Caramel Candy

These caramels are my favorite candy to make. This year from October to the end of December the girls and I made at least ten batches.  We gave them out for neighbor and teacher gifts and have had a lot of requests for the recipe.  This year our secret ingredient -- vanilla imported from Mexico from Great-Grandma Borjas -- was missing so we got to experiment with some other flavors.  One time we pretended we were on the Food Network and made two batches at once.  Then we divided them into four and stirred in four different flavors.  We had a taste test and critiqued each batch to determine which was our favorite.  We had so much fun talking in our snooty Food Network accents.  In fact, we're getting pretty good at critiquing our own food.  We do it all the time now for dinner-- especially when it's a bad recipe.  It makes us all laugh while we eat the overcooked pasta that tastes like glue.  And Aubrey always comes up with some random comment that only she understands but stands by until the end. Too funny! But I digress.  Back to the caramels, I loved the orange and vanilla flavors combined and Olivia liked peppermint.  We also tried maple flavoring and cinnamon, cinnamon with nutmeg and cloves, and lemon flavoring.  It was fun to make a variety of different caramels for the goody bags.  Olivia and I seriously celebrated when the last one was wrapped.  That's not our favorite part, but it actually goes fast if you are watching Christmas movies at the same time.  

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 1 /2 cups butter 

1 1/2 cups light corn syrup

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a heavy saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Cook and stir (don't scrape the sides of the pan) until mixture reaches 242 degrees on a candy thermometer or is a firm ball when added to cold water.  Stir in vanilla or other flavorings.  Turn off heat and leave until caramel stops boiling.  Pour in a 13 X 9 pan lined with parchment paper.  Let set several hours or overnight until cool and solidified. Lift parchment paper and caramel out of pan and place on a cutting board.  Cut caramel and wrap in wax paper. This caramel also works well as caramel coating for caramel apples or pretzel rods.

* The original recipe says to cook the caramel until it reaches 238 degrees. I have found that the caramel is too soft and sticky when I only cook it this long. It doesn't hold its shape when cut. So, I make sure that it reaches 242 degrees F. Put the thermometer in the middle of the boiling caramel, not on the bottom of the pan, to get the best results. This may vary depending on altitude and humidity. Also, if you find out you didn't cook the caramel long enough and it's too soft, you can pour it back in the pan and cook it again to a higher temperature and it will still turn out good.

Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup

I'm back!!  Did you ever wonder if I I'd return?  Well, these last seven months I have been on a diet, the divorce diet.  I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, really, unless you want to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time.  That would be one of the benefits.  Since many of us are going to be setting goals to loose weight in the next few weeks, let me tell you my secret on how I lost 40 pounds in five months.  First of all, you must convince yourself that crunchy Cheetos are the only food item that tastes good on the entire planet.  Stick with that for about six weeks.  Then, slowly add in cereal.  Bland cereal.  At first it will taste like dirt, but keep trying.  Eventually, it will taste better and get easier to eat.  After a few weeks add sandwiches.  Doesn't matter what kind.  Just keep it simple.  Something like peanut butter and honey.  And then miraculously after about two more months, you will feel hungry again and some food will start tasting good again.  When you crave chocolate daily, you will know you are almost back to normal.  Only much lighter.  It works.  I know.  I've tried it.  Oh, please take a multivitamin daily while on this diet.  If not, the only complete daily dose of anything you'll be getting is stress.

I am hoping to completely get off of the divorce diet really soon.  One thing that will help is to cut down on the amount of chocolate, cheetos, cereal, and peanut butter in the house.  That way I actually have to cook something.  Or rather, get to cook.  No excuses.  This is one of my hobbies, right?! 

 I decided to make a nice comfort food to kick off the end of the divorce diet.  What could be more perfect that my mom's chicken noodle soup.  Only I used a turkey carcass (that sounds like road kill, doesn't it?)  I really think that's what it's called.  And don't be intimidated by the homemade egg noodles.  They are super easy and make this recipe unique.  Although if you must, you can throw in some dried egg noodles at the end and cook until tender.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (or turkey carcass)
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup carrots, sliced
2 chicken bullion cubes
poultry season to taste
sage to taste
salt and pepper to taste
2 - 3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
Homemade egg noodles (see recipe below)


Directions:
Wash chicken and put in large pan.  Cover with water and boil until thoroughly cooked.  Or cover turkey carcass with water and boil for 30 minutes.  Pull chicken out of broth and cool.  Add celery, onion, carrots, and bullion to broth.  Boil until carrots are nearly tender.  Pull meat off of chicken or turkey and dice.  Add a desired amount back to the soup.  Add salt and pepper, poultry seasoning, and sage to taste.  Make homemade noodles and add to boiling soup.  Mix cornstarch with water and stir into soup.  Add more bullion for flavor as needed.

Homemade Egg Noodles
Ingredients:  
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour (approximate)


Directions:
Whip eggs, water, and salt with a whisk.  Add enough flour to make a stiff dough.  When dough comes to a ball similar to pie crust, it is ready.  Roll out as thinly as possible on a floured surface.  Sprinkle dough with flour.  Fold over and over like a thin jelly roll.  Use scissors to cut thin slices of rolled up dough.  Unroll the noodle and break if desired.  Drop in boiling soup.  Cook in two minutes.

Feta Cheese Fold-overs

My youngest sister, Alyssa, is studying dietetics. When she talks about her nutrition and culinary classes it makes me wonder why I ever got my English teaching degree. I would love to learn the things she's learning. But I probably wouldn't love the homework. No, actually I'm sure I wouldn't.

