Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!  This is such a magical time of the year and I am excited to just spend the next few days enjoying laid back family time.  We had the most wonderful time in beautiful Lake Tahoe and we are now back in town to enjoy Christmas at home.  I am so thankful for the connections I have made through this blog and hope that you all enjoy this special time with your family and friends.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours... 
Xo, Becky

Homemade Marshmallows

Good Morning!  I have a really yummy recipe for you today.  I made homemade marshmallows for the first time last week and oh my goodness they were so delicious!  I added them to our hot chocolate and included a white chocolate peppermint candy stick and it was so, so good.  Seriously the best hot chocolate I've ever had.  Keep on reading for a full recipe...

Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients:
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
3 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 c. ice cold water, divided
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
vegetable shortening (Crisco)

Directions

1. Combine powdered sugar and cornstarch in small bowl.
2. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 baking pan lightly with Crisco.  Also grease a spatula.  Add the powdered sugar/cornstarch mix to a sifter and sift to coat the bottom and sides of the pan and the spatula.  Keep the remaining mix to use later.
3. Hand mix the gelatin and 1/2 c. cold water in a large bowl (if you will be using a stand mixer, put it in the stand mixer bowl.  I used a hand mixture and it worked too.) Let it sit while you cook the syrup mixture.
4. In a small saucepan, mix the remaining 1/2 c. water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt.  Place over medium high heat, cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.  Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue cooking, mixing occasionally, until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F.  It will take about 7-8 minutes.
5. Once the syrup mixture reaches the 240 degrees, remove it from the heat.
6. Turn the mixer on low speed and, while mixing, very slowly pour the hot syrup mixture down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup mixture, increase the mixer speed to high.  Whip until it becomes very thick, about 12-15 minutes.
7. During the last minute of whipping, add the vanilla. When you’re done it will look a lot like marshmallow fluff.
8. Immediately after finishing mixing, pour the marshmallow mixture into your pan, using your coated spatula to spread it evenly.
9. Use your sifter to dust the top with the sugar and cornstarch mixture until it’s lightly covered.  Keep the remainder of the sugar/cornstarch mix to use later.  Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
10. Use a knife to separate the marshmallow from the edges of the pan, lay parchment paper on top of the pan, and then flip the pan over onto a cutting board so that the marshmallow comes out.
11. Lightly grease a pizza wheel with Crisco and sprinkle with the sugar/cornstarch mixture. Use the pizza wheel to cut the marshmallows into 1 inch squares.
12. Once cut, generously dust all sides of each marshmallow with the sugar/cornstarch mixture. (worked best for me to sift a layer of the mixture onto a cutting board and rolling the marshmallows in it). You’ll end up with 8-9 dozen of these fluffy, yummy treats!
13. Store in air tight container at room temp if you will be enjoying in the next couple of days.  But otherwise keep in the fridge to keep them fresh longer.

*tip - best to wash all your dishes as soon as you finish, to avoid the mixture hardening like a rock and then some major soaking will be required :)
*recipe adapted from Driven By Décor

They are the perfect little treat for a cold winter day!  Hope you enjoy!!

Our Cozy Christmas Table 2014

Good Morning!  Today I wanted to share my Christmas table with you.  We will be heading out to enjoy a few days in Lake Tahoe, but then back home to spend Christmas here.  Since I'm sure I will be exhausted when we return, I decided to set up our table so that when we get back it's ready to go for our little family Christmas at home.  If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that I found these darling plates at Marshalls and I absolutely love the sweet, simple designs on each one.  I think they will be making an appearance for many years.  My children have already picked their favorites to place on their spots and they will serve as our special little place cards.  A tradition in the making!

For my centerpiece, I placed a tray to hold some of our Christmas gifts.  Separate from our Santa presents, we will be giving Preston and Lyla each one gift, so I placed those here, along with our gifts to one another.  I thought it might be nice to open those after we finish dinner now that our children are at an age where sitting together at the dinner table is an enjoyable time together.

I added a little fresh greenery to the center to finish off the look and we are all ready to enjoy our Christmas dinner together!