Add some bright color to your holiday snack platter

Back in ancient times, when some schools still used a thing called a mimeograph to give copies of text a distinctive scent, West Hazleton High School staged an annual Christmas concert. If I remember right, it was always titled “Mistletoe and Holly.”

I sang in them, but didn’t have much of a notion of what holly really was. Now of course you can look it up on your phone and find the real deal in a lot of places this time of year.

But you can also create an edible facsimile out of marshmallows and corn flakes (no mimeograph necessary). I don’t know when this particular recipe became a seasonal staple at the old West Hazleton Homestead. I don’t remember it being part of the cookie plate as a kid, but my sister Deb said she first saw them while visiting a friend’s house in her tweens, and brought the recipe to our house.

The nice thing about these is the look. On a platter heavy with different shades of brown for peanut butter, molasses, oatmeal, chocolate chip and the other standards, the green food coloring and the red cinnamon dots brighten the whole presentation.

Working fairly quickly to spoon them onto the wax paper is important. It gets harder as the goo cools. That caveat aside, these are simple, sweet and distinctive.

But don’t take my word for it, MT took a platter into the newsroom taste testers (I worked from home that day).

“They remind me of Rice Krispies Treats, but they have more marshmallow,” page designer Lyndsay Bartos said. “I really like the marshmallow and I think this would really be a kid-pleaser.” She also found the cinnamon a nice touch.

“I like the crunch of it,” page designer Ashley Bringmann said, later adding “I’m a sucker for food-dye” and laughing at the thought that her tongue might turn green (it doesn’t, in my experience, at least not long enough to be noticeable).

The deeper green coloring does require a good bit of dye. The recipe calls for a tablespoon, though I just kept adding until it started to look right. But please note that I almost emptied one of those little bottles of green coloring, so if you only have a little left consider buying more before starting anything. Once the marshmallows and butter are melted, it’s too late to rush to the store.

“It’s reminiscent of eggnog, which is a flavor I like, news editor Roger DuPuis said. “Very good.”

Well, I can sort of get the reference, but only by thinking of commercial nogs. My dad’s beloved recipe — which we sadly haven’t made for years because you need a pretty big crowd to drink it all — was many levels above most eggnogs I’ve tasted.

Bill O’Boyle found them “too sticky” to be enjoyable, something I can appreciate. Though it is a simple make, mine came out a bit stickier then when older brother Jay (of “Uncle Jake’s Favorite Recipes” to regular readers) does them. I gave mine a full night in the fridge, flipping them over once, to make them manageable without sticking to my hands.

MT took some of them to lunch with long-time friends Mary and Chris, who also gave them good reviews — though it’s worth pointing out Chris’s initial reaction:

“Oh, finally, we get to taste something from the test kitchen!”

“They seem to be half way between a cookie and candy,” Mary said, “and they’re so filling you can only eat one. I like the cinnamon; that cuts the sweetness for me.”

I agree that they are not quite cookie or candy, and I also find the cinnamon goes a long way in keeping them from being too cloying. But I won’t discuss how many of them I ate myself before the rest went to the tasters.

MT described Chris’s reaction thus:

Chewing thoughtfully, she said: “So, marshmallows and cornflakes. Hmm. It’s good, nice and sweet. I’d say Mark did a fantastic job.”

Merry Christmas, and

Dobru Chut!

Holly Leaves

¼ pound margarine

10 ounce bag marshmallows

1 tablespoon green food coloring

3 cups corn flakes (or similar cereal flake)

Red cinnamon candy beads

Melt margarine and marshmallows together in a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Add coloring and mix until a uniform dark green. Remove from heat. Gently stir in the corn flakes until thoroughly coated.

Immediately drop by teaspoons onto buttered wax paper. Flatten slightly into irregular shapes. Press two or three candy beads into the center of each cluster. Cool thoroughly until surface loses stickiness.