A Day in the Life of Summer....

Hey everyone! I'm actually on vacation this week no no delicious rice krispy treat post today. I'm know you're all heartbroken ;) Instead I decided to do a photo post.

So I've seen a lot of bloggers doing a photo journal "day in their lives" kind of thing lately. Where they take a picture every hour during a normal day in their life. So I decided it'd be fun to do too. Because I'm all about jumping on bandwagons. Following the crowd. You know. So here was a typical Wednesday of this last week, a day in the life of Summer. Get excited guys, this is the stuff Oscars are made of. Ahem.

Wednesday June 26, 2013

6:00 AM | After 15 minutes of squawking I'm resigned to the fact that my child is awake. We spend our first hour drinking our milky and cuddling in Mom and Dad's bed. (aka: my child playing steamroller, horsey, more steamroller, etc while Mom and Dad pretend they're still asleep)  

Goodbye Google Reader... sniff sniff

Wow does everyone realize that Google Reader is going away in like 3 days? Jeez, it's a harsh world out there guys. Here's just a token reminder for everyone to switch over to another feed reader so we don't lose each other! Sniff sniff.

Because I have mastered the art of procrastinating, I just switched all mine over today. I'm now a proud user of Bloglovin! I actually love it! I'm not sure if it's because of the very easy, user friendly set up... or because I really like the color blue of their logo... it's quite the debate. But either way I think you should try it out! Here's their How-To to make it really easy!

I know there are other options too... like Feedly or Digg.... although none of those have the pretty blue logo so I don't feel comfortable recommending personally. (jk, I'm sure they're great)

Anyhoo, click on the link below to start following me on Bloglovin' now! Happy Friday!!!!

Rice Krispy Treat Troubleshooting

Ok, today is a no recipe post! Mostly because I'm too lazy to edit pictures,... ahem... but also because I need to address several questions I repeatedly get.

So, sometimes in life things don't turn out just as we hoped. My Tax Refund. The Bachelor Finale. The NCAA Bracket. My Car's Smog Check.... just to name a few. And sometimes, dare I say it, my cooking falls into this category as well. And it stinks. Especially when you put a lot of work into making something and then it comes out wrong. And the only thing that is worse is having no idea what went wrong.

So here are some of the top issues I've heard of/seen/had happen to me in regards to rice krispy treats:

Fun Friday Favs #10: Recent Pins

Yea, it's Friday Friday Friday, Ohhhhh Friday Friday Friday..... anyone? Anyone?.... never mind.

So today's favorites post is some of my recent favorite pins on Pinterest. Because I'm a Pinterest addict. I'm starting the 12 step rehab program. Tomorrow. Anyhoo... here are some recent good ones:

Fun Friday Favs #9: Rice Krispy Treats

Today's post focuses on my favorite things about rice krispies. These little gems, if you're not a fan already you will be after today's post. Now I'm going to skip over the obvious facts that they are delicious morsels of goodness derived from sugar and butter... what's not to love? But let's dig a little deeper:

Fun Friday Favs #8: "Art"

I'd like to say I am an art connoisseur, but I'm not. I'm not going to lie, most of the pictures on my walls are from TJ Maxx or something like that. That being said, today is a post about some of my favorite signs that I want to put up in my house. Like legitly, these should be framed and on my walls. Here they are:

Fun Friday Favs #7: Baby

Oh my gosh, where to start. I mean I definitely have some favorite items when it comes to this child of mine. I'm going to limit them to 5 though. For everyone's sake. Here we go:

Fun Fridays Favs #5: PB Cereal

Ok guys, today is about one of my all time favorite things: cereal. But just to make it extra special, it's my all time favorite peanut butter flavored cereals. If you don't know by now, I have a serious love obsession with peanut butter. So today I bring you some of the best of the best according to my research.

Fun-Friday Favs #4: Exercise

Can we just talk about working out for a minute? I posted earlier this year about a half marathon I signed up for. Without going into the details we'll just say I blew my knee out and haven't been able to run (or walk) since. So I've had to find an alternate workouts I could do at home. Here are my current favorites:

1.) Crossfit Mamas: This site is awesome. AWESOME. This girl posts a new crossfit workout every day that is: (1) something you can do at home simply with a pair of dumbells. No fancy equipment, gym pass etc. (2) They're short. I think the longest one I've done yet is about 20 min but they range anywhere from 5 min to 15 min. Perfect. (3) Anyone can do them. You can totally go at whatever pace you're at (Trust me, there are some studly girls that do these workouts... then there are others like me. I'll leave it at that). I'm seriously a huge fan of these. Go try it out!

2.) Blogilates: I actually found this site before I got into the crossfitmamas one. I love this girl's videos! She's super cute and peppy (but not in an annoying way...) and breaks down all her videos by body part or theme. My favorite ones are the song challenges where she focuses on one body part for the length of one song (these could be my favorite because they are only like 4-5 minutes long each... hmm...) Check her out!

3.) Hostess Powdered Donuts: Just to make sure you guys don't think I'm actually a hard core fitness guru, I'm bringing it back to reality. I love Hostess mini powdered donuts. Totally processed? Yes. Totally sugary and bad for you? Yes. Totally delicious and yummy in that powdery goodness way? Yes. So worth it.

Ah, it's Friday. Bless the world. For whatever reason simple knowing it's Friday makes everything better.
Happy Happy Friday Everyone!!!

Liebster Award

In lieu of my Fun Friday Favorites I am writing about the Liebster award today, yea!

Thanks to Shauna over at The Best Blog Recipes for nominating me for this award! Whoo hoo, so fun!

