Poppin' & Rockin'

POPPIN': This weekend is another Teen Feed session for us, and we have been playing around with dessert ideas. One thing that's always a hit with that crowd is a Crispy Cereal treat station. There are basic squares of the bar cereal mixed with marshmallow, but then they can choose toppings, like icing, different sprinkles, mini chocolate chips and such. I thought it would be fun to put the "pop!" in the cereal that doesn't pop unless you put it in milk, and thought Pop Rocks would make a fun topping. Then I remembered they cost like $1 for a tiny package of them. It would be super expensive to have enough to sprinkle atop 50 or so desserts. Naturally, my next thought was, "I wonder if you can make Pop Rocks ... "

I figured there's be sugar and baking soda involved, and after Annabelle Googled a couple of recipes, that turned out to be true. Citric acid is also involved, as is corn syrup. 

We used a DIY Pop Rocks recipe from a site called Bluprint. It's been awhile since we've boiled sugar, so we were a little nervous watching it approach the 'hard candy' mark (about 295 degrees Farenheit). 

Once it reached that temp, we quickly added in the other ingredients, which included food coloring and some orange extract, for flavor. 

Then we poured it out onto a prepped surface (a cookie sheet covered in parchment and dusted in powdered sugar), and waited, impatiently, for it to harden.

Once it did, we each eagerly popped a tiny portion into our mouth. And ... no popping. Granted, it did fizz, but who wants a Fizz Rock? Nah.

I turned to YouTube and found this guy's more science-y video. One thing he does right is add the food coloring and flavor first, before it boils, instead of after, unlike the recipe we found. I think it would work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsSwvmNEr0Q

That said, no way we're doing all that to make some popping candy. :)

I turned to another video - a professional chef who works for Bon Appetit. She was tasked with making a popping rocks candy. First thing she did was watch the video above, ha ha.

Second thing she did is make a batch that was exactly like what we made. Her conclusion: It fizzes, but doesn't pop. Which is exactly what we found to be true.

Turns out, making popping candy is not very DIY-friendly.

In case you haven't heard quite enough on the topic, check out this Science of Popping Candy video from Gastronaut.


ROCKIN': We were fortunate to see The Rolling Stones when they were in Seattle last week. Last night, they played the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and before the show actor Robert Downey Jr. made an announcement that the team behind NASA's InSight Mars lander has named a Red Planet rock after the legendary band. 
(Video here: https://videos.space.com/m/yO6Z7juy/robert-downey-jr-reveals-name-of-rolling-stones-mars-rock-at-rose-bowl?list=6DUiA9a3)

The rock in the center of the image below is the newly-named rock. It was tossed about 3 feet by NASA's InSight spacecraft as it landed on Mars on November 26, 2018.  According to a JPL press release, "several divots in the orange-red soil can be seen trailing Rolling Stones Rock. It's the farthest NASA has seen a rock roll while landing a spacecraft on another planet."

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In response to the honor, the band said, "What a wonderful way to celebrate the 'Stones No Filter' tour arriving in Pasadena," home of Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  "This is definitely a milestone in our long and eventful history. A huge thank you to everyone at NASA for making it happen."

Here's a short animation JPL created to commemorate the event.

And, of course, there's a video, complete with a Stones' soundtrack.


KNOCKIN': Our never-ending spruce-up-the-downstairs project that has spanned a couple of months now. Most recently, I painted doors downstairs, and the kids learned how to replace a doorknob. It can be a little tricky, but it's totally doable if you follow instructions and have the right mix of patience and brute force.