Candy for gifting - Caramels

I made this recipe years ago and then swore never again after wrapping each individual caramel in plastic wrap. I gave it a go agin this year but placed each one in a mini muffin liner. Much simpler!





Vanilla Caramels

Recipe By : Damsel in dis Dress
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Candies

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 pound melted butter
2 pounds brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2 cans sweetened condensed milk

1. Combine first three ingredients in large saucepan.
2. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk.
3. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 minutes, until the syrup
reaches, 245°F
4. Add 1-2 teaspoons vanilla.
5. Pour into buttered, waxed paper lined jelly roll pan.
6. Allow to set for 4-5 hours.
7. Tip onto waxed paper. Cut into squares and wrap each in waxed
paper.

To take the caramels to a new, amazing level, I sprinkled the tops with Sea Salt. (I personally used Penzeys French Coarse Sea Salt). I'll save these for Christmas time only... the recipe makes a lot and it's dangerous to have them in the house. They get devoured way too fast.

Christmas is over and here is what we made...

Inspired by a friend and found in the book Handmade Home. Bookmarks! My 4 year old drew pictures on fabric and I embroidered the image. L got to try out embroidery too. The fabric isn't what was used in the book, but we used what we had in the house.





For the black fabric, L drew with soap.

Coasters featuring drawn creatures by L.


Wrapping paper:


We cut stamps from a potato to make this.

I've posted a ton of pictures to December 2008, including some from Children's Wonderland from Sarah's camera.

We had a great holiday and here are some pictures.

Christmas Eve and an adorable gnome/elf hat:


Brother in laws playing:


Christmas Day:

Looking through the doll house:


He opened this gift and said, "A dollhouse!? This won't fit in the car." Lol, leave it to him to think about that.

Pie:


L has really enjoyed playing with all the gifts he received. He was really excited about the big candy cane he found in his stocking. It was an especially magical holiday this year. Last night he started planning next Christmas, including a stocking for the new baby.

I hope everyone had a joyful holiday!

Yesterday we braved the cold and took our trip down to Toledo for Children's Wonderland. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. I did borrow my sister's, so I expect they'll be some pictures in the near future.

3 Aunts and 2 cousins all ate lunch together including cute sundaes for dessert. We moved on to Children's Wonderland, which was smaller than I remembered, but cooler too. There are a bunch of different moving displays. Many play music and have dialogue running to them. They have a tree which an actual person responds and sings to the children.

There is a train going around a very decorated track. It gives a good 4 times around ride. L and his cousin M rode together, and M made sure they got the best seat, and able to ring the bell the entire trip. Of course there is also Santa Claus, all ready for pictures. Unfortunately they were a bit pushy trying to get us through the line. I'd have liked L to have a few moments to talk to Santa without them trying to get me to get him on his lap. I do understand why they work they way, with the volume of people they're trying to get through.

At the end of the day we encountered machines making plastic figures as souvenirs. I decided not to encourage it, but L decided on his own he had to have one. He loves his new baby reindeer.

Again, L conked out in the car before we made it to the Ohio/Michigan border and had a nice nap in the car.

Today the snow is really coming down. We found out this morning we are expecting 6 - 8 inches through Wednesday. It is gorgeous, but I'm afraid it may cause us to postpone our Christmas Eve travel a few days. Time will tell.

L and Granny wrapping presents:

Making Snow Angels:



L was anxious to get some snow time yesterday so we were out for a bit. There wasn't quite enough snow for a proper snowman, but the hill was fun for sledding! This is the first year L wanted to sled and he giggled the whole way down every time.

We're very fortunate today that Granny is off of work and we'll be making sugar cookies! It's been a very long time since we've made cookies together and L is happy to get in on the fun.

Christmas music is playing and the snow is building up outside. A perfect winter day.

More updates to December 2008. I'm trying to do more frequent uploads this trip so I don't have a pile of photos to upload when we get home. Not to mention, the upload speed here is SO much better than ours.

We got some snow this week and it is beautiful! We're expecting more tonight/tomorrow.

L and I got out of the house yesterday for lunch and shopping with our Aunts. We had a great time seeing family and are excited to see everyone on Monday for Children's Wonderland, something I went to each year when I was a kid. At least, I assume we went every year :) L heard a rumor that Santa might be there and he's pretty excited about that. I told him it's probably a person dressed as Santa, but he insists it's the real Santa. I guess he'll decide after he sees him.

I like this picture of L and S eating chocolate chip cookies at the restaurant we went to.


It was pretty cute to watch him serve up each person a cookie.

I'm also loving the cheesy grin while sitting in front of his first fireplace fire:

I removed the pregnancy ticker because it was kind of creeping Marc out.

We found the Santa hat at Target:


Of course now that we found it, I'm finding them everywhere. I'm also knitting a basic red scarf so he has an extra "Santa" piece.

In December 2008, there is a cute picture of him in hat and tree skirt (which makes a nice Santa cloak).

I just wanted to share the picture Marc took of L that we included in our Christmas Cards this year:



L picked out a tree yesterday and we decorated it and the house.

We made it to MI safe and sound and I'm tired! I hope I'm able to sleep more tonight.

Would you believe an 3 year could be stuck in the car for 11 hours and be happy and fun the entire way? It happened! (We can't believe it either). The cats were excellent as well, but we kind of expect that now.

It's nice to see snow, and L, Papa & Grandpa should be getting a Christmas tree today.

In other news, I finally found a Santa hat! I've got a picture to post, but it's stuck on the camera (of which I cannot find my battery charger for!).

Although we got out to the playground this past Thursday, being cooped in has got someone going crazy. We decided to make Christmas Ornaments yesterday.

The recipe:

Fragrant Holiday Ornaments

1 1/4 C. Flour
3/4 C. mix of Cinnamon and Cloves
1 C. Salt
1 C. Water

You can substitute other spices if you like. Mix all together, then knead. If too sticky, add more spice, not flour. Roll dough on well powdered (with spice) surface. Roll to 1/2" thickness and cut with cookie cutters. Use a straw to poke holes for hanging. Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until hard. When cool you can paint with acrylic paints and coat with a finish (or not). If you do use a spray finish, the smell will be less.

You can use these for Tree ornaments, to make a garland, to tie on gifts, etc..

From: Welcome Home For The Holidays

Pre-Baking:


We haven't decided if we'll paint them or not, so not after pictures yet.