Sisters' Day & Marshmallow Bark

When we were growing up, each year my older sister Eleni and I would declare an annual "Sisters' Day" as our day to celebrate each other and our friendship. Sisters' Day typically involved at-home self-administered facials and manicures, long bike rides, movie outings, and photo shoots. As  we've gotten older, even though our lives have taken us on different paths and there is a pesky country between the two of us, I'm proud to say we still find time to celebrate our sisterhood. This March, I was lucky enough to have her with me in Oregon for a whole week. As a result, Sisters' Day has hereby been replaced with Sisters' Week.

The day she called to ask what she should pack, I had visions of her lounging on the balcony of her 42-story high rise, bikini-clad, mojito in hand, gazing out at the Atlantic. Either that, or on a boat somewhere off the coast of South Beach with P. Diddy and/or Kim Kardashian. Meanwhile, I was riding my bike through the rain/hail/mist, braving not only the coldest, but also the wettest March in Oregon's recorded history. It appears one sister has made more prudent life decisions than the other.

I told her to bring her best hippy gear and her rain jacket. True to form, she brought these. (I guess the corked heel satisfied the "hippy" qualifier?) And wouldn't you know it, they were a hit! An absolute hit, I say! So with Eleni decked out in 6-inch platforms, me donning Crocs covered in flour, and both of us with aforementioned rain jackets in tow, we hit Oregon by storm.

We had grand plans to make these, these, oh, and these too. Somehow, we succeeded in doing none of the above. Rather, we spent much of our time shopping (we are each other's only known viable shopping partners on the planet. We even bought matching designer sunglasses; "Sister Sunglasses" if you will, shown below. Which was completely justifiable, considering I haven't seen the sun since September 2010 and I currently earn just above minimum wage.), eating, cozying up in local coffee shops, and catching up on some much needed and much welcomed sister time.

Eleni's good friend from high school is the Capitol Baker (of http://www.thecapitolbaker.com/ fame). When it became obvious that we were never going to get around to the above recipes, we searched Jessica's blog for something easy and mouthwatering. The requirements: no more than five ingredients and no need to turn on the oven. And voila! The richness of the bittersweet chocolate coupled with the slight chewiness of the marshmallows makes for a perfect combination. They're almost shamefully easy, and bonus: you don't even need a mixer.


Chocolate Marshmallow Bark
taken from The Capitol Baker

Ingredients
2 tsp. butter
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate*
3 cups miniature marshmallows

*Baker's note: Technically, "bittersweet chocolate" is any chocolate that contains at least 35% cacao. I used 60% cacao chocolate from Ghirardelli.

Instructions

Line a square baking pan with aluminum foil (either 8'x8' or 9'x9' will do). In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally.

Once melted, remove the chocolate from heat and mix in the marshmallows with a rubber spatula. Once the marshmallows are coated with the chocolate mixture, spread evenly and smoothly into the prepared pan.  

Refrigerate until solid, at least one hour. Keep refrigerated until ready to eat, as the chocolate at room temperature will get messy quickly. Cut into pieces and serve.

Makes 12 to 16 bars.

Alternative Serving Suggestion: Before pouring the marshmallow chocolate mixture into the prepared pan, line the pan with graham cracker squares. Refrigerate until solid and  feast on your delicious homemade S'mores Bark. Let me know if you try this version and how it comes out!

Official Sisters' Week 2011 Photos: