Caramel Corn

Thought I would share a new favorite recipe around here - home made caramel corn!  We first made this for our block party back in the summer, and are glad for any excuse to make it again.  Easy and yummy.  Enjoy!

Caramel Corn
16 cups air popped pop corn
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pop popcorn and put it in a large, lightly greased baking pan in a 250 degree oven to keep warm.

In a large sauce pan, combine butter, sugar, corn syrup and salt.  Book over medium heat stirring constantly until it boils.

Boil for 5 minutes without stirring.  Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla.

Pour syrup over warm popcorn and return tot he oven for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from oven and pour onto a foil lines cookie sheet to cool.  Once it is cool, break apart into pieces and enjoy!

Soft Pretzels

The boys have been doing more cooking lately (YEAH!) and William wanted to try his hand at soft pretzels.  They were a fair bit of work, and needed some mommy-strength to help with the kneading, but the results were great and the boys were happy.  Days like this have me looking forward when I can call home from work and have them get supper all ready by the time I get home.  Child labour? Maybe.  Worth it?  Definitely!

Buttery Soft Pretzels

4 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water
5 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup kosher salt for topping

Dissolve yeast and  1 tsp sugar in 1 1/4 cups warm water and let stand until frothy (approx. 10 min.)

In a large bowl, mix together flour, remaining sugar, and salt.  Make a well in the centre and add oil and yeast mixture.  Knead the dough until it is smooth, about 8 minutes.  If it is too dry, add a few tbsp. of water.   Lightly oil a large bowl, put in the dough, and turn it to coat.  Then cover and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Dissolve baking soda in hot water.

When the dough has risen, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 parts.  Roll each part into a rope, and shape it into a pretzel.  Dip each pretzel into the baking soda and water, then place on a greased baking sheet.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake for 8 minutes or until lightly browned.

YUM!!

From Christa Rose, allrecipes.com

Williams Chicken Noodle Soup

William has been interested in cooking lately, which is a huge help around here.  His current favorites are tacos and shortbread cookies.  While he still needs someone in the general vicinity, he can pretty much tackle those on his own. 

Today he wanted to try his hand at something new, and decided that chicken noodle soup was it.  It turned out wonderfully, and was the best dinner I could ask for on a cold and blustery day.

Here is the recipe in case you have some chefs in your home:

Williams Chicken Noodle Soup

2 1/2 cups skinny egg noodles
12 cups chicken broth
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, pealed and sliced
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 whole chicken, cooked and chopped

Cook noodles in a large pot of salted boiling water.  Drain and rinse.

In a large saucepan, combine broth, poultry seasoning, and pepper.  Bring to a boil, then add carrots, onion and celery.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water.  Gradually add to soup, stirring constantly.  Stir in noodles and chicken, and then heat through.

Great with biscuits or crusty rolls!

Literary Carry-Over

 I LOVE literary carry-over.  You know, those times when kids read about something that the characters in their favorite books are doing, and absolutely have to try it?

When we were reading The Mysterious Benedict Society books, William took to carrying a tool box around with him that was filled with pocket knives, flashlight, string, band aids etc. in deference to one of the characters, Kate, from the book.

Last night he started the second book in the Series of Unfortunate Events series and finished off at:

"Hello hello hello!" a loud voice boomed out, and from behind the door stepped a short, chubby man with a round red face.  "I am your Uncle Monty, and this is really perfect timing!  I just finished making a coconut cream cake!"

Well, you don't need much more of an invitation than that, do you?  William woke up this morning with baking on his mind, and here is the finished product:

With a little bit left sans coconut for his brother, of course...

Butter Tart Squares

We were all in the need for something a little sweet today, and I tried out this recipe from a Taste of Home cookie magazine from 2009.  It is now definitely one of my favorites.  It is easy to make, uses only one bowl (or pot, as the case may be) and uses things that I generally have on hand.  Moreover, it tastes like a butter tart but with the consistency of a brownie.  YUM!!

Caramel Pecan Bars

1 cup butter
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup flaked coconut

In a large saucepan, heat butter and stir in sugar until melted.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Combine flour and baking powder, and then mix well into butter and sugar mixture.  Stir in pecans and coconut. (The original recipe calls for 2 cups of pecans, but alas, I didn't have enough.  I substituted in the coconut, and they turned out wonderfully!).  Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan, and bake at 350 degrees for approx. 25 minutes.  Cool completely, and cut into squares.

Enjoy!! (Just for today, we can pretend that butter and sugar are good for us...)

Sweet, sweet cookies!

I could give you all sorts of education-heavy reasons to bake with your kids - learning about temperatures, time, measurement and baking soda. But really, today it was all about the icing.


“Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold.”
~Judith Olney

Whole Wheat and Honey Bread

(Sorry for the yellow photo - lighting problems!!)

If there is a nice stage of illness, this is it. William is feeling almost back to normal, but we are still house-bound so as not to share any lingering germs with others. We are forced, every once in a while, to slow down a it, and to enjoy our home and all of the people and things that it contains. It is a great chance to limit our focus to what is around us, and of course to do things like baking bread. I love baking bread but admit that I don't do it too often. The process does not take very much work, but the different steps and stages do take up some time. It is not the kind of thing that you can whip up in a half hour before going out for the day.

This is one of my favourite bread recipes. It is full of honey, and with a nice mix of whole wheat and white flour that the whole family likes.

Whole Wheat and Honey Bread
3 cups warm water
3 tsp active dry yeast
2/3 cups honey (divided)
5 cups bread flour (I used all-purpose today and it still turned out fine)
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp salt
approx. 4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp butter, melted

In a large bowl mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups of white flour and stir to combine. Let stand for 30 minutes or until big and bubbly. Mix in 3 tbsp melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups of whole wheat flour. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in an additional 2 cups of whole wheat flour (or more if you need to in order to get the right consistency). Place in a lightly greased bowl and turn the dough once so that all sides are lightly coated. Cover with a dish towel and let rise until doubled in size. Punch down the dough, divide into 3 loaves, and place each loaf into a 9 x 5 bread pan. Allow to rise until the dough has topped the pans by about 1 inch. Bake at 350 for approx. 25 minutes. Lightly brush tops with the rest of the melted butter so that they won't get too hard.

Ode to a Pot

When I was younger, I filled my kitchen with beautiful, shiny and new things - streamlined, lightweight, and non-stick. They looked beautiful...and didn't work worth a damn. But, thank goodness, with age comes wisdom. Now, one of my most prized possessions is a wooden spoon that my Nana used in her kitchen for years and years, that I received after her death in 2003. And whenever I can, I cook with cast iron pots and pans. My favourite is a deep sided iron frying pan that I picked up at a thrift store a few years back for $2. It had already been well seasoned with years of cooking, it feels substantial in my hand, and it seems to give off memories as well as aromas whenever I use it. When I use that pan, I am filled with thoughts of how many meals have been cooked up with love for families over the years. Did it have just one owner before me, or many? Who was she? Was she cooking for herself only, or for a family of many? What did she most enjoy making? Was cooking a labour, or a labour of love? This is not a pot that will end up in the trash heap. It will likely be used in my home until I die (or until I am too old and weak to lift it!) and then will be passed on to one of my children. It was created to be used, not just looked at. If it is well cared for, it will not need to be patched, repaired, or replaced. Its durability and history are what makes it beautiful in my eyes. What a lovely, lovely pot.

Fewer and fewer Americans possess objects that have a patina, old furniture, grandparents' pots and pans - the used things, warm with generations of human touch, essential to a human landscape. Instead, we have our paper phantoms, transistorized landscapes. A featherweight portable museum.

-Unknown