Today’s Holidays: National Toasted Marshmallow Day, Slinky Day, Frankenstein Day, International Whale Shark Day, Holistic Pet Day
Website of the Day: http://www.toyhalloffame.org/toys/slinky
Fun Fact of the Day: The largest s'more ever made used 20,000 toasted marshmallows!
This morning I woke up and, after a few quick stretches, (otherwise known as those ten minutes it took me to stand up out of my bed) I scrolled through Food Network’s snapchat stories. Food Network loves to celebrate national holidays, so long as they pertain to food, and today they honored National Toasted Marshmallow Day the only way they know how: bombard us with video after video and picture after picture of toasted marshmallow desserts, guaranteed to make even those who just ate a full dinner at The Factory (Cheesecake Factory) hungry. Given that I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, it was pure torture to click through Food Network’s stories, but of course, just like all of us who follow social media food accounts, I did it anyway.
But one of Food Network’s posts differed from its usual array of delectable dishes, reading: “What Your Marshmallow Roasting Style Says About You” with a link to swipe up. Naturally, I was intrigued, and swiped up to see five categories: Raw, Burnt to a Crisp, Charred, Lightly Browned, and Toasted, complete with five pictures of heavenly marshmallows, signature to Food Network’s style. I scrolled down to Charred, because there is nothing better than a golden brown toasted marshmallow, crispy to a crunch on the outside with a hint of burnt taste, yet warm and sticky in the middle. I could almost taste the sugary deliciousness of a summer marshmallow, eaten right off the skewer and surrounded by the strong aroma of the fire pit.
As I read about my personality analysis according to my favorite type of marshmallow, I began to feel like somewhat of a fraud. The post read:
You’re not afraid of getting that skewer close to the flames, all so that squishy white gem gets a lick of charring. Heck, you love it. You’re not into letting things go down in flames, but you do like taking risks- especially if the potential payoff is well worth it. Nothing beats the taste of that char on your ‘mallow, so you’re willing to put yourself in a (reasonable) amount of *danger* for the finer things in life.
And while this argument makes sense, the entire reasoning behind the conclusion was false in my case.
My history when it comes to fire is a rocky one. Let me bring you back to my birthday party of ‘08. Actually, it was more like 2016, but “birthday party of ‘16” didn’t flow as well. My mom brought the cake out onto the kitchen island, an Oreo ice cream cake from Cold Stone, and placed the candles into the cake. On a whim of confidence, perhaps because I was feeling like a really cool sixteen-year old, I offered to light the match for the candles. If you know me, I’m not necessarily someone you would trust to light a match, and so I wanted to prove to everyone that sixteen-years old meant change and maturity; I would light the match like nobody has ever lit a match before! After two minutes of hesitation and five minutes of struggling to get the match to catch fire, I gave up and passed the it to my younger brother, who lit it right away.
Now, let me take you back to last summer, or I probably should say every summer that we roasted marshmallows outside. I sat around the fire pit with my friend, Aspen, and my brother, Jake, roasting marshmallows. I craved the charred taste, and I knew that the only way to achieve that would be to light my marshmallow on fire for just a second. Letting the marshmallow catch fire is the easy part, unlike the match that just would not cooperate, but blowing out the fire is what scares me. Time and time again, my marshmallow would catch on fire, and I’d freeze.
My subconscious would yell at me: “Mia, blow out the fire on your marshmallow before it becomes burnt to a crisp! You know you like your ‘mallows charred!”, but my fear prevailed, pushing my subconscious down with words of hatred: “Don’t listen to your subconscious! Do you want to get burned yourself? A charred marshmallow just isn’t worth it. If you do this to us and get burned, I’ll never forgive you!” So after my moments of stillness, I’d pass my skewers to someone nearby to blow it out for me, namely Jake or Aspen that summer night. I’ve learned to warn the people around me that I would likely have them blow out the fire for me, because last time I didn’t, I ended up with a marshmallow burnt to such a crisp that it shriveled in shame.
Moral of the story, I suddenly felt disloyal to my charred marshmallow as I read my analysis on Food Network, because I’m never really the one to create it. And so today, on National Toasted Marshmallow Day, I will finally roast my own charred marshmallow. Never let anyone, especially Food Network, tell you who you are or who you are not, because this is your life, your choice. If you want to be adventurous and walk alongside danger, then you go and roast that marshmallow until it lights on fire, and blow it out yourself!
Marshmallows, toasted or not, have always captivated me, mostly due to their ability to spark unity. They not only unite the chocolate and graham cracker in a s'more, but they bring families and friends together, talking and laughing while navigating through the sticky, enjoyable mess that is a marshmallow. And let’s not forget that a toasted marshmallow completes The Factory’s classic S'mores Cheesecake, as well as makes up the large dessert pizza at Max Brenner’s. And I frequently incorporate marshmallows into my cupcakes, most famously my Smore’s cupcakes; I might use the store bought mix, but the decorations on top are all me (except the store bought icing)! Life is full of so many layers, and if we just look a little closer, beneath the exterior and outside of the normal function, we will find the beauty that makes this world sparkle. Today, I will celebrate beyond the toasty exterior and outside of the sticky sweetness to focus on the power of unity that toasted marshmallows hold.
Happy National Toasted Marshmallow Day! How did you celebrate? Comment below or send in a picture to @nationalholidaymovement@gmail.com !