know a hurricane had blown in over the weekend.  It was business as usual today, which seemed a little strange after such an eerie weekend. Well, back to business, back to the marshmallows…. I have wanted to try my hand at one of those fondant high heel shoes I’ve been seeing around.  Tonight I took a tiny bit of brown and tried making a little fondant shoe. It was much easier to do than I expected, however, on my first attempt the shoe was giant…I had to keep slimming down my candy piece until I molded a marshmallow appropriate sized shoe. This little high heel shoe is smaller than a Barbie heel, but proportionate for the marshmallow. Glamorous, don’t you think?

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Rain Gauge


Good luck to all the east coasters out there! Hopefully it won’t be as bad as they predict. I’m creating and posting early, it’s a rain gauge! I hand painted the measuring lines, the photo is a little blurry (I was rushing!) but you can still see the detail.  These are great little tools for measuring the amount of rainfall.  Putting a bucket or pan outside does not give an accurate measuring of how much rainfall has come down.  These nifty little measuring tools help determine the accurate inches of rainfall.  I think the real rain gauge has about 5 inches already….




Saturday, August 27, 2011

Glassware for all occasions…like Hurricanes

Time to batten down the hatch… not much time for marshmallow making… But here are some sweet mini-marshmallows in a hurricane glass. Even under extreme conditions these little guys come out looking nice and festive.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Check list: flashlight, candles, batteries, water, radio, marshmallows

The East Coast is about to get walloped with a historic hurricane.  Here are a few adorable marshmallows preparing to live by candlelight if needed for 3-5 days!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Back To School...

Back to the grind after fun and sun…and sadly the summer season is soon ending, and according to all the stores its Back To School time! Shelves are stocked with backpacks, notebooks, pens, erasers, lunch coolers and the $1.00 bins are busting with supplies. I created this little back to school marshmallow treat with a composition notebook and pencil. (I mean a teeny tiny composition notebook and pencil). I used my fine paintbrush dipped in black colorant to make the mottled swirls on the book and to write the #2 on the hand molded pencil. I also hand painted the pencil point.  These marshmallows aren’t just amazing, they are smart too! I think I deserve an A+ for this art-piece.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Let's go water tubing!

There was no way I could take a picture of this little treat on location. I made it in advance to bring with me on a little boat trip, however, once I got on the boat, there was no way I was going to be able to position my marshmallow safely (no life vests for marshmallows) and take a picture without loosing my camera or the marshmallow over board. Plus, it was SO hot in the sun that the marshmallow and fondant art wouldn’t have lasted long enough for a picture. SO, I’m considering this marshmallow to be an on-site traveling marshmallow, because I DID in fact bring it with me on the boat, I just brought it back and took the picture this evening instead….to SAVE the marshmallow. It was in its best interest.  It is a water tube…where you sit on it and the boat pulls you through the water.  Being on the boat today reminded me when I was growing up we would take turns riding (I think the tube was called the ‘screamer’) and we’d bounce behind the motorboat (which I’m pretty sure was called Big Bertha) while trying not to get thrown off the tube and into the lake. Aaah, being on the boat today reminded me of old times, indeed. It sure was fun, then and now!  I used my food colorants to get the deep rich blue water colors, and I carefully tore each little piece to give the waves and texture of the lake water. The tube is a yellow piece of fondant hand shaped into tube form. It was tricky to get the ‘ropes’ attached. …Hang on tight!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Over the hill

Here is another traveling marshmallow in the wilderness….it bravely road four thousand miles up a gondola to reach the summit with me and take a breath of the crisp air. I like that this marshmallow mountain scene is in bloom with a green hill, sun and lake in the background. If you look closely you can see a little blanket with a picnic basket. This was a little easier to make than the ‘mountain ranges’ of the last couple days.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Who wants some more s’mores?

