Homemade Marshmallows

I cant even remember where I got this recipe from. But it is exactly the same as the one at Joy of Baking:

http://www.joyofbaking.com/candy/HomemadeMarshmallows.html

I made Marshmallows before and they seemed a lot harder. I think I used less gelatin and therefore had to get the sugar syrup the exact right consistency (soft ball).  Not this recipe, simply heat then mix then pour. that is about as hard as it is.

Ingredients:

• 3 packages gelatin
• 1c water
• 2c sugar
• 1c corn syrup (get the clear kind)
• pinch salt
• 2tsp vanilla (also try to get the clear kind.. yah its crappier then the real kind but... its clear)
• 1c-ish icing sugar (for dusting the finished product).

Try to get clear vanilla and corn starch, otherwise your marshmallows will look beige and dirty. Although, if you get real vanilla, they might taste better.


Step 1: dissolve the gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water and wait a while. I never time this step, by the time the sugar is dissolved and boiling (step next) it is usually long enough. 

gelatin and water

Step2: in a pot heat the sugar, remaining water, syrup and salt. when it comes to a boil (maybe let it boil for 1 full min), dump it into the gelatin and beat with an electric mixer for 10-15 min aka an eternity. Near the end of the beating add the vanilla.  The Joy recipe says something different, but I find when you use 3 packets of gelatin (aka a lot) the temperature of sugar does not matter so much. For a "mathematician" I am super sloppy when it comes to measuring. Its freaking marshmallow, not the supportive structure for a house.

sugar gelatin mixture

After 10 minutes of mixing, you have liquid marshmallow.

Step3: Pour the mixture into a lined and greased (so important!!!!!!) 8"x8" dish. Dust the top with icing sugar and wait a few hours. Leave the bubbles.. they are fun. This solution is so sticky you could do car repairs with it. If you do not grease the parchment paper it will stick to it.  

Step 4: Cut apart the mallows. I like to use scissors. and dust all of the pieces with icing sugar.

cutting apart homemade marshmallows

homemade marshmallows

home made marshmallows

Growing your Food in Sewage

Spreading waste water on a corn field

What is that black water that the farmers have been spreading on the field all week? Well, lets do a little detective work. After all, I am done exams and have nothing better to do. Here are my initial observations:

• It sure dose not smell like water.
• The liquid is black.
• This black liquid has been arriving by the truckload for hours (must be inexpensive, maybe its free?).

Ok, so lets look at the "data". It smells like the worst public bathroom you have ever been too.  Nope, this still does not get my point across. It smell like, your brother ate a dead animal and fermenting garbage, got violently ill and defecated all around you.. yep that is more like it. 

Waste Water

Pumping Waste Water onto farm fields

This can not actually be sewage, can it? I would know about it if people were spreading waste onto fields, no? So I did what any bored grad student would do, I tailed the truck to see where it came from.

The giant truck pulled into the Waste Treatment Plant.

Water Treatment Plant Alliston ON.

Filling Trucks with Waste Water.

Here are some articles:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/loosening-of-rules-about-spreading-sewage-sludge-on-ontario-farms-alarms-critics/article2388149/

http://www.rense.com/general3/prs.htm

This has been going on for years in Canada (Ontario) and the United States. Human waste from a variety of sources are being spread on the fields that grow corn, wheat, soya... you know FOOD.  I can understand why the municipalities like this. The poo poo has to go somewhere. Could you imagine if they would also give garbage away for free? This is great for them. Someone is willing to take their sewage away for free and the farmers get to fertilize their fields. What studies have they done about the long term effects? Well, NONE, according to the article above.

I will do some more research and update this later.