Alyssa taught me something the other day when she shared this recipe on our family cooking blog. This fold-over recipe originated from Greece which was the birth place of the cookbook and the white chef hat. Hmm! Who knew? Let's all go there, shall we? It sounds like a marvelous place to visit. I'm sure we would have a great time.

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

3 tablespoons green onion, finely chopped

1 egg, beaten

1 (17.5 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Italian seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, blend feta cheese, green onions, and egg. Cut pastry into 12 (3-inch) squares. Place a tablespoon of the feta mixture on the center of each square. Moisten edges with water, and fold pastry over filling to form a triangle. Press edges together firmly with a fork to seal. Lightly brush pastries with the egg yolk mixture. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Garlic Cheese Drop Biscuits

I like to make bread. I also like to eat it. One of my favorite things about eating out is tasting the bread served prior to the meal. Think of the Olive Garden breadsticks or the Macaroni Grill rosemary bread with oil and vinegar. Yum! These biscuits are supposed to taste like Red Lobster biscuits. I haven't been there in such a long time, I can't say whether there is a true likeness or not. But what I can say is that these biscuits are quick and easy to make and are the perfect fix when you need rolls or breadsticks with your meal but don't have time to make them.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup bread flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

5 tablespoons cold butter

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking powder, pepper and garlic powder. Cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Add the milk and cheese; stir just until combined. Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for about 18 minutes, until lightly browned. While biscuits are baking mix melted butter and minced garlic. Brush garlic butter over hot baked biscuits.

Orange Rolls

Here in Texas we are spoiled with sunshine. No inversions around here, no misty lingering fog, and very few overcast days. We've had a few of rainy, cloudy days this week and while I'm grateful for whatever rain we can get, the lack of morning sunshine is just about enough to make me want to stay in yoga pants and sit and read a book all hours of the day. (Can I hear a big "WAH" from all of you that are still in the never ending winter?) The only other activity that seems acceptable is making cinnamon rolls. So yesterday I found this alternative recipe and cooked up these nice sunshiny orange rolls. By the time they were done the sun was shining and it was hot and muggy outside. But at least they served their purpose to get me going and as a bonus, they tasted great.

adapted from Sophistimom

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm milk

1 cup warm water

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 egg yolks

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

4 1/2 - 5 cups bread flour

1 tablespoon yeast (scant)

5 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature

zest of two oranges

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon ground cardamon (I used 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cloves)

cream cheese frosting (recipe below)

Directions:

Put milk, water, melted butter, egg yolks, egg, salt, sugar, flour and yeast in a bread machine pan. (Or check out Sophistimom for directions using a mixer.) Set on dough setting. Mix and let rise once. Punch down dough and and let rest for 3 minutes. Roll out into a large rectangle (about 12x20 inches).

Mix room temperature butter with orange zest. Spread the mixture over the entire surface of the dough. Mix powdered sugar with cardamon or other spices in a small bowl. Use a sieve and sprinkle sugar mixture over the butter.

Starting on a 20 inch edge, roll the dough up loosely. Make slices 3 inches apart. Place rolls one inch apart, swirl side up, on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with tea towel and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 30 minutes). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

For the frosting:

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

zest of 2 oranges

juice of 1/2 an orange

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Stir in sugar, vanilla, orange zest, and juice. Mix until smooth. Spread over warm rolls.

Turtle Bars

When I went to college I had one roommate from Bear Lake. We had so much fun being happy and giddy together. Oh, those days at Utah State University are never to be forgotten. As roommates we shared a wide variety of things like late night talks, library tables, friends, contact lenses (not intentional), and these yummy Turtle Bars her mom used to make and bring when she came to visit. Our favorite way to eat them now is al a mode with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel drizzled on top, but they are also good enough to stand alone.

Recipe from T. Arnell

Ingredients:

48 caramels or 2 11 ounce bags of caramel bits

7 1/2 tablespoons evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1/3 teaspoon salt

2/3 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/8 cup brown sugar

1 1/8 cup butter, melted

1 8 ounce package chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt caramels with milk in double boiler or microwave. Stir until smooth; set aside. Combine flour, oatmeal, salt, soda, brown sugar, and butter. Press half of mixture in a 9 x 13 greased baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle top with chocolate chips. Wait for them to melt and spread to cover crust. Pour on caramel mixture and spread. Sprinkle remaining oatmeal mixture on top. Return to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Apple Rolls

I love old-fashioned recipes because all of the ingredients are so basic. You probably have everything you need in your pantry to make these right now. The recipe for these apple rolls is from my Great Grandma Hunter. I remember her coming over to visit when I was very young and she was in her last years of life. I don't remember too much about her, but I do remember that she was a hard worker and a good cook. She also had funny superstitions like "Spit on your hand when you see a white horse, and your wish will come true." And I remember my Mom saying that she used to put a little bit of lemon juice in everything she made. These apple rolls of hers taste so down-to-earth and real that eating them takes me back 50 years to her kitchen table.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons shortening

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cups applesauce

1/4 cup butter

1 cup water

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together. Cut in shortening. Add milk and gently mix. Generously flour countertop and pat or roll dough into a 6 x 12 rectangle. Spread applesauce over dough. (I sprinkle it with cinnamon.) Carefully roll into a jelly roll. Expect this to be messy and expect some of the applesauce to squish out. Cut jelly roll into 1 inch slices and place them in a 9 x 11 greased pan. Scoop up any lost applesauce and place it on top of roll slices. Boil butter, water, sugar, and vanilla together for 2 minutes. Pour over rolls. Bake in 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Serve warm, upside down, with milk or plain.