Shenanigans of E26: AH and BSteer Go Skating and Play with Fire, Part Two

Otherwise known as All You Ever Wanted to Know about Roasting Marshmallows, and Then Some

Originally, this post was intended to go up a day or two after Part One... back in March.

Yeah. My bad.

Better late than never, right? Here we go!

Although skating was fun and the world's scariest bathroom experience at least resulted in a half decent story, the rest of the night let to even more exciting activities.

First of all, Tim did a cartwheel. And sort of fell down a hill.

Don't worry, he was a-okay.

He was cartwheeling because he was in a pretty good mood. He claims it was because he just loves doing cartwheels, but I know the truth. That boy was over the moon to roast marshmallows.

A little back story: When I first moved into E26 with Brittany, we really wanted to go camping. Alas, no one would join us. As two attractive young ladies with a questionable supply of upper body strength, we decided not to brave the great wilderness without at least one or two brawny companions to defend us should the need arise.

But we still really wanted to go camping. Mostly we just wanted to hang out in our hammocks and roast the heck out of some marshmallows. And then we realized... we could sort of make that happen. We could go apartment camping and still roast marshmallows. We just needed a way to generate a (relatively) safe mallow-roasting flame. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the day E26 Sterno Roasting was born.

E26 Sterno Roasting: How To Perfectly Roast a Marshmallow in Your Living Room or Anywhere

Step 1. Procure your items: marshmallows, skewers, and Sterno cooking fuel.

If you want to make s'mores, you're obviously also going to need graham crackers and chocolate bars, but saltines and a jar of Nutella could work in a pinch.

Step 2. Place the Sterno can on a heat-safe surface and light fuel.

Usually we'd just put the can on a cookie sheet, and that cookie sheet on a tv tray. And we'd open a window. Because, you know. Safety.

Step 3. Spear your mallow and get to roasting.

You can even share with a buddy!

In my experience roasting marshmallows, it's hard to get the mallow consistently toasted and melted all the way through. Usually the outside is scorched and/or the inside is cold. Also, I'm often torn between going the distance and making a s'more with my mallow, or just enjoying the simple joy of toasted sugar. But Brittany had the solution to these problems. She shared her wisdom with me, and now I share it with you. I call it the BSteer Double Roast technique.

This is BSteer and she approves this message... probably.

With the BSteer Double Roast technique, all these problems just melt away (little mallow-roasting pun for ya). First, put your marshmallow on a skewer and place it in the top of the flame of your Sterno. Yes, directly into the flame. Rotate your mallow in the flame for even heating. And then let it catch on fire. You heard me right! Now quickly but CAREFULLY (this is important, you'll find out why soon) pull that bad boy out of the flame and blow it out. If you've timed it well, your mallow will be burned but not scorched.

Ahh, crispy brown perfection.

Give it a second to cool, and then gently eat the top layer of roasted, melty marshmallow goodness. About half of your unmelted mallow should remain on your skewer.

Pretty great, right? Take a minute to enjoy. Mmmm.

While you're still savoring the deliciously simple taste of roasted mallow, place the unmelted core back into or near the flame. The mallow won't really catch on fire, but it will caramelize on the outside and melt in the middle. Melting won't take long; if you leave the mallow in the flame too long, it will melt completely and could drip off your skewer, so be cautious. When the outside is a lovely golden brown, pull your mallow from the flame.

Ahh, toasty golden perfection.

Either go ahead and eat it plain and simple, or place the mallow between your chocolate and graham crackers and pull the skewer out. Now enjoy your perfect roasted-to-the-core s'more.

That's right, be excited!

Ann Hamilton, we've been reading this whole blog post trying to get to the part where Brittany plays with fire. Why are you dragging this out? Get to the good stuff.

Alright alright alright! Now we're back. When we decided our feet, knees, and souls couldn't take any more skating, rambunctious kids, or scary bathrooms, Brittany, Tim, and I made a grocery store/cartwheel detour on our way back to E26. We roasted mallows, drank strawberry beer, and performed stunning pyrotechnics!

So there we were, chilling in E26, roasting some mallows, making some s'mores, and drinking Abita strawberry when it happened. Brittany was roasting her marshmallow using the tried and true BSteer Double Roast technique. She was in the outer flaming portion of the technique when she realized the mallow wasn't placed squarely on the skewer and was slipping. Unfortunately it was at that moment that the mallow caught fire. Brittany gently pulled the mallow from the flame so as not to sling it across the room (See? Careful!). The marshmallow flared up, smoking, melting, almost dripping from the skewer, and before she could blow it out...
PLOP!
off the skewer. Onto her couch. On fire. ON FIRE.
Brittany yelled, "MY COUCH!" and like a badass new god reached out and plucked the burning marshmallow from the fabric and blew it out while it was still burning in her hand. Because she is a BEAST.

We cleaned the melted marshmallow mess from the slipcover. The couch underneath was undamaged, and luckily Brittany wasn't burned. We carried on with our roasting and had a very pleasant evening and nothing else caught on fire.

The next day I enjoyed the remaining marshmallows in a really nutritious breakfast. Also, I found marshmallow bits in strange places all over the apartment.