Sweeet!

A few years ago, I bought one copy of Mary Jane magazine. Like the very popular Pioneer Woman blog/show, I understand the appeal for some people, but it was not my cup of tea.  Still, I found one thing worth keeping: I clipped out the Holiday Caramel recipe because it sounded amazing.

The recipe sat in my recipe binder for ages. Flash forward to April of this year, when I finally decided to make the dang recipe or toss it out.

It turned out soooo tasty! Here they are cut up:

Then I wrapped some up in wax paper per the directions:

You have to try this yourself, holiday or not, and regardless of the fact that it's technically a butterscotch, not a caramel.

Holiday Caramel - modified
makes 40 pieces

1 C cream
1 C sugar
3/4 C corn syrup*
1/2 C butter**
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 C chopped nuts (opt)

1. Line 8" square pan with 2 sheets of crisscrossed parchment paper.
2. Combine cream, sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a heavy 3-4 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil ove medium heat and cook, stirring, until the mixture reaches 245F on a candy thermometer.
3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and optional nuts. Immediately pour into prepared pan, and allow to cool at least 2 hours or overnight.
4. After caramel has cooled, remove from pan and cut into 4 equal lengths; then cute each length into 10 equal pieces.
5. Wrap each piece in a 4" square piece of waxed paper, or store between pieces of waxed paper in an airtight container.

*I normally would not use corn syrup, but for this recipe, I got Nature's Flavors organic corn syrup.

**I found this amount to make a very greasy caramel and will play with cutting down the amount in the future.

Enjoy! This didn't last very long in our house. I think I ate more of it than the boys did.


"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Some things are better left un-eaten

Reading the always hilarious Lisa Yee's blog (she's the author of the funny book, Millicent Min, Girl Genius), where you can follow the publishing world adventures of Peepy, reminded me that I had forgotten to post about my own Peeps experience.

Not wanting to deprive my kids of some pop culture, I bought them a pack of Peeps to try. Before we were even out of the store, ds#1 took the package from me and started reading the ingredients."Tartrazine, mom," he said (which is the name of the Yellow coloring in the product), "has been known to cause hyperactivity in children, as well as other worse side-effects." And it went down-hill from there.

"But you have to try some to experience it!" I said.

They both gave me baleful looks as though I were trying to poison them. With much coercion, I got them to split one, and I had to eat the 4 others in the package. I admit eating 4 Peeps all by myself made me a bit ill (and yes, I did spread it out over 2 days). It really is not good eats. In the meantime, the kids ate the much pricier Green & Black's chocolate bars...remind me not to immerse them in pop culture again.

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe