Archive | July 14, 2014

Six Minute Sea Salt Microwave Caramels

Jul14

These are these best caramels ever!  I usually only make candy around Christmas, but these are super yummy and very impressive.  Enjoy!

 

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup light Karo syrup

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1Tbsp course sea salt

Directions:

1.   Combine all ingredients.

2.   Microwave 6 minutes , stirring every  two minutes. If mixture looks grainy, microwave in 2 minute intervals, stirring thoroughly until mixture is creamy and has no lumps.

3,   Stir and pour into foil line lightly greased 8 x 8 dish or cookie sheet

4.    Let cool for 15 minutes

5.    Sprinkle sea salt over mixture and refrigerate for at least one hour.

6.    Cut, wrap in parchment paper & store in an air tight container. ( or just cut, they probably won’t last long enough to wrap)

Added a sprinkle of sea salt across the top after pouring and the taste was amazing. So easy to make. Just be more patient than I was and let the caramel cool completely for easy cutting. Also, using the proportions in the recipe, you can pour into a half cookie sheet and still have room to spare, but when you slice it up and wrap into parchment paper or cut into squares, it makes nearly two dozen servings. Definite crowd pleaser!

I use a pizza cutter to cut the caramels.  It works great!

 

Are sequins next????

Jul14

On a recent Saturday afternoon, I was shopping at my local department store.  When out of the corner of my eye, I saw something sparkly hanging on the wall. Turns out it was a jean jacket style jacket with sequins? What? When have I ever worn sequins on a jacket? Where in the world would I wear something like that?  I had a flashback of a senior citizen I saw in Vegas with sequins and sparkles head to toe. What’s happening to me???

Lately when I’m looking at the Sunday paper coupon section, I’m looking closer at that the ads geared toward seniors. You know the ones I’m talking about, Velcro slippers, memory foam anything.

While I’ve never been a slave to fashion, I think I usually look pretty good. I’ll never wear anything that makes me look stupid (I hope not anyway).  I was ecstatic when boot cut jeans came back in style.  I was never a fan of “mom” jeans. I wore them only because that’s what was available. Some women still wear them, and god bless em’, but not me.

I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten older that comfort is at the top of my fashion list.  I’m all about comfort, but I draw the line at elastic waist pants. Really!  I’m 55, I think back to when my mother was 55, she was quite the stylish gal.  I remember her vast collection of polyester pants. You may remember them; they had the front crease sewn down the front.  She must have had 20 different colors, with matching hideous blouses; it was the 70’s after all.  I vowed then and there I would never wear old lady clothes, even when I was an old lady. 

I’ve heard 50 is the new 30? Is it really? Or was that just the voices in my head?  I take care of myself and take pride in my appearance.  I’m not trying to look like I’m 20.  No one will ever mistake me for one of the “Real Housewives of anything”, and I’m fine with that.  It’s sad when I see young women who look like they have given up on their appearance. You only have one life, why not look the very best you can.