by Erin
It's exam time 'round these parts so I can't write much, but I had to tell you, Dear Reader, about the (rather odd? unique?) exam treat I have been enjoying during the past week or so.
It all started on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, where one of my best and oldest friends Courtney invited the ladies from our high school crew over to her house in Baltimore to have a pre-Thanksgiving mini-reunion. We were instructed to bring a snack and a dessert, and of course I followed instructions. For my snack I made the White Bean Dip from Epicurious that is one of our party staples. It's very easy: you just put cannellini beans, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, ground cumin, chili powder, and salt and pepper in the food processor, then pulse in some chopped cilantro and done! I served it with pita chips and baby carrots.
For the dessert, I brought the makings of s'mores: graham crackers, Hershey's chocolate bars, and marshmallows. We toasted our marshmallows over a candle and it worked just great.
Since there were only four of us at this little gathering, I took most of the dip and most of the s'mores stuff home with me.
I started studying pretty hard-core for exams about a week ago, and I have treated myself to a s'more pretty much every evening when I take my dinner break. I have been using the microwave instead of a candle since it's quicker and you get the added bonus of watching the marshmallow expand to about 4 times its usual size! With all this practice I have determined the perfect technique for a microwaved s'more.
At first I was microwaving the marshmallow AND the chocolate together because I was afraid (afraid??) that the chocolate wouldn't get melty enough if I relied solely on the heat from the microwaved marshmallow. This technique, however, failed because the chocolate was so melty that it went about everywhere but in my mouth when I tried to eat the delicious little sandwich. So now, here's what I do:
- Place marshmallow on half of graham cracker (I have found it is better to put it round side down (not like in the picture above), not on its flat side because when it expands it falls off the cracker and gets all over your microwave, which is bad news)
- Microwave until the marshmallow expands to the size of a lacrosse ball (or a lemon) - for my microwave, this is approximately 16 seconds
- Meanwhile, take chocolate (I use three squares because, hey, why not?) and place on the other half of the graham cracker
- When the marshmallow is done, remove quickly and invert onto chocolate
- Wait a few seconds (if you can) for the chocolate to melt a bit - this is usually when I am getting a nice full glass of water or milk ready
- DIG IN!
Didn't think s'mores would be that complicated, did you? Well, I can complicate anything. It's a gift.
Watch it expand before your very eyes!
Before...
After! Mmmm...
Anyway, to any of you law students (or med students, or college students, or whoever) who are looking for an exam-time treat, this is delicious and cozy, and really not that bad for you (as exam-time eating goes...).
Back to the books! Anyone wanna study for Evidence?
Happy eating (and good luck on exams!),
EP
I never understood the allure of the S'more. The consistency of the graham cracker was always too dry against my teeth. I always preferred the roasted marshmallows, plain, and I roast them over the stove on a fork. But the microwave sounds like a good place for that half-bag of minis my MIL bestowed upon us after the Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole was ready for the oven....
ReplyDeleteI love it - The classics should never be underestimated or forgotten
ReplyDelete