S'mores Revisited

Before summer's over, I must mention homemade marshmallows for the sake of the most sumptuous s'mores you can imagine. This recipe, perfected by MaryJane Butters (www.maryjanesfarm.org), makes such pillowy melt-in-your-mouth marshmallows that you'll never be able to go back to the styrofoamy storebought variety. Plus, it's just too cool to be able to make these mysterious little wonders all by yourself (or with the help of sticky kid fingers). They're very easy (and, yes, messy) to make; the only tricky part can be finding organic ingredients - especially corn syrup. I like Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Light Corn Syrup, available from www.wholesomesweeteners.com.

MARYJANE'S MARSHMALLOWS

Powdered sugar for dusting
2 1/2 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin*
1 cup water, divided
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light-colored corn syrup
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. water
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Lightly coat an 8x8x2-inch pan with cooking spray. Heavily dust with powdered sugar; set aside. Stir unflavored gelatin and 1/2 cup of the water together in a large bowl of a very sturdy stand mixer; let stand 25 minutes while preparing syrup mixture (mixture will be set).

2. Meanwhile, mix remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, syrup, and salt in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Cook and stir over low to medium-low heat until sugar has dissolved. Cook and stir over medium-high until mixture boils. Clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Reduce heat to medium; continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, stirring frequently until thermometer registers 244° (about 15 minutes). (Watch carefully to prevent mixture from boiling over. If necessary, reduce heat to medium-low.) Slowly pour hot syrup into gelatin mixture with stand mixer on low to medium-low speed. Increase to high speed; beat 15 minutes (mixture should be thick and about triple in volume). Add 1 tablespoon water and vanilla extract; beat until combined.

3. Spoon mixture (it will be sticky) into prepared pan. Let stand, uncovered, overnight. Loosen mixture from pan by lifting around edges with a knife. Invert onto a cutting board dusted with powdered sugar. With a hand sifter, dust marshmallows with additional powdered sugar. Cut into 1-inch squares with a large knife dusted with powdered sugar. Dust with additional powdered sugar. Makes about 64 marshmallows.

*NOTE: MaryJane now prefers to make marshmallows with her new ChillOver Powder, a vegetarian alternative available at www.maryjanesfarm.org.

Just finished...

Inspired by the local library's upcoming "Food in Art" competition, I dusted off my supplies and wrestled this portrait out of my artistically atrophied soul. I wanted to allow the watercolor base to shine through, but the colored pencils took over. I worked and reworked, and now I think I'll just let it be. Not sure if I'll enter it in the contest, but I'm glad for the impetus to put my 3 lovely little berry pickers on paper.

Food Combinations for Better Digestion

I was talking with some folks at the farmers market recently. Naturally, the subject was food, and it led us along a path of ideas, exploring the hills and hollers of our diets—what makes us feel good, what doesn't. We talked about what a shame it is that our diets have gotten so out of whack since we became grocery shoppers instead of hunter-gatherers. The way we eat is so misguided, in fact, that many of us end up suffering from digestive upsets on a regular basis—and we resign ourselves to this discomfort as if it's just a natural part of life. Well, it isn't. And neither are the grouchy, drowsy, moody, depressive feelings that often accompany unhealthy eating habits. Digestion is intimately linked with our health in ways that modern science is ever-so-slowly catching up on. The gist is this: if we don't listen to our “gut feelings” of rumbling and pain, we're stressing our digestive systems, and digestive stress can compromise our health as a whole.

So now there's a brand new branch of the trendy diet tree which deals with pain-free eating. Combining certain foods, they claim, will alleviate bellyaches, creaky joints, headaches, the works. And I believe it's true. What I don't buy is that you need to spend a bunch of money trying to figure out a pain-free eating plan. The concept is relatively simple. These diets propose that proper food combining will help us completely digest our food (so that we're not left with the bloating, gas, and other woes caused by poor digestion). The trick is knowing which foods will digest well together and which ones clash, requiring too much work to be broken down easily.

I did a little research, my favorite source being a book called Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford, and I came up with a basic list of food combinations that'll give your belly a break. It's pretty radical when you consider the way most everybody eats, but if you're ready for a change, this is a place to start.

How to Combine Food Groups

At meals and snack times:

• Only eat protein with non-starchy vegetables (this is the #1 most important combination for easing digestive stress)

• Starches can be combined with non-starchy vegetables, fats, and oils.

• Fats and oils can be combined with non-starchy vegetables, starches, and acid fruits.

• Acid fruits can be combined with fats, oils, and sub-acid fruits.

• Sub-acid fruits can be combined with acid fruit or sweet fruit.

• Sweet fruit can be combined with sub-acid fruit.

• Green and non-starchy vegetables can be combined with protein, starch, or fats and oils.

Food Group Examples

• Protein (meat, cheese, yogurt, eggs, milk, beans, tofu, nuts, seeds)

• Starches (grains, bread, pasta, potato, sweet potato, beet, parsnip, carrot, squash, and corn)

• Fats and Oils (avocado, coconut, olives, butter, cream, lard, and all vegetable oils)

• Acid Fruits (lemon, lime, grapefruit, orange, tomato, strawberry, pineapple, and kiwi)

• Sub-acid Fruits (apple, berries, pear, apricot, peach, grapes, plum, cherry, mango, and papaya).

• Sweet fruit (fig, banana, dates, melons, and all dried fruit)

• Non-starchy vegetables (leafy greens, cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts, celery, cucumber, onion, garlic, green beans, and peas)

A Few More Tips

• Limit sugar and white flour foods to an occasional treat, or drop 'em like a bad habit.

• Stop eating before you're stuffed.

• Don't eat a darn thing within 4 hours of going to bed at night.

• Ditch artificial flavors, colors, fillers, preservatives, and high fructose corn syrup

• Do some sort of exercise every day (I love yoga, but that's another column...)

Summer Fun

The kids wanted to build toy boats, so we went wild with the idea. Each of us designed one on paper, then I transferred the designs to wood. It was a kick to watch their puzzled faces when I drew shapes on the wood that looked nothing like their sketches. They were amazed when all of those funny pieces came together, bringing their boats to life. They helped glue and tack, and then we painted them and jazzed them up with sails, flags, and anchors made of river rocks. I finished mine for my littlest, who loves to pull it around by the anchor. Check out our maiden voyage...

Here's mine, Nacho Libre: The Luchador
(named by my toddler captain)

The Black Pearl pirate ship
created by my 6 year old

The Bove, a luxury party pontoon boat
created by my 8 year old