When you're making S'mores, all you think about is getting your chocolate-marshmallow fix, right?

But does anyone ever think of the marshmallows? What about how they feel, getting jabbed onto the end of a dirty branch and thrust into a hot flame?

Well, let me tell you: they hate it. And they'd take any opportunity to get revenge. Gee, if only there were a t-shirt to illustrate this point...

But wait! There is! Check out the "Let's Go Camping" tee on Barry's Farm, a fantastic new crafty site that also features laptop covers that look like furry monsters and cute lil' change purses. The best part? Barry's shirts come in tons of sizes.

I've never been a big fan of food that looks back at me when I'm looking at it. I was in a supermarket once and I saw an entire sheep (or maybe calf) head wrapped in plastic in the meat department. It not only still had its eyes attached it also had its teeth. Freaked me out.

I thought of that after seeing this Edible Flying Spaghetti Monster. The eyes are made with gelatin capsules, rainbow nonpareils, and malted milk balls! Then you attach the eyes to the "spaghetti," which is actually various noodles and marshmallow. I bet kids would get a kick out of this.

[via Boing Boing]

Today is one of those days where we get two different holidays. It's National Banana Split Day and also National S'mores Day.

I've only had s'mores once in my life, I think (I guess that happens if you're not a boy scout). As for banana splits, I haven't had one of those in years, though I still remember the theme song to the TV show ("La La La, La La La La, La La La, La La La La"). Here's a recipe from Epicurious if you want to make the grahams and marshmallow from scratch. If you want to just use store bought food, take a look at the Honey Maid recipe. And if you want a variation, here are a million more recipes for s'mores.

For a banana split, try this. The Banana Split Cake sounds great too.

These two holidays actually go together, so here's your assignment: make a banana split, and put some s'mores in it. Then go for a walk or do a sit up or something.

Run for the hills folks, an army of thousands of Martian whoopie pies has just landed and is intent on colonizing Earth. Their marshmallow-filled wrath knows no mercy. OK, fine they're not from outer space, but this closeup shot sure makes the sweet treats look like they're flying through the ether.

They were cooked up by the Barmy Baker, who says that the sandwiches of chocolate cake and marshmallow are a great way to satisfy one's sweet tooth. She also includes a recipe for the treats, which she adapted from Lora Brady's Chocolate American Style. Compared to some of the whoopie pies I've had in Maine, these things look like they're on steroids.

As we've admitted before, here at Slashfood we are all a little obsessed with Peeps. Love them or hate them, it is hard to escape the little marshmallow treats, especially at Easter time. In the past we've torched them, used them in recipes and looked at how to make your own using a Williams-Sonoma kit.

Now, the Evil Mad Scientist has sent us this recipe which eliminates the marshmallow altogether but adds a few unexpected twists. Using a meringue base and adding saffron strands for added oomph, I'm fairly certain these "Peeps" will be unlike anything you have ever had before.

Yes, you read that title correctly. In case you were blissfully unaware like I was, Just Born, the makers of Marshmallow Peeps, hold a 'Celebrity Survey' every year. Apparently they conduct this survey "to keep up with today's trends and cultures." Maybe it's just me, but I can't recall ever seeing anything other than various shapes and colors of Peeps emerging from their factories depending on the season. If their products have ever actually reflected trends and cultures, it is news to me.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the little marshmallow treats as much as the next person - but there are limits. Though I'm fairly certain this one can simply be filed under "for those that have way too much time on their hands," in the spirit of Easter (or maybe just because it is Friday) I'll let you in on the results after the jump. I apologize in advance.

Just Born is always expanding their Peeps lineup, as the sugar-coated marshmallows are one of their most popular products. Instead of only offering yellow chick Peeps at Easter, they have chicks, bunnies and egg shapes in a variety of colors and flavors. And for other holidays, they have themed Peeps, with hearts on Valentine's Day and trees at Christmas.

At Halloween, Just Born introduced cocoa-flavored black cat Peeps, which I passed on because I was somewhat put off by the color. I am a huge fan of Peeps, but I like my Peeps in the spring. While shopping this week, however, I came across Cocoa Bunny Peeps and, as they were Eastery-enough to meet my standards, I picked up a package for a taste test.

The important thing to note about these candies is that they are not chocolate marshmallows, despite the promising light chocolate color. They are merely cocoa-flavored and that flavoring is entirely limited to the sugary coating on the outside of the bunny. The subtle chocolate flavor didn't really do anything to enhance the Peep and, although I would eat them again, if I really want chocolate with my Peeps, I'll stick with Milk Chocolate Peep Eggs - or better yet, a dark chocolate Peeps s'more using a regular Peep.

For a closer look at the cocoa bunnies, click past the jump. *warning - the photo after the jump is graphic, and may not be suitable for all viewers*

Fat free, low sodium, cholesterol free burger and fries? Yup, Kandy Kastle Inc. makes a Mallow Burger, Mallow Dog, and Mallow Fries; to be served with Sour Candy Gel Ketchup. Mmmm... just what I want for lunch. The novelty candies are pretty good copies of the real things with the burger around the size of a hefty White Castle Slider. Anyway, I did some research and came up with a review. From what Jeff Eaton blogs, the fries are supposed to have a slightly fluffy and gummi consistency with little flavor to them. The burger has several layers of texture which sounds interesting, in a lose your teeth from sugar chunk kind of way. The coolest part is the sour ketchup, which is a mess that clashes violently with the fries. Wow, that sounds just like how I wanted my candy as a kid. Back then I always said the grosser, the better. So here's some more zany stocking-stuffers like the Wonkazoid, to get your kids all riled up and running around with a sugar high on the holidays. Hey, don't blame me, I didn't give it to them.

