Mythili – “I don’t want to take mousey out, they will probably think she is just a brain.” Mythili talking about the little stress ball toy she had. The stress ball is shaped like a brain but she was pretending it was a mouse named mousey.
Riona is hard at work breaking the candy.
For the past couple of years I have been making the old-fashioned candy my mom always made during my childhood. It was always a tradition I loved, so I decided to make it a tradition for our family. I started early this year so I would have enough time to make it all before Christmas. The house has been full of a mixture of aromas including licorice, cinnamon, and spearmint. Riona loves to help me break the candy into the little pieces once it has cooled and hardened. All the girls love the candy and a day doesn’t go by without them begging for another piece. We can’t wait to hand out the little goodie bags full of candy as presents this year. If you get one we hope you enjoy it. The recipe I use is below, so you can make some for yourself.
ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1 dram LorAnn flavoring oil* (1 dram is approximately 1 teaspoon)
Liquid food coloring
Powdered sugar
Candy thermometer
Aluminum foil
Directions:
1. The first thing I do is get my aluminum foil pan ready. The foil I use is the Reynolds Wrap Easy Release Non-Stick. If you don’t have that you may want to lightly grease the pan to prevent the candy from sticking. I use about a 12 inch by 12 inch piece of foil. Fold up the sides of the foil to make four walls. This should make a simple pan that is about 10 inch by 10 inch or so.
2. Next, in a mid to large sauce pan mix together the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Make sure all the sugar is wet before heating. I heat the mixture on high but medium high may work as well. Bring the sugar mixture to a boil without stirring and insert the candy thermometer. Continue to cook the mixture until the soft crack temperature or about 275 degrees and then add the color. No need to stir, the boiling action will incorporate the color. I use 4 to 8 drops of food color, depending on how dark or light or the mixture of colors needed. Experiment! Once the candy mixture has reached the hard crack temperature or about 300 degrees, remove the mixture from the heat and add the liquid flavoring oil. Stir. Use caution when stirring in the flavoring as steam may rise from the mixture.
3. Now pour the candy mixture into your foil pan making sure it is evenly distributed. When the candy begins to harden but still somewhat soft, fold down the foil walls and score crisscrossed lines to form small candy squares. I use a pizza cutter to do this. This will make for easy breaking when the candy is cooled. Wait till the candy is completely cooled and carefully break the candy squares apart. I dust my hands with powdered sugar to do the breaking and then dust the finished candy with powder sugar to prevent sticking.
4. Enjoy the intense aromas that will fill your home after making this candy!
I owe credit for this recipe to my mama, who taught it to me and has reminded me of various details over the years. Thank you mama!
* The LorAnn flavoring oils can be found on their website or at a local candy/cake supply store.
Riona – “When I get up in the morning can we cut this little nail?” She asked me this when I was saying good night to her. She had a split fingernail on the index finger of her thumb sucking hand. She said it was poking her in the check while she sucked her thumb. Needless to say, I got the clippers and took care of that little nail before saying good night.
I am going to try to post some of the funny, loving, and cute quotes the girls say so we can preserve these memories in writing. Here is the first one which I wrote down around the beginning of our summer. Enjoy them!
Isabella – “I don’t want to be a normal person!” Isabella exclaims this when Karen explains to her that “normal people” don’t get the summer off of work.
Below is a slide show of photos from the Jack-O-Launch pumpkin festival we attended this year. The festival is an annual event that takes place in Aurora, CO at DeLaney Farm, which is a Aurora open space area. The festival includes games for the kids, food vendors, and of course the jack-o-launch contest. It is a fun time for all of us. Enjoy the photos. You can always see more of our photos by visiting our Picasa Web Albums.
