Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009 - 7:48 a.m.

Canned beans yesterday. Still having problems with siphoning, even though I've done everything recommended to avoid it. It's annoying.

Meanwhile, complete failure on the marshmallow front. The concept: peppermint marshmallows, with a layer of white, a layer of red, and a layer of white. Festive! In theory. In fact, marshmallow in the making doesn't spread very well, and the cooler it gets, the less willingly it spreads-- so for example, while you're trying to figure out how to spread the first layer in a pan and getting it stuck to everything, the subsequent layers become even less likely to spread. So while I managed to spread the first layer with my fingers, sort of, the latter layers were giant piles at best. Meanwhile, everything I touched, I stuck to.

Isitoshe, [<-- gratuitous Swahili] the mint extract tasted horrid. I ended up pitching the whole batch. Was planning on going and trying to acquire decent mint flavor today, but it's cold out. I may not muster the endurance.

