Tasty Failure

Yesterday I set out to make my husband a treat for his upcoming birthday on Monday. I made caramel popcorn a few weeks back and he requested that I make it again. We just so happened to have movie day with the daycare kiddos and I "accidentally" made too much popcorn so I would "have to" make caramel popcorn.

Here is the problem. Did you know that one stick of butter is equal to 1/2 cup not 1/4? Well, I momentarily forgot that fact and instead of putting in 1/2 cup of butter I put in 1 cup. Then, still not realizing my mistake I decided to increase the amount of caramel by 1/2 and so added what I thought was 1/4 cup of butter--another whole stick. As the third stick is melting in the pot and I am adding in the karo syrup I realized my mistake--I put in to much butter.

By now though I'm flustered and not thinking clearly. I run through my head, is 3 sticks 4 times the recipe or 3? How much should I increase the other ingredients? 3 times? 4? Oh no, I will need more popcorn! I dump in what I hope is enough sugar and karo as I simultaneously air pop more popcorn. Did you know that when you air pop popcorn that there is a cover to put on? What didn't pop out of the popper burnt just a bit, but I managed to not totally destroy it.

The caramel on the stove is looking rather thick and bubbly. More so than usual and I wonder if I am cooking it too long. I measured out quadruple the amount of baking soda and vanilla to be on the safe side as I am still not certain how many times extra I am making the caramel and hope for the best.

The popcorn manages to make it safely into the oven with way too much caramel over the top and I start the clean up. As I am cleaning up I do the math and realize that I tripled the recipe and that there is way too much sugar, caramel, vanilla, and baking soda in the mix versus the amount of butter. But, I reason, you can't have too much of a good thing and sugar in caramel is a good thing--right?

The first time out of the oven the caramel is super soupy as I mix the popcorn around. The second time out of the oven the baking soda is making the caramel very foamy, and the third time the caramel has foamed up and over most of the popcorn.

I taste the goo and though it doesn't look right, it sure does taste yummy! I decide not to worry.

I spread it out over the wax paper on the counter and allow it to cool.

When I come back to taste it, it is like caramel candy with popcorn in it. I have failed at making caramel popcorn, but succeeded in making something yummy! I put most of it in a gallon sized ziploc bag, pu the bag of corn in a decorated a paper bag with the words "Happy Birthday", and gave it to him anyway.

Long story short: I made a mess of caramel popcorn for my hubby, but he loved it anyway!

If you would like to try and make it the right way, here is our recipe (remember 1 stick of butter equals 1/2 cup)

Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients:

• 8-10 cups popped corn
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Make:

1. Butter 9x13 pan and fill with popped corn
2. In sauce pan melt butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to boil. Boil 5 mins (lower heat but continue to boil)
3. Remove from heat and add salt, soda, and vanilla
4. Pour caramel over corn and mix thoroughly