I’m sure from last nights post one would wonder ‘why isn’t there a S’mores post?’ Well, there is! I took two teeny tiny pieces of brown fondant cut them with my Showtime #15 knife to make the graham crackers and then put dark brown ‘chocolate’ carefully wedged between two white bead fondant marshmallows. I used my appetizer pick to make the lines and dots on top of the cracker. It’s a little thicker than a real graham cracker, but it is also 100 times smaller than a real one too.  Then I perched it on top of the fire pit just before lighting it (the fire pit, not my sweet marshmallow).  Two more marshmallow post on vacation, then back to the grind.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

You make me melt

It is no secret I have a passion for marshmallows, and marshmallows make me melt. Sometimes I melt them, I just try not to burn them…and tonight I carefully roasted them over an open fire. Warm, gooey deliciousness toasting over an open fire on my roller roaster stick. Yum!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Get nearer to nature

Get nearer to nature…and take a hike! Well, not literally. Take a hike on one of my sweet trails going up the mountain side of this tasty marshmallow treat. This is the second marshmallow to travel this high above sea level…second only to yesterday’s delectable treat.  I feel proud to have transported and carefully brought these sweet gems to an amazing new level.

Friday, August 19, 2011

A Mountain or a Mole Hill

The weather forecasted cloudy with a 40% chance of rain, and I ended up with 80 degrees and 100% sun. It was a great action packed day! I made several marshmallows yesterday so that I would have them ready for my trip to the mountains. I have them all on ice, and I can tell you that at my first stop today I found the ice was not holding out. I kept the fondant pieces separate from the marshmallows because I though it would help avoid any breakage during transportation and it did help in breakage, however, now the fondant art is kind of hovering over the chocolate covered marshmallow. But that is ok. The marshmallows (which were already a bit wonky) became a little melted and in one area cracked. But that is ok, too.  I think for my purposes of on-location marshmallow viewage you won’t be able to tell the difference. I think this is the first marshmallow to travel approximately 4,400 feet above sea level! I’m teary eyed….!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

A Happy Flower

A happy little flower…blooming! There was gorgeous sunshine all day today and it made this little pot start to bud.  This latest bag of marshmallows is full of wonky marshmallows, they weren’t crushed in the bag but they are not as uniform and cylindrical as they normally are. I’ll make do though. The chocolate curvature was setting on the marshmallow all wonky, but the thicker I laid the candy coating the more uniform it looks. I can see the irregularities but they still taste great.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

I got nothing!

Sometimes I just don’t have any material… and today is one of them. It was a long day at work, and lots of preparing for the weekend (many fun things planned) and I couldn’t get into marshmallow mode and think of a marshmallow masterpiece. Then I decided to bust out my old faithful pretzel twist…its super easy (somewhat impressive) and it does not require too many food colorings. I tinted the fondant brown, rolled it out like a snake then took both ends swooped them up…around… and crisscross….topped with tiny cuts of white fondant ‘salt’ and there you have it a pretzel!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tiny zuchs

I made an amaaaaaaaazing baked zucchini and summer squash dish tonight. I sliced up zucchini and summer squash, tossed it into a baking dish with a little olive oil, threw a few broccoli florets on top and baked it for about 45 minutes. Simple, healthy and delish! I topped a chocolate covered marshmallow with the final dish on top.  I created fondant zucchini and summer ‘squashes’ by rolling my white fondant and wrapping it with green (or yellow for the ss) and then I sliced them up, just like I did for the real veggies only I had to be super careful as I sliced because the candy zuchs and squash were muuuuuuuch smaller. Then I tossed them into a hand-made fondant pan and SNAP! Took a picture….

And here’s there real deal:
You want some…I know you do!

Monday, August 15, 2011

The smell of roses and marshmallows...sweeeet!