Fun-Friday Favs #3: Fashion

Can we just talk about clothes for a second? I know this might be crazy, but I don't like shopping for clothes. There. I said it. Whew. I just don't like it, never have, probably never will. I think it stems from the fact that I am insecure in my sense of fashion. I've told my more fashionable sister many times that I will pay her to go shopping for me, but she has yet to take me up on the offer. So if anyone out there wants to be my personal shopper, I am currently open for interviews... That being said today is based on a couple of my favorites regarding fashion/appearance.

Fun-Friday Favs #2: Beauty

Who hoo! It's finally Friday, which means it's time for my Fun Friday Favs! Today's recent favorites are kind of geared/focused on personal appearance and such. Because I'm totally qualified to give out beauty advice (cough, cough). Ahem. On to the favorites:

New: Fun Friday Favs!

Big news... I've decided to start a Fun Friday post every week. I know, I know. Really Summer? A non-recipe post? That's what people with real blogs and tons of followers do. Who do I think I am? But I just feel that the 4 day break between my Wednesday and Sunday posts (I'm on a schedule, has anyone noticed? My family members still constantly ask if I've made any new treats lately... Um, yes?) So like I said Wed-Sun is just too long for me so I'm creating a regular Friday post too. Just because I can.

I'll keep them short and brief, so the 2 people that decide to read them can do it while they are waiting for their email to open. Or their Pop Tart to toast. In each of these posts I'm going to highlight 2 or 3 of my favorite things as of late. I'm not going to lie, these may be random because I have a lot of favorite things. So today lets start with some food items that are my current favs:

Merry Christmas!

The Cool Kids Club

Can I just make a shout out?

I submit my pictures to a few different food sites every week. Despite my lack of skill, they get accepted by most sites. Except for 2. Yes you guessed it: Foodgawker and Tastespotting. Those guys are hardcore.

About a week ago I finally broke into the world of Foodgawker when they accepted my Apple Cider picture. But still nothing but rejection from Tastespotting. My feelings towards them were summed up in this song.

The Beginning of Mallow&Co

So least you be deceived, I did not start out this blog with an already amazing rice krispy recipe or background behind me. No county fair blue ribbons (do they even have rice krispy treats at fairs?), no grandma's secret tricks up my sleeve. I just had this random inspiration one day that I wanted to be a master rice krispy maker.

It could’ve stemmed from the fact that I've never been very good at fancy desserts. Don't get me wrong, I can whip out a mean batch of brownies or cookies, but when it comes to the more delicate dishes like beautiful cakes or light cupcakes, I fall flat. No literally, my cakes all fall flat. Or stick to the pan. Or break apart when I pull them out of the pan. Or fall flat, stick to the pan, and break apart when I pull them out. So despite my lifelong desire to be a beautiful dessert caterer, I've realized I needed to move on to a simpler style. Rice Krispies. These beauties, how could I go wrong?

So I began my quest to create the most perfect rice krispy ever. I went on a shopping rampage at my grocery store and bought them out of marshmallows and rice krispies. The cashier probably thought I was nuts. Either that or having pregnancy cravings. Little did he know I was out to make history in my own mind. Then the testing began.

I'm about to share something embarrassing with you. Ready? My first attempt was a Disaster. Period. No questions asked. I made 3 different supposedly "gourmet" versions. All with slight tweaks and changes for optimal flavor—I knew it was going to be a smash hit. I mean really, how could anyone mess up rice krispy treats? I had my beauties proudly laid out on a platter when the husband came home, ready for a blind taste testing. The poor man didn’t even get a hello, just a command to sit and judge my creations with me. Ok, version #1. I bite into it expecting heaven... what I got was a slightly soggy version of the normal treat. What the!?! What Had Happened?. Ok ok, that one was a flop, let's just try version #2. Again, same result. A soggy, almost stale treat. I desperately grabbed a #3 version. Same thing. What happened?! I repeatedly sampled each one, in hopes they would somehow transform if I kept eating. Once I had finally eaten through about half of each pan and was thoroughly sick, I gave up. I had messed up the most basic dessert in human history. There are 7 year old children across the world making these treats better then I right now.  I contemplated giving up, maybe I just wasn’t cut out for making desserts. (This wasn’t the first time it had happened to me. I could give you a long list of desserts I’ve tried to master so far: layered cakes, royal frosting decorating, macaroons, cupcakes, petite fours… I’ll save you the horrors I faced there)

I guarantee this girl's rice krispies were better then mine

My husband was kindly trying to convince me they weren't that bad. "Really honey, maybe just add a little less marshmallows... or more rice krispies.... or... I don't know. What did you put in them?"

Ugh! All I know is after a few moments of self pity I decided that I was not going to succeed at this if it was the last thing I did! I marched back into the kitchen while announcing to my husband that I was going to make The Best rice krispy treats this world has ever seen! (meanwhile he had already slipped off to go check ESPN highlights... so much for my dramatic exit)

And that's how it started. From then on I began a serious quest to perfect these tasty treats. I'm talking serious trial and error. The scientific method at its finest. I mean I was using spreadsheets to compare marshmallow and butter ratios. I tried it all: substituting more butter, less butter, margarine, shortening, big marshmallows, little marshmallows, jumbo marshmallows, flavorings, extracts, chocolates, spices, you name it they have been tested. My kitchen was a disaster the first few weeks. The floor was a land mine of stray rice krispies, the counter a permanent fly trap of sticky marshmallows. I forwent dinners for a little while in opt for rice krispy tasting. My husband knew the drill. Come home, sit down, and taste my newest versions of the day. Lie and tell me they taste delicious no matter what. Give me an honest opinion and constructive criticism. Good man. I kind of feel guilty now thinking back. Oh well.

Anyhoo, it was all worth it though. I ended up with my perfect version of the rice krispy treat. Now I was ready for bigger and better things. Which is where this blog comes in, a way to document all my failures and successes of my crazy rice krispy flavors. Enjoy!