I have pie dough in the fridge, pies in the oven, a defrosted turkey and partially prepped veggies in various places around the kitchen. With all the holiday meal prep that we've been doing (I know I'm not the only one), something delicious, but simple, sounds really good right about now. Those pies aren't going to be fair game until tomorrow night. Thankfully, Allie, from Something So Clever posted some really tasty sounding Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Rice Krispies. The addition of peanut butter to the standard rice krispie recipe makes them a little bit more interesting. Adults will like them because the peanut butter adds a new salty-sweet dimension to the flavor and kids will like them because they almost all like rice krispie treats. Speaking of kids, these are so easy to make that if you have any kids around at the holidays, you can assign them the job of making a batch to keep them out of your hair as you work on the main meal.

It's that time of year again. I'm not talking about the holiday season or the fact that there is a whole new array of winter vegetables in the produce aisle. I'm talking about the fact that late fall is when Nabisco puts out Mallomars again. Mallomars are a cross between cookies and candy, with a fluffy marshmallow topping a crispy cookie, all covered in a thin layer of dark chocolate. It is the chocolate layer, which hasn't been replaced with a chocolate-flavored, heat resistant substance, that makes Mallomars so vulnerable to destruction in warm weather. They are at the top of the snacking pyramid for marshmallow lovers and, as they are only readily available for a few weeks each year, they are quite the hot item, despite the fact that they can only be sold when the weather is cool.

They have been around since 1913, so they have nostalgic appeal in addition to generally being appealing to new, younger audiences. The place where Mallomars are the most popular is New York, which Kraft/Nabisco says makes of 70% of its annual sales of the treat. Not only that, but some of the vendors that carry it say it is their best selling cookie all year - probably because people are stocking up for the off season.

Homemade marshmallows are definitely one of my favorite candies. Unlike store-bought marshmallows, they are like little clouds of sweetness that are soft, tender and melt in your mouth. They are easy to eat, go perfectly with coffee, flavored coffee drinks and hot chocolate, and are ideal for making s'mores. They are also surprisingly easy to make, and very impressive when you bring them out to serve to friends or family. The only real drawback is that you really need a stand mixer to make them, as it allows you to keep your hands free while you're working and has a very large whisk (as opposed to the beaters of a hand-held mixer) that does the job quickly and efficiently.

I really recommend using vanilla bean paste or vanilla bean crush instead of plain vanilla extract because the tiny bean specks really look fantastic in the finished candy. Read on for the recipe, which I have made and enjoyed countless times:

David Lebovitz thinks that Chocolate Covered Marshmallows are a difficult food to photograph and I have to agree with him, having spent a good deal of time photographing marshmallows myself. Those little pillows of sugar have a softness and lightness to them that is hard to capture on film, although that ethereal quality is not exactly what he was referring to when he expressed that opinion. He was referring to the fact that he couldn't stop eating them once he started. I don't blame him one bit, judging from this shot that he managed to snap before they were all gone.

His marshmallows are from Pierre Marcolini in Paris, but if last year was any indication, the closer we get to the holiday shopping season, the easier it will be to find chocolate covered marshmallows at chocolatiers and specialty shops in your area.

A 32-year-old woman in Canada was participating in a Chubby Bunny contest, a game in which participants attempt to stuff as many marshmallows into their mouths as possible and still say "chubby bunny." It is often played by children at camps and sleepovers and, more often than not, all efforts subside into laughter after about the fourth or fifth mallow. Adults take these things more seriously, however, and instead of ending up laughing, the above-mentioned woman ended up in critical condition at a London, Ontario hospital after choking on a marshmallow. The contest was already over and she was walking backstage when she collapsed. She had no vital signs when the paramedics got to her and is currently in critical condition.

The future of Chubby Bunny contests at this fair are seriously in doubt, as it may be in other venues since this is not an isolated incident, and it is possible that other food-events will be more closely monitored in the future ,a reminder to all competitive eaters that chewing your food could potentially be far more important than winning.

Update: Unfortunately, the woman did not recover from the incident.

[image via wikipedia]

The start of the Halloween season is earlier every year - the retail start of the season, that is. This year, even though the "back to school" sales seemed to start before graduations did and the first signs of pumpkins and ghosts were not far behind, I tried to put it out of my mind as long as I could. This weekend I gave in and bought some candy corn, but it's possible that I would have made the Bat S'mores Kit from Williams-Sonoma my first seasonal purchase if not for the fact that it is only available online. The kit is completely unnecessary for those who just want to make a s'more, but it would make a great holiday gift for those who really like to start celebrating in advance. It includes Scharffenberger 41% milk chocolate, bat-shaped graham crackers and homemade marshmallows (enough for eight large s'mores) packed neatly with an orange and black ribbon.

Somehow, the fact that August 10th is National S'mores Day managed to sneak by us, but these delicious treats are worth a mention, even if it is a bit belated.

If you're not familiar with s'mores, they are made by sandwiching a toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate in between two graham crackers. The name of the treat comes from the two words "some more," clearly combined because people often wanted to have at least a second serving after having one s'more. The treat was developed by campers in the early part of the 20th century, making use of the fairly new mass-produced marshmallows. Marshmallows were easy to transport, as were candy bars and graham crackers, and the marshmallows could be warmed easily over a fire to make a delicious treat in a situation where other types of sweets would have been difficult to come by.