Vanilla Caramels with Sea Salt

These caramels would make a great gift to give the kids' teachers along with some toffee and various biscotti's. They are simply wrapped in waxed paper which requires no ties or ribbons, just a twist on either end and that's it! If you have a reliable candy thermometer you can make these. They're easy!


This recipe can be cut in half if you don't need as many as the recipe calls for.  I've found that if I make too many, I end up eating more than my share. {sigh}

Vanilla Caramels with Sea Salt
Makes 120 caramels

4 cups heavy cream
1 1/3 cups light corn syrup
1 1/3 cups honey
2 cups sugar
8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pound walnuts, toasted and chopped (I omitted these)
1/2 tsp sea salt

Grease bottom and sides of a 9x13 pan. For half recipe, use 9x9 pan. Line the bottom with parchment. Grease the top of the parchment. Combine cream, corn syrup, honey, and sugar in a large pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until a candy thermometer reads 260 degrees F. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, kosher salt and vanilla. Fold in walnuts, if using. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with remaining sea salt. Allow to cool. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert the caramel onto a cutting board. Cut into 1-inch pieces with a large, sharp knife. Roll individually in waxed paper.

Gingerbread Biscotti

How do you cope with cold winter weather? I have a ritual of making a cup of hot tea in the afternoon.  Sometimes I'll light up the gas fireplace and read, or crank up the oven to make some delicious biscotti or tea cookie (so I can dip it into my tea, of course). It's my way of creating Hygge - the Scandinavian idea of crafting coziness from little pleasures.

Don't these just beckoned to be dipped? 


So Old Man Winter - bring it on - because I'm armed and ready (to bake). Just don't stick around too long.

Gingerbread Biscotti
From Southern Living Christmas 2006
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup almonds


Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugars together in a large bowl. Add eggs, one at time, beating well between additions. Add molasses and mix well. In another bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients except the almonds. Add to the egg mixture and beat just until combined. Stir in almonds. Divide the dough in half. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment or Silpat liner, make two flattened logs approximately 2 inches wide and 1 inch high. Use water-dampened or floured hands if dough is too sticky to form the logs. Bake for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300. Transfer the logs to a cutting board (don't slice on the Silpat) and slice the logs on a diagonal at 1 inch intervals with a large serrated knife. Place the slices, cut side down, back onto the cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes on each side. The biscotti will become more crispy as they cool. Store in an airtight container.

Homemade Yogurt

Homemade yogurt is delicious, healthy, easy, and environmentally friendly (no plastic containers to throw away!).  And if you use milk in returnable glass bottles, there will be no waste at all.  It's a win-win!

You will need:

1 quart of whole milk

small container of organic full-fat yogurt to use as a starter

a yogurt maker or instant pot with yogurt setting
a thermometer

First, measure out the milk and place it in a pot over med-low heat. Heat the mixture to 180 degrees F. Stir constantly and check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer every few minutes.  Try not to get distracted because milk will boil over as soon as you turn your back (that seems to be my experience anyway).

After the milk has reached 180 degrees, I pour it into a quart-sized pyrex measuring cup and wait for it to cool down to between 110 and 115 degrees. It helps to set a timer for 10-15 minutes and check the temp each time. Skim off and discard any film that forms on top of the milk as it's cooling. Place 2 T of yogurt into a small bowl and whisk with a small whisk to remove any lumps. When the milk reaches 115 degrees, gradually add about 1/2 cup warm milk to the yogurt and stir until smooth. Add the yogurt mixture back into the rest of the milk and stir to combine. Pour the milk into your yogurt maker and let it ferment for 6 hours or until thick.  The longer you let it ferment, the more tart the yogurt will be because more sugar is being consumed by the beneficial bacteria in the yogurt.   Refrigerate the yogurt for several hours before stirring or eating.  This helps to keep it thick. 

After the yogurt has chilled, you may choose to strain it to make Greek-style yogurt.  Set the yogurt in a strainer lined with a coffee filter or two layers of cheesecloth and set the strainer over a bowl. Cover it and place it in the refrigerator overnight. The whey will collect in the bottom of the bowl.  If the yogurt is too thick, you can add some of the whey back in to get the desired consistency.  Any extra whey can be saved and added to smoothies or other recipes for an probiotic boost.

Scandinavian Apple Cake

Apple Cake

from Country Home March/April 1997

4 cups peeled, cored, and finely chopped cooking apples

1 cup sugar

1 cup chopped walnuts

2/3 cup butter, melted

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/8 tsp salt

powdered sugar for top

In a large mixing bowl combine apples, sugar, walnuts, and melted butter. Stir in eggs and vanilla. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, soda, allspice, and salt. Add dry ingredients to apple mixture, stirring just until combined.

Spread the batter into a greased and floured 13X9 pan or a 10-inch fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees F about 30 minutes for 13X9 pan or 50 minutes for tube pan. Sprinkle warm cake with powdered sugar. Serve warm. Makes 12-16 servings.

Mint Brownies

Who can resist chocolate paired with mint? We made these delectable brownies yesterday to celebrate Morgan's 10th birthday since they are one of her favorites. I've made this recipe several times and it never fails to please. And, if you have the ingredients on hand, they are just as easy to make as those from a box! Needless to say, they are all gone this morning. 

Mint Brownies
adapted from epicurious.com

For the brownies:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the toppings:
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 T milk
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
green food coloring, optional

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped, or chocolate chips
2 T unsalted butter

Brownies:
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly butter an 8x8 or 9x9-inch metal baking pan. Melt the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add chocolate mixture, flour and salt, and peppermint and vanilla extracts; stir until just blended. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes for 8x8 pan and a little less for 9x9 pan. Cool slightly.

Toppings:
Beat powdered sugar, 2 T butter, milk, peppermint extract, and one drop of green food coloring, if using, in a bowl until creamy. Spread over brownies and chill until set, about one hour.

Melt chocolate and 2T butter in a small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Cool slightly. Pour over mint topping, spreading evenly. Cover and chill until set, about one hour. Makes 20 small brownies.

1st Annual Pie Contest

This year, my mother-in-law planned a pie baking contest to celebrate the summer and to pay tribute to the "lost art of pie-making". It was a fun excuse to gather friends and family.


Ellen baked her very first pie. It was an apple pie with cut-out pastry leaves decorating the top. It was delicious! She was the youngest contestant. The pies I made were pumpkin pie (left) and raspberry/blackberry pie with a lattice crust (right).


The pies filled at least 5 long tables.


The judging was difficult. These were two of the most experienced judges - they took their job very seriously!


Annie is checking out a chocolate mousse pie.


Here are the winners! Congratulations to all!

The Making of Apple Cider

While my kids loved the hay tunnels and corn stalk maze and the hay ride around the orchard, my favorite part of visiting Soergel's this year was the cider press demonstration.


First, they use a forklift to bring in a huge bin full of different varieties of apples and dump them into a holding area at the start of a conveyor belt.



The apples are fed into the machine which rinses them and carries them up the ladder to be ground up by a very loud "food processor". I had always envisioned whole apples being pressed, but this makes much more sense.


The apple "mush" is then pumped into trays lined with canvas. When each tray is filled, the canvas is wrapped around the apples and another tray of apple mush is made on top until they have about a dozen trays of apple mush all stacked on top of one another. The trays are then pressed between the "floor" and "ceiling" of the machine and all of the liquid is captured in the tray around the "floor" of the press. The liquid is then pumped through tubes into a large holding tank where it is pasteurized and then bottled. One batch of trays will make about 300 gallons of cider. The pulp/fiber left over is as dry as cardboard and they use it as mulch which eventually returns the organic matter to the soil. Very cool process to watch.