Awww, I received flowers! I immediately opened the card and put the bouquet into a glass vase. What a wonderful way to brighten up a rainy day! I have them displayed in the center of the room and they smell fantastic. Todays marshmallow is a sweet little hand-molded fondant butterfly to flutter about the petals of the roses. First, I colored the fondant and pressed it flat. I cut out the shape of the butterfly and folded it in half and set it on the edge of a small box to dry and harden so it would stay in the open ‘flying’ position. Then I secured the little dots on with a few dabs of water and placed on a few leaves. I made the veins of the leaves with my Showtime #15 knife and glued the butterfly into place with some chocolate curvature left in my piping bag. This sure does cheer up a rainy day, and I love the colors in this picture!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The most realistic blueberries ever

I love going to the farm and picking fresh fruit. My favorite is blueberries. My Grammie makes an amazing Blueberry Pizza that is out of this world. Today I went blueberry picking and tried to duplicate the deep blue of a blueberry with my fondants and colorings. My first attempts were too ocean blue, and I realized that blueberries are so dark blue they are almost black. I tried several ways to make the crowns out of fondant and decided that painting the crowns on was the best way to do it. I made the traditional green carton out of my fondant and carefully placed my dark dark blue fondant blueberries into the container and painted on the crowns with my black food colorants. I put the whole container on a chocolate covered marshmallow and set it right in my carton of real blueberries. No joke….my blueberries upon first glance look as real as the real blueberries that I picked.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Botanical Bliss

As many of you know my garden doesn’t have as many colors as it should or that I would like, so its up to me to put the color there the best way I know how… with marshmallows! It was another gorgeous day and I made a perfect setting of marshmallows with handmade flowers on top. I’ll cut these beauties tonight and display them as a botanical masterpiece (and then of course devour!).

Friday, August 12, 2011

Simple sunny flowers

It was a perfect blue sky sunny day today and I made this little sunflower-like flower. I tried to design the petals to curve upward so it would not look too cartoony. I have on my to-list to go buy a metal fondant ball-roller that will help me create more sophisticated flower petals. They cost almost $50 for the tiny little tool… but it will be a welcome addition to my marshmallow making craft.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Here fishy fishy fishy...on top of a delicious marshmallow



I am sure that you could have guessed where yesterday’s fondant fish was going to swim to today.  It swam right to a candy coated marshmallow. I made a whole plate of these and on first glance a few people thought they were the goldfish crackers. I used my appetizer pick to make the eye and mouth indentations.  Apparently yesterdays I Spy the fondant goldfish is part of the Pepperidge Farm website.
You can play other ‘fish’ games here www.goldfishfun.com Interesting! I learn something new every day!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Here fishy fishy fishy

Everyone seemed to like the mini-marshmallow I Spy game I posted previously. I did too! See if you can spot the fondant fish….

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

A light dinner

I made a delicious tossed salad tonight for dinner. Greens, cheese, carrots, and sliced zucchini tossed with oil and balsamic vinegar. I love when the salad IS the meal…its easy, fast and refreshing. After all the fries and the chocolate volcano I ate yesterday, I felt a nice salad was the way to go tonight.   My marshmallow has a lovely salad with the carrot (prior to my cutting) on a white fondant cutting board. I also included bead fondant cherry tomatoes for this mini-version, although the real salad I ate did not have any.


Monday, August 8, 2011

Bare marshmallows present

I was running out the door to meet some very important people for dinner this evening. I couldn’t resist an onsite marshmallow opportunity at a really fun restaurant, but was uber crunched on time, so I quickly grabbed four naked (i.e. not covered in chocolate or candy coating) marshmallows from the package to take along for an informal photo shoot. After dinner I perched the tasty treats in front of the giant salt water aquarium. I wanted to take a picture of them in front of the giant gorilla that was overlooking our table but it was too dark and even with my flash the picture was not coming out right. As you can tell this restaurant totally rocks….. with gorillas, apes, tigers and every 30 minutes a pretend ‘rainstorm’ hits above. This place is great fun. I ordered a veggie burger with extra pickles and chose french fries instead of chips (who chooses potato chips over greasy hot fries?) The burger was bogus, and I only ate the bread and pickles…but I guess we were paying for atmosphere not food, and that’s a-ok, sometimes, especially when the wait staff yells “CHOCOLATE VOLCANO” every time they walk by with a giant hot brownie sundae (I ordered one of those too…YUM!).  The reef tank was quite impressive and the fish that was most intrigued with the marshmallows by the tank was called a Heniochus Butterfly….its astunning fish, almost as stunning as the marshmallows, hee, hee!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

The tide is coming in...

