English Toffee

I adore Toffee.  It's the one candy I just can't stay out of no matter what.  Needless to say, I only make it at Christmas time.  

You might notice that this recipe has a lot of water in it.  Don't worry, your toffee won't have a lot of water in it when it's done.  The water all boils off before the candy finishes.   What the water does is lengthen the cooking time so the sugar has plenty of time to fully disolve.  That makes this candy very easy to make and it almost never sugars.   (By the way, this little trick works in any cooked candy recipe.  If you have one that sugars on you easily, add 1/2 to 1 c of water to the recipe and cook it as normal.  It will take quite a bit of the fiddly-ness out of the process.)

Toffee

2 1/2 c sugar
1/4 c light corn syrup
2 c butter
1 c water
 dash salt

 Combine all ingredients in a heavy bottom, 4 quart pan.  Stir it together with a wooden spoon just for a few seconds and then put the lid on.  Wash off your spoon.  Cook over medium heat with the lid on until the candy begins to boil and steam leaks out from under the lid.  Let boil for a few minutes with the lid on.  Remove the lid, clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan, and begin stirring.   Do not stop stirring until the candy is finished.  Stir always.  Stir lots.  Stir because if you don't this will scorch and the butter will seperate.  (If you are really concerned about scorching, turn the heat down to medium low.)   Cook until the candy reaches 300 degrees, hard crack.  This will take ages, so have a friend to talk to or a book you can read while you stir.  (yes, I read while cooking.  Doesn't everybody? No, I only ruin things every once in a great while and I never mess up my candy.)  

When the candy reaches 300, immediately pour out into a lightly buttered rimmed baking sheet (like this one).  Only pour out what comes easily out of the pan.  Do not scrape it out or you'll mess up your toffee.   You can scrape it out onto a separate buttered, heat proof plate, though.  That's totally legal and it cools off faster.  After you pour out the candy, you are going to have to smooth it out with a silicone spatula.  Gently push it around the pan until the candy is level and fills the whole pan.  Now spread a chopped Giant sized Hershey bar over the pan of candy (that's the 6.8 oz size).  Let it sit until the chocolate is soft and then spread it around with a spatula.   Now leave your candy alone until it's cooled off and the chocolate is set.    Then break apart into random sized pieces.


Enjoy!   Have a good time with this one.  And thank you very much for giving me an excuse to make that pan that's sitting on my kitchen counter right now.

An Appology

So I promised a cool chess project for today and it's not happening.  V1.0 is not working out like we hoped and it needs tweaking.  The nice part is V1.5 should be pretty cool and we have a V2.0 that will be even easier to put together.  I will have lots of time next week when I'm not sewing monsters and Christmas dresses and making fudge.  I'll get V1.5 put together and hopefully V2.0 as well and post them as soon as I can.

In the meantime, I do hope you have a wonderful Christmas day with your family and friends. 

Unless you don't celebrate Christmas and then have a good weekend.  I'm actually a little jealous of my Aussie readers.   We have 6" of snow on the ground.   A day at the beach and kite flying in the park sound like an awfully nice way to spend Christmas day.

Think Bigger: looking locally

It's really easy to get caught up in our own little world, our own needs, our own wants.  I find however, that my life is so much better and I am happier when I am helping those outside my immediate circle.  So with that in mind, I will be focusing every Thursday on one charity that requests or accepts crafted items for those in need.  I'm calling it Think Bigger.

This time of year a lot of crafters are knitting hats and scarves.  You've probably given several away and still have yarn left over.  Why not make a few for a charity?  Charities all over the world love getting hand made scarves and hats. 

Many hospitals accept hats for preemies and newborns.  Give your local hospital a call and ask about guidelines and sizing for their hat program.   How about your local homeless shelter?  A beautiful new scarf and a pair of mittens would go a long way to helping someone with very little feel cared for.   Local womens shelters are always looking for donations.   Scarves, hats, mittens in all sizes would be very welcome there (and you could toss in a new crocheted toy for a child who probably had to leave most of their stuffed animals when they entered the shelter.)

If you aren't sure where to start looking for local charities Wool Works' local charity page can be a good place to begin.  I have not checked all the charities on that list, so do contact them before sending anything to the charity.  They may have guidelines they need you to follow or a new address for you to send your package to.

Have fun knitting!  I know that your knitted gift will make a big difference in the lives of a someone in need. 

chip bead jewelry

I love working with chip beads because I'm a snobby scrooge.  The lower price of the chip bead makes me scroogy side not complain about the price and the true semi-precious stone part makes my snobby heart happy.

The problem with them is they can be harder to work with.  They don't work with others quite as well as regularly formed beads do.  Their irregular shape tends to visually fight with other beads and can look cluttered if not done right.

I do have a favorite way to use chip beads though. 

I love to alternate sections of chip beads with freshwater pearls.  The little pearls are a great contrast to the chips and since they're white they match everything.    This little choker has 1.5 inches of chip beads and then a pearl alternating around.

What do you like to do with chip beads?  I'd love to see what you've done with them, especially earings.  I'm still working on making chip beads look good in earings.

My husband has really gotten into the home made Christmas spirit this year.   He's taking over the boys' gifts while I make the girls' gifts.   Our younger son has been asking for an orange wallet.  He just thinks it would be so cool to have a place to put his money (all $2.35 of it.)  Steve has been wanting to try making a duct tape wallet.   So of course that's what he did:

He bought orange and blue duct tape at the hardware store and followed this video:  Duct Tape Wallet video

I think they came out great.  The blue one has orange pockets so it's a BSU wallet.  (We live in Idaho.  You can't throw a snowball in this state without hitting a BSU fan these days.)

I've also been hard at work finishing up the monsters project.  You might be happy to know that you don't always have to make monsters:

The butterfly (with hair;  that's what the shape on her head is supposed to be anyway,) was designed by my six year old.  The winking cupcake was designed by the 15 year old.  Both are their Christmas presents.  If you were looking for more monsters, I've got this guy:

Designed by the eight year old.  She's got a thing for those fin shapes.  They aren't the easiest to do since they have to be lightly stuffed and then sewn.  My sewing machine is not happy with me these days.

Pumpkin Pie Fudge

An unassuming little fudge.  Pale orange if made with canned pumpkin, barely more orange than tan if made with fresh.   It has a mild pumpkin flavor with lovely spice notes.   Want to make some of your own?

If you haven't made fudge before you should start by reading this post on making chocolate fudge.   The process is the same no matter what kind of fudge you make. 

Pumpkin Pie Fudge

3 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
6 Tbs butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup light corn syrup*
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp vanilla

*If you are someone who does not like HFCS, you should know that you leave out the corn syrup at your own risk.  Corn syrup play a very important part in the candy making process.  Without it your candy is more likely to "sugar," or become granular and crumbly.   If you must omit the corn syrup, try adding 1/2 c water to the candy to lengthen the cooking process.  I do not recommend leaving out the corn syrup, especially if you are new to candy making.

Start by putting everything except the vanilla in a four quart sauce pan.   Stir it together with a wooden spoon.  Cook over medium heat with the lid on.   While it's cooking, test your candy thermometer in a pan of boiling water.  If it reads anything other than 212 degrees when the water is boiling, you will have to adjust your cooking time to compensate.  Either add or subtract from the final temperature based on whether your thermometer is reading hot or cold.   Also, now is a good time to rinse off your wooden spoon.  Make sure you clean off any sugar crystals clinging to it.

When the candy begins to boil, it should start steaming out the side of the lid.  Leave the lid on for another 3 minutes or so after that begins to happen.  This is called sweating the pan.  It washes down any sugar crystals that may have been clinging to the side of the pot so all the sugar cooks to the same temperature and none are left to spoil your candy.

After sweating the pan, remove the lid and stir a few times with your clean wooden spoon.  Add the thermometer now.  It is not necessary to stir continuously,  just ever few minutes or so to be sure the candy isn't scorching.  Cook over medium heat until the candy reaches 238 degrees on the thermometer.

