Death Curse of Tartu (1962) - Marshmallow Roaster

Marshmallow Roaster - a companion "recipe" for Death Curse of Tartu (1962), directed by William Grefe.

Deep in the Everglades, a college professor and his students struggle to find the tomb of the undead medicine man, Tartu. But the kids seem slightly more interested in go-go dancing, making out, and roasting marshmallows. (Maybe if the action wasn't so slow, they wouldn't have been so bored.) Tartu can shape-shift into animal forms, and begins picking off people one by one... See the full review by our 31 Days of Halloween collaborator, Outpost Zeta.

Anyway... mmmm, toasted marshmallows! Something about the cool evenings in autumn makes us long for s'mores.I'll bet you knew that "standard" marshmallows have powdered animal skin/bones/sinews in them, right? That's what gelatin is. Luckily, Trader Joe's marshmallows are gelatin-free. So are Dandies. So are Sweet & Sara's marshmallows. Lots of options! I've tried them all and I like them all, so go with whichever are easiest for you to obtain, though TJ's are the least expensive.

Now on to roasting. Unfortunately a lot of us aren't lucky enough to have a fire pit or a wood-burning fireplace in our homes or apartments. Well, never fear... there's a solution for that. A cheap one. All you need is a terra cotta pot with a saucer, some aluminum foil, and a few briquettes of charcoal. SO EASY.

Necessary warning: never light charcoal in the house. You have to go outside for this.

If you're placing the pot on a patio table, turn the saucer upside down and place the pot on top of it to act as a heat shield between the pot and the table. Line the pot with aluminum foil, fill it with charcoal, light it, and proceed as usual. The charcoals will give the best and most consistent heat after they've turned ashy grey. Toast those 'mallows! You can use wooden skewers or if you want to be authentic, go find a stick. Congratulations, you have a tabletop marshmallow roaster!

The coals will continue to burn for quite some time; when I'm done with mine, I use oven mitts to move the pot to the ground and then I place the saucer on top of it to starve the coals of oxygen and smother the fire. I wouldn't recommend pouring water on this fire suddenly; the temperature change could break the pot.