Summer dreaming and kosher puff 'n' stuff

Me, dreaming of summer (and with the heat in our place cranked up to 85 degrees, because in reality it's still butt cold out)

I know I'm completely deluding myself, but I let my thoughts get away from me for a minute. You see, we're already booking a bunch of plans for this summer (populaarrr. [kidding kidding.]) and I let my brain wander to sunny days. Trouble! It's a cruel joke, really, letting myself think of summer when winter is still very much here, but a girl can dream, right?

So in an effort to get back to reality - without being too jarring to my psyche - I tried to think of something that could bridge both summer and cold, cold winter. What, in the twisted mind of me, could that possibly be, you ask?

Marshmallows.

Sounds weird, I know, but think about it: marshmallows = summer camping trips and s'mores, but marshmallows also bring to mind warm cups of hot cocoa after playing in the snow.

See? Not totally crazy.

Last year I discovered these puppies from Trader Joe's (looove it there, by the way), and I was in heaven:

Photo via Flickr

They're cheeap (as almost everything at TJ's is), have a slight hint of vanilla, and best of all, they're lovely little squares, like this:

Photo via Nutritious Junk

...Which means they were perfect s'mores ingredients. We tried them out while camping with friends at the Poconos Blues Festival and they were awesome. Delicious and I couldn't believe how much better they fit the s'more construction. Don't judge me for the fact that I was super excited about that. :)

But sadly, good old Joe wasn't that into them, because TJ's has discontinued them and they don't seem to be carrying marshmallows at all anymore. Boooo.

Luckily, I just came across these Elyon marshmallows on the design blog, The Dieline, and they're pretty cute too:



Elyon designs Yael Miller of Miller Creative, via The Dieline

Even the barcodes for these guys are adorable:

The best part though? They're both fat free and gluten free, plus they're kosher and not made with any animal gelatin (ick).

So come summer (don't think about it, don't think about it!), I'm going to head over to Whole Foods and give these Elyon 'mallows a try; hopefully they'll puff up to the TJ's version (RIP). Maybe I'll even give them a go in some hot cocoa come Wednesday if we get snow again like they're predicting. ;)

Top photo from hunkydory spring 2010 via This is Glamorous.