Immediately pour out into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Just pour out what comes easily out of the pan.  Do not scrape the pan out with either the spoon or a rubber spatula.  To do so could cause your candy to "sugar."  By the way, if you do not own a stand mixer, leave the candy in the pan you cooked it in.  Let the candy cool for about an hour or so.

When the temperature of the candy has reached between 110 and 120 degrees it's time to whip it.  If beating by hand, start it at 120 if you can.  The warmer temperature will make it easier to beat.  Get lots of friends to help you stir.  You need to stir with a firm hand until the candy thickens and loses it's gloss.  With a stand mixer you will want to beat on medium speed until candy loses it's gloss.  It will have the consistency of frosting.  With the pumpkin pie fudge, you will need to stop and scrape down the candy every few minutes.  It will look a little different from the other fudges because of the extra butter.  Beat it a little past the frosting like stage until the candy has a smooth consistency and the butter is fully incorporated into it.

Scrape it out of the mixer bowl and press down into either a buttered 9x9 pan or a buttered loaf pan.  I use a loaf pan because the pan shape gives me cubes of fudge and it works best for the boxes I use for gifts.  This recipe makes two pounds of fudge.

Good luck with your candy, and be sure to leave a comment telling me how you candy came out or to ask questions.

Video Game Shelf

Got a video game enthusiast on your gift lift this year?  I do.   This is going to my brother in law.  Don't worry.  Since he doesn't know this blog exists and since the blog isn't about video games, paint ball, or hunting, he's safe from having his gift spoiled.

I'd like thank my husband for building the shelves for me.  He's so great about helping out with the wood projects. I sketch them out and write up a cut list.  He puts them together.  I putty and paint.  We've got a good system going.   (It's not that I can't use power tools.  It's that he likes helping me and who am I to insist on doing more work?  My motto is:  less work=more time to read.)

So you wanna build one too?

To start you need one 8 foot piece of 1x6.  It's between $5 and $10.   You will also need a scrap piece of Masonite or thin plywood at least 18.25" square.

Cut four lengths 18.25 inches, but miter the ends with a 45 degree angle like this:

The should be 18.25" along the longest side of the board.  You can do that with a miter box, a miter saw or a table saw.  Your choice.  

(If all you've got is a circular saw, you're going to have to do butt joints.   That will change your measurements.  Cut two boards 18.25" and two boards 16.25".  The long boards are the sides the short boards are the top and bottom. )

Sand everything so it's nice and smooth.  Sand the edges to round them slightly, but don't do that to your miter cuts.  

Now take two boards and match your miter.  Apply glue to the ends and then nail or screw the two boards together.  We like using screws on projects like this.  It makes for a good, strong joint.  Since we're painting the shelf anyway, we can just fill in the screw holes with putty.   By the way, it's helpful to have a second set of hands to hold the boards in place while another person screws it together.   

Now put together all four boards to make a box.  Getting close.

Cut a square measuring 18.25" on each side out of thin plywood or Masonite.  Nail down on the back of the shelf.  Brad nails or finish nails are good here.  Your box may not be quite square, so use the Masonite as a guide.  Tap the corners lightly to square it up until your box is even with the backing piece before you nail it down. 

Ok, next you need to measure down 8" from the inside bottom shelf up the side.  Mark that on both sides of the box.   Measure across the box and cut a board to that length (90 degree cuts this time.)  It should be somewhere around 16.75 inches but may be slightly longer or shorter.   This is the shelf.  Sand it just like you did the other boards.

Now measure down from the inside top 8" on both sides.   Center your shelf between the two marks.    Attach with screws or nails. 

Fill in the holes with putty, put a light skim coat of putty over each knot hole, let dry.  Sand the putty and apply a second coat if necessary.  Sand that one.   Then prime it and paint it.   Want to know a secret?  My shelves aren't quite painted yet.  That's on my list for today.  (along with a monster, a grocery list, and running errands. Think I can do it all?  yeah.  Didn't have a book to read today anyway.)

Have fun with your video shelves!  It's a simple project that's so easy to put together my 12 year old made one for a friend.  You should be able to knock one out in no time. 

By the way, if you've got a chess player in your house, you're going to want to check back here next Friday.  I've got an awesome project to show you.