I am planning on making pink marshmallows for Valentine's Day treats. I made chocolate covered marshmallows for Christmas and they were a hit. I figure I should be able to substitute a red coloured Jell-O for the unflavoured gelatin in the recipe and use a little less sugar. The thing is, I am not crazy about artificial colours and flavours. Don't get me wrong. I am not obsessive about them, but I like to avoid them if possible. So, I am going to try a recipe using red juice instead of water for the syrup. Then, we shall compare the two.
My other concern about homemade treats is that we are not a nut free household. We have nuts and peanuts in the kitchen. We also eat fish and seafood. There are plenty of allergy inducing foods in our home. When I do baking or treats for the school, I am careful to not have allergens in the food, but if you have been cooking with allergens, there is always the possibility of cross contamination.
My best friend has a severe peanut allergy. I always remember her telling her sister in-law she was pretty sure her sugar cookies had trace amounts of peanuts in them. My friend had experienced a slight tingle in her throat from the sugar cookies. Now, her sister in-law had been baking peanut butter cookies at the same time as she made her "peanut free" cookies. I do not do that. I make sure everything is clean before I start school treat making.
I wanted to know how clean things need to be, however. I do not want to inadvertently cross contaminate something. Studies have shown cleaning with common household cleaners removes enough of the protein allergen to be safe for almost all allergy sufferers. There will always be exceptions. Make sure you wash your dishes and countertops throughly after they have been exposed to the allergen. Hot water will rinse it away for the dishes and utensils, then use dish soap to clean up the dishes. If you are still concerned, you can clean with bleach as well. Common cleaners work well in the counters. Keep in mind, hand sanitizers do not remove peanut proteins. Wash your hands with soap and water.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12847496
Parents of children with allergies should have instructions on whether or not their child is allowed treats at school. Hopefully, the child understands the severity of not following the rules. I sent cookies to school, and said they were sugar cookies, but the teacher called to verify that there was no trace of nuts. I did not bake them with nuts, and had not handled nuts before I started baking, but I could not guarantee there were no traces. If there is a child with allergies in the class, the family should have a plan on how to deal with the treat situation.
I have a friend whose son has a severe soy allergy. If you thought a peanut allergy was bad, soy is found in everything. She cannot guarantee the other parents will remember to use soy free products in their treats. All it takes is using margarine instead of butter, or having chocolate chips in the cookies. She gave her son's teacher a stash of treats that are soy free. This way, he does not miss out on receiving a treat.
I gave her family plain marshmallows as treats for Christmas because I did not have soy free chocolate at home. I knew about his allergy, but I do not know about the allergies of the children in my daughter's class. There might be kids with gluten issues, allergic to peanuts, nut, soy, milk, sesame seeds, strawberries, the list goes on. I know schools often have rules about sending homemade treats to school, but our school does not, so far.
I will make sure my kitchen is clean before I start baking, and specify the treats are nut free, but not from a nut free home. I do not know what the policy is for eating treats at school. I assume the kids all ate the cookies I sent at school. At Halloween and Christmas my daughter came home with a bag of treats, but that does not mean she did not eat any at school. She has no allergies though, and we eat wholesome foods at home, I do not mind if she eats the occasional treat at school. I hardly ever give her a true "dessert" in her lunch. I have not instructed her or her teacher that she is not to have treats.
Today, we experiment on making pink "nut-free" marshmallow.
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