Caramels

I tried my hand at Sea Salt & Pink Peppercorn Caramels this week.

While the recipe was easy it was time consuming to cook. May I suggest a nice long call to a beloved sister.

1 cup butter

1 16 oz package brown sugar (2 1/4 cups)

2 cups half-and-half or light cream

1 cup light colored corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp flaked sea salt

1/2 tsp pink peppercorns

Line an 9x9x2 with foil. Butter foil. Set aside

In a 3 quart heavy saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add brown sugar, half-and-half, and corn syrup, mix thoroughly. Cook over medium/high heat until mixture boils. Clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Reduce heat to medium. Continue to boil mixture (moderate, steady rate) stirring frequently until thermometer registers 248' (firm ball stage) about 40 to 50 minutes. Adjust heat as necessary to maintain a steady boil.

Remove pan from heat. Stir in vanilla. Quickly pour mixture in pan. Cool 15 minutes. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. (I didn't love the pepper so I would leave it off next time.)

When firm lift candy out of pan by foil. Use a buttered knife to cut into 1" squares. Wrap each piece in wax paper or plastic wrap. Store in cool place up to 2 weeks.

Salt and pink peppercorns do not photograph well.

Orange Chicken

A little Chinese tonight... via the crockpot

Orange Chicken (amended from Six Sisters recipe)

4 boneless chicken breasts cut into 1 1/2" strips

1/2 cup flour seasoned with salt (I put in white pepper as well.)

4 tbls Olive oil plus more if necessary to brown chicken

6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate

3 tbls brown sugar

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

3 tsp ketchup

Green onions chopped (garnish)

Cut up chicken and dredge in flour. Heat a medium frying pan to medium/hot. Brown chicken on both sides but don't cook through. Mix; oj, brown sugar, vinegar and ketchup in a bowl. Place chicken in crockpot. Pour mixture over top and stir gently. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. Serve over steamed rice.

It is very orangy and tangy. If you don't want it as such just cut down on the oj by 2 oz and add 2 oz of water.

The needs of the one...

I found a great cabinet last week on Craigslist for $79. I don't love the top though. I don't hate it but I was thinking since I am getting so proficient at refinishing I could refinish the top of this pretty easily. I found a nice man at Southern Lumber that was willing to walk me through the steps - caution on the get-the-top-straight-the-first-time step - and then left me to look at about 20 different veneers. The veneers are unfinished so I can stain it whatever color my heart desires. I saw this Birds-eye Maple (see above sample that isn't half as fabulous as the piece I saw) that I was drooling over. Then I pulled out the roll to look at the cost. $243 for a 24"x 48" piece. Are you kidding? My heart sank. My dreams rolled away towards the horizon. The idyllic state of my bliss was smashed like a mobile home in a twister. It's wrong. I know. But I think I am coveting a small piece of wood right now.

Monday, Monday can't stand that day

Overly complicated lever
1. Extra Dark this morning while running. Almost tripped on log in road. Okay, it may have been a branch but it was big.

2. Car wouldn't start for Jim. That means I traded him for the day.

3. Called AAA to jump car. Not the problem. Had to tow it to get it serviced.

4. Called dealership to set appointment. Nothing available until 4 pm. Ugh.

5. Called in-laws to ask to borrow my FIL's car since he isn't driving. Felt like I was 17 again. Not in a good way.

6. MIL picked me up and almost killed us on the drive to get FIL's car. No exaggeration.

7. Spent 2 hours at in-laws house doing "little things"... help!

8. Dealership called. Car started right up for them BUT they are going to keep it until it does it again... are we talking a day? A week? What?

9. Allergies kicked in today. Felt congested and like my eyes were going to pop out all day.

Can I be done now?

Fabulous Find!

I have been searching literally for years for a smallish piece for our long downstairs bathroom. I always thought I was looking for an upright cabinet that had lots of glass, was white or chrome.

I found this piece on Craigslist last week and hemmed and hawed about it. I just wasn't sure, the photo was dark it looked dirty...

I went over to the woman's house - she's 94 and finally moving in with a family member - and saw this darling cabinet. She bought it in the '60's and used it as a liquor cabinet. It was only $79 and is really a sturdy piece. I think I'll love it for the next 50 years.... What do you think?

Pork & Sausage Ragu

Disclaimer: Not my photo but it's close

I was flipping through a William-Sonoma magazine a few days ago and saw a recipe for a very fancy Pork Loin and Italian Sausage Ragu using a ragu sauce they were marketing. It was expensive! I glanced (literally) at the general ingredients in a few recipes I found on-line. The funny thing was that I had just purchase the pork loin but I had everything else on hand. Here is my simpler but still very tasty version:

1 3-lb pork loin roast trimmed (remove netting)

4 Italian sausages

2 cups beef stock

1 1/2 cups white grape juice (don't use apple juice it's a little too sweet for this)

1 cup tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1 Tbl Italian seasoning

Garlic Salt

Pepper

Wide Egg Noodles

In a large skillet brown the pork loin, remove and brown sausages (you can skip this if you don't care that the meat looks anemic until near the end of cooking) sprinkle with the garlic salt and pepper. If you are skipping this step then place roast and sausages in a large crock pot. Pour stock and grape juice over meat. Season with garlic salt and pepper rotating once. Put in tomato paste and stir until combined - it won't be perfect. Add bay leaf and Italian seasoning. Turn crock pot on to high for six hours. At about hour 5 check that the pork loin is falling apart and taste sauce. Adjust seasonings here. About 20 minutes before serving cook wide egg noodles according to the package directions. While noodles are cooking take sausages out and cut them into bite size pieces, return to crock pot. I took two forks and separated the pork loin into chunks. Drain noodles. Place noodles on plate and top with ragu. Serve with a nice salad with balsamic dressing and sour dough bread. Delicious!

FHE Chart Art

I made a new FHE chart last week. My old chart was poster board and looked, well, old. It had been through several grubby hands helping change the tags to their new assignment for the week.

I found these great 11 x 14 wall stickers at Michaels. On sale. Score! I had to wait three weeks to get all three frames on sale but it was worth it.

I used stickers on the front of the glass and a dry erase pen to write in the assignments. Nice.