Author: Mary Anne

(makes about 250 teeny tiny gummies)

Super-easy, super-cute. Passionfruit puree, which I order online, is thick and intensely flavored, which is why I end up diluting it with water for these gummies. If you’re using juice, then just use 2 cups of juice and no water.

1/4 c. sugar (optional)

1. Combine passionfruit and water in a glass measuring cup and microwave on high a few minutes until hot (alternately, heat in a pot on the stove).

2. Stir in gelatin and sugar (if using) until dissolved.

3. Pour into gummy mold and chill one hour until set. (Alternately, pour into pie plates, and cut into squares or use a cookie cutter.)

NOTE: These store best in the refrigerator; after a few days at room temperature, they tend to dry out.

Never too many hearts!

In other media news, Kavi was a little appalled to discover that I don’t post videos to TikTok for my confections, etc., and I told her that it was in the queue to make little 1 minute videos like that, but I wasn’t good at it, and it’s hard to make a video while you’re also making things with your hands, and she said of course it’d be better if she made the videos and I said if you want to make videos and be my TikTok video producer and brand manager, I am delighted to give you the job, and she said sure, so that is why a 13-year-old is my TikTok video producer and brand manager now, and why Kavi made three 1-minute videos of me making sweets yesterday, and I’m not allowed to post them yet because she researched and apparently the right times to post such things are 7 a.m., 8 a.m., and 4 p.m. (in Chicago’s time zone), but assuming I remember to do so, you will likely see one of them posted in about 90 minutes, and I admit, I feel a little old, but also grateful for a sweetheart of a daughter with some serious tech skills.

(She is currently planning on focusing on art + business in high school, because she’s pretty interested in running a small business, but with strong science classes too, in case she decides she wants to be a doctor after all.)

It turns out that if you sit next to your daughter on the couch and watch I, Zombie with her, she will assemble boxes for you. You may want to close your eyes during the gory / gross bits, if you’re me.

Don’t worry, I let Anand have some milk toffee….AFTER I finished taking the photo.

Anand: Even a bad batch of milk toffee would still be GREAT.

All right then.

I think I may have ruined the pot I usually make milk toffee in, using it for candle making — I’m having a hard time getting all the bits of candle spatter completely off, so it may be a dedicated candle pot now. Which is okay, but I had to make milk toffee, and I was a little worried that my 6 qt. all-Clad, which has notably lower sides, would not contain it. The results could have been bad.

Thankfully, it JUST fits. The first photo shows the level of liquid at start; the second shows it when it’s boiling up (and you do need to watch it then, so you can turn down the heat — might have been a disaster otherwise).

Then as it cooks down, the level drops, and by the time it reaches soft ball stage and you’ve added cashews, vanilla, and butter, it’s nice and low again. Whew! High drama in the kitchen…

Anand just came into my office and pathetically asked, “Are you EVER going to cut the milk toffee???” No, baby, I’m just going to leave the tray of it on the counter and taunt you forever….

(For Valentine’s sale, link here.)

What’s under the tea towel? Passionfruit, lime, and honey marshmallows. Kavi and I are agreed that we actually like straight passionfruit better, but this is nice for a change, and honey has some nutrients that are good for you, I think?

Had fun with new style of packaging for marshmallows. So cute. I’m probably still going to pack flat for ones that are going in small boxes, because they won’t fit if packaged this way. But this would be very charming in a shop display, wouldn’t it? Maybe in a year or two, we’ll have ramped up enough to try to sell in local places like Carnivore Oak Park and The Daly Bagel? It’s going to be a process, though.

Link to our Valentine’s sale here.