It is much easier to build a sand castle out of sand than it is to build a teeny tiny one out of fondant to go on top of a marshmallow, that’s for sure. Todays marshmallow was also made in advance (and kept on ice until the photo shoot today) and here is a rendition of my sand castle to harmonize with yesterdays post.  Part of the real sand castle is to the right of the marshmallow. I had used my showtime #15 knife to make the crenellation and my appetizer pick to make the windows in my fondant castle.  If I had a macro-lens on my camera I could zoom in to one of the windows and you’d see me waving and saying ‘Its soooooooo relaxing here on the beach!’

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Towel? Check. Sunblock? Check. Marshmallows? Check.

I made this marshmallow in advance to take along in my mini-cooler (with lots of ice) on a little beach trip. I was able to indulge in warm sun, calm water and relaxation  This time I brought along pails and shovels to build some sand castles! This is a real masterpiece and took great skill to get the white fondant handle onto my tiny fondant pail and carve the shape of the shovel. It also took great skill to take the picture…FAST…because it was so hot on the beach and the white chocolate curvature was melting.  These on-site marshmallows aren’t easy to eat afterwards because the poor little things sure take a beating with the transport and weather conditions.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Have you called your Grandma today?

So I made this little granny a few weeks ago, and she has been sitting atop a candy coated marshmallow perched on my kitchen windowsill for about a week now. I had some extra fondant pieces and skin tones leftover from a previous marshmallow creation and just started molding. Making fondant people are not my strongest points…I have trouble with the hands if you recall from my bride posting previously.  Anyway, I liked her…she was a cute granny, so I kept her on my windowsill for my own… a little person watching me in the kitchen work. She was my little figure, and she kept me company.  Today, I decided that I would post her in honor of all the Grannys, Grandmas, Oma’s, Omi’s, Nanna’s, Nonna’s, Grammie’s, Meme’s and Babushka’s out there.  I am still planning to keep her on my windowsill, too!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Belated National Hotdog Month

Did you know that July was National Hot Dog month? How did I miss that? Well, luckily hot dogs tie in with my camping theme in the last few posts.  I colored the fondant and molded the dog and bun. Then I used my brush to paint the fine details on the hotdog. This little puppy is grilled to perfection!  (And if you like burgers and dogs check out this post again. My grill was cleaner this time around!)

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

No seeds to spit here....

Today is National Watermelon day! What nice refreshing piece of fruit on a hot day! I didn’t actually get to indulge in this giant melon today, but I was able to create two sweet pieces of melon atop a chocolate covered marshmallow. There are no seeds to spit out in this delectable treat - I used a sharp knife to cut my melon slices into shape and my fine brush to paint on the black seeds.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Scenes from the woods

Here is another camping scene atop marshmallows.  The curvature is so smooth on the sides but the top was actually a bit uneven for this one.  I made the tent last night, by rolling the fondant out and shaping it over a small box and waiting for it to dry in shape. Tonight I put the tent posts and the campfire together. They are not to portion, but they are adorable!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Camping Memories

The first two weeks of August bring fond memories of when my family use to go camping. We went the same time every year and it was always a fun and memorable time. We would swim all day long at the lake and have bonfires every night with cousins, aunts, uncles and friends. While I am more of a JW Marriott kind of gal now, I wouldn’t trade those memories of our days and nights in the woods for anything. Today I made this chocolate covered marshmallow with a little bonfire and a tiny fondant marshmallow on a stick to roast. The details of a roller-roaster were to complex so I just used a thin cut of brown fondant for the marshmallow roasting ‘stick’. For the campfire I molded the little logs together and fused the ‘flames’ together with dabs of water. Forward this post on if you know someone who camps!