Marshmallow Crispy Cookie How to Go on Vacation

I recently came back from a houseboating trip with other families and friends.  To decide to go on the trip took much consideration and time because I like to be in control.  The last trip with this same group was camping two years ago, and I came back home deciding that, ahem, that camping really wasnt for me, especially with three kids in tow.

However, friends patiently convinced me that this trip would be different, far less dusty, and far more fun and exciting for the kids.  It would be our family vacation and one filled with tons of fun and laughter.  I vacillated for a few weeks and then finally committed.

Ive always avoided vacations since Ive considered them times when youre not at home but working just as hard.  With three Children, it just cant feel like a vacation.  I figured that this would be no different.  Before the trip itself, I had to do a lot of grocery shopping, cookie dough preparation, chicken preparation, packing, laundry and a list of things to do.  By the time boarding the boat came about, I was exhausted, but getting ready to just do what needed to be done.  I got on the boat, made the beds, showed the kids the bathrooms, got everyone organized, and all in all, just began living the same life I live at home, only now I was on a boat, stuffed into a tiny bunk room.  I was thinking about schedules, about time, about bedtime routines, about making dinner, about all the TASKS that I saw before me.

Friend JEL pulled me aside and said, "Dude.  This is your vacation.  RELAX."

"I am relaxed.  This is me relaxed.  Dont you know?" I said while madly cleaning up the mess of Children and others in the kitchen.

"Youre not relaxed.  Just let go.  Seriously.  Come on."

And with that statement, I slowly began letting go.

I became less fussy about bedtimes, about meal times, about washing hands regularly.  I didnt worry about junk food, about what the kids were eating, or what they were drinking.  I let them have a vacation from their stressed-out-must-be-in-control-of-everything mommy, and let them have a tiny taste of the life that would be if they could ever get rid of me.  (In their minds, I think this life would be one filled with juice boxes, cheetos and dirty underwear.  But I digress.)

In a word, vacation.  I let go.  I relaxed.  I found peace in doing nothing.  I discovered that by floating on my back in the lake, I can completely surround myself in silence, with only the tune that runs in my brain.  There are no cries of mommy, Joanne, "Im hungry", or "Im bored."  Vacation.

At one point, I completely let go, grabbed friend JEL, and said, "Lets go on a sunset ride on the jetski.  Let someone else do the dishes."  (This is so unlike either of us.)  And we did.

Im back in the grind of things, back with Children who are back in school, so the vacation was extremely short-lived, but it was completely worth it.  But now that Im back in control, the captain of this family, Im back attacking those things that I want under my control.

In this case, the thing I want under control is a recipe.  I struggled with this recipe (4 different batches to be exact), to get the effect and look that I wanted.  Dont get me wrong, all the batches tasted good in my their own way, but the unruly marshmallow kept on throwing things off balance for me to the point that I decided that I WOULD control this cookie.  Finally, I got the little white fluffs of sugar under control, and I give you....

MARSHMALLOW CRISPY COOKIE!  The idea was to combine a chocolate chip cookie with the flavors of a rice krispy treat. This is the result - crispy, chewy, gooey, yummy.  I took these on the vacation (one of the versions) and the houseboat guests went in a frenzy over them.

Marshmallow Crispy Cookies
Makes 5 dozen

Ingredients
2 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups rice crispies
1 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup old-fashioned oats
2 ¼ cups mini marshmallows

Method
Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl (either in a stand mixer or in a bowl where you can use a hand mixer) and cream on medium high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla and beat until all ingredients are mixed together, another 3 to 4 minutes.

Reduce speed to low, and add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until just mixed, about 1 minute.

Add rice crispies, chocolate chips, and oats, and mix until just blended. Finally, add marshmallows and mix until marshmallows are well distributed.

Now the dough needs to rest. Take cookie dough, wrap it in saran wrap, place it in a sealed plastic bag and refrigerate. You can rest it for 8 hours, but 24 hours is usually better. You want the dough firm and cold.

