Diane's Caramels

 

 This is my sister's caramel recipe. I have never found a better one.

She emphasizes that you HAVE to keep stirring while it is cooking or it will catch and ruin the entire batch.

Diane's Caramels


Ingredients
1 pound butter sliced into small pieces
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 can Borden's sweetened condensed milk
1/2 pound walnuts
2 or 3 drops vanilla

Melt butter and add other ingredients. Continue stirring.
Boil for 40 minutes or until brittle in cold water. DO NOT STOP STIRRING!
Take off stove and add nuts and vanilla.
Pour into buttered pan.
Let cool.
Cut into squares.
Cool until hard.
Put spatula under candy and turn over and crack where markings are.

These caramels were were cooked to just below hard crack on the candy
thermometer. Adjust plus or minus to your preference.

Maple Pecan Shortbreads

I usually make these at Christmas time.

1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
Some white sugar for rolling the cookies in

Beat butter, then beat in sugar until creamy. Mix in egg yolk, vanilla and maple extract and maple syrup. Finally, mix in flour and pecans.

Roll into small 1 inch balls, then rolls these in sugar. Place on cookie sheet and flatten to about 1/2 inch with bottom end of a glass. The sugar keeps the cookie dough from sticking to the jar. Place into oven preheated to 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes until slightly brown.

Cranberry Orange Tartlets

This is a simple recipe that uses just a few ingredients: cranberries, an orange, sugar and pie crust. You can use it for many other types of fillings such as mincemeat or jam.

Ingredients:
1 orange
12 oz bag of cranberries
sugar to taste
enough pie crust for 3 9 inch pies

Preheat oven to 375

Finely cut up cranberries and the orange together. I use a food processor for this. Add sugar to taste, probably half a cup or more.
Cook for 5 minutes on high in the microwave or the equivalent on the stove top until it looks like jam or pie filling.

Cut circles out of pie crust and place in the bottom of tart tins. My tins have round bottoms that enable the tarts to easily slide out when done.

Spoon filling into the tars taking care not to fill to the top or it will bubble out when cooked. Cut circles out for the lids, slicing vents into the top to allow hot air to escape.

Cook for 20 minutes or until slightly brown.

This makes about two dozen tarts depending on your tart tins.

The Iris of 2016

The Iris are blooming in the yard. It's so nice to see some blooms this year since last year they got completely hailed out. These are Avalon Sunset, Champagne Elegance, Colette Thurillet and Excellency.

Avalon Sunset

Champagne Elegance

Colette Thurillet

Excellency

Gladys My Love, Going Home, High Master and Scottish Reel.

Gladys My Love,

Going Home

High Master

Scottish Reel

Stepping Out, Wench, World Premier and Circus Stripes.

Stepping Out

Wench

World Premier

Circus Stripes

 Hot Spiced Wine, Boysenberry Buttercup, Let's Boogie and Enchanted One.

Hot Spiced Wine

Boysenberry Buttercup

Let's Boogie

Enchanted One

Jesse's Song, Rare Treat, Rush Creek and Telepathy.

Jesse's Song

Rare Treat

Rush Creek

Telepathy

I lost the labels on the next two and finally a bright yellow seedling.

 

The Felted Gnome Journey

A few months ago I saw a video online on making gnomes by Sarafina. It was nice and simple, just a nose, ears, hat and lots of hair. I thought, that can't be too hard so I'll try it. But I can't ever do things exactly the same, so I added an entire face on this gnome, plus some simple arms and feet.

Next, I made one with a very simple armature for the arms and hands.

Earlier in April, our felting group met to make gnomes taught by one of the other members where I made this teeny tiny gnome. The teacher, Wendy, gave me some wonderful tiny Bluefaced Leicester locks for his beard.

And finally, I made a companion for this last tiny little gnome. This the work in progress.

And this is the completed product.

Happy Easter!

I've recently started needle felting. I've done a few things and this bunny and egg are the third and fourth things I've done so far. The bunny was made following a tutorial from Sarafina's website on basket bunnies. I also followed a tutorial on using hand carders to blend grey and brown fibers for his pelt.

I also decided to try my hand at felting a floral egg. There's a honey bee and grape hyacinth, crocus and wild purslane blooming on the egg.

Donovan Loves Being Vacuumed

My 14 year old orange tabby loves to be vacuumed. He's the only cat I've ever had that didn't run from it.