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop tablespoon scoops and lay them about 2 inches apart on your baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are golden and firmed up.

Allow cookies to cool in pan for 5 minutes, before removing them to a cooling rack. Enjoy.

Printable recipe

I packed a few of these up for teachers at the start of school  They were very popular.

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Cold Sesame Green Beans Vacation whiplash

For JZ, who gave me the idea of a vacation in the first place.

Our family has just returned from a 7 day vacation in Cancun, Mexico.  Although the trip was filled with tons of fun for the family as they flew on a trapeze, played at the beach, played tennis and swam, my trip was decidedly less exciting.   My 7 day vacation consisted of not thinking about cooking, shopping, dishes, food, meal planning for an entire 21 meal period.

21 meals that I did not have to worry about.  21 meals where I just showed up and food appeared.  21 meals where I got up from a table laden with dishes and I did not even have a milisecond to inwardly groan at the mess that Family made.  I got 21 meals, in a row, of liberation.

However, upon our return from the airport on Sunday night, four pairs of eyes looked expectantly in mine awaiting my return to the kitchen.  Mind you - I was just off the plane, doing mental gymnastics around the sheer number of laundry loads Id have to do just to get on top of things, and already contemplating the tough work week ahead.  Motherhood was not going to offer me a break.  I threw together the quickest meal possible, with all the family gobbling down Korean food as if theyd been starving in the desert and not eating super filling meals on vacation, and the four people satiated their desire for homecooked meals while I daydreamed and reminisced about my days without the responsibility of feeding my family.

Monday morning was filled with a series of moments where I had to just shake my head in disbelief.  What - I go grocery shopping again?  Im supposed to make every single meal?  The kids want a complicated Korean dinner that evening?  This cart is heavy.  How can I

load all these groceries?  When did filling the refrigerator with food become a Herculean task?  Where is my vacation free of thinking about food?

Vacation whiplash I call it.  Its the residual effects of missing your vacation when youre back in your reality, making your reality a bit more painful.  I never thought about how much work went into my regular daily life, but here I was breaking a sweat at just trying to get groceries from the car into the house.  My vacation had basically made me unfit to be a mother.

But when duty calls, sometimes you just have to be better than you want to be.  This week I wanted back on my vacation, but reality put me back in the kitchen, thinking about and cooking food.  I tried to keep things very simple, to help me adjust, and this is one of the dishes I made.

This cold green bean salad is my take an a Japanese/Korean style green bean dish.  Its sweet, salty, and nutty with the sesame seeds.  Its a favorite with our family, although Son prefers a version I do with tofu.  (Ill post that one later.) Its simple because its about cooking green beans, cold shocking them in water, and then making a dressing.  The finish is simply tossing the green beans with the dressing.

Cold Sesame Green Beans
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients
1 lb of haricot vert, or thin green beans
5 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
3 tablespoons of sugar
6 tablespoons of soy sauce (I use Kikoman low sodium  with the green top)
1 tablespoon sake
salt to taste

Method
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rapid boil.  While getting water to a boil, prepare a large bowl with lots of ice and water where you can dunk your green beans after cooking into it to cold shock it.

Once water is boiling, add green beans and make sure all beans and swimming in water.  Stir and cook until green beans are bright green and tender crisp to the bite, about 4 minutes.  Drain green beans, and place in ice cold water.  Once beans are cooled in the water, drain the ice water out, and cut each green bean into halves or thirds, depending your preference.  (Easy way to do this is to grab a handful, line them up and do a single cut down a bunch of beans.)  Green beans can be prepared ahead of time and placed in refrigerator until ready to serve.

To make the dressing, place toasted sesame seeds and sugar in the bowl of a mini food processor.  Process together until sesame seeds and sugar become a fine powder.  Remove from processor and place in a bowl. Add soy sauce and sake.  Set aside until serving green beans.

When you are ready to serve, toss together green beans with dressing.  Season with salt if necessary. Serve immediately.

Printable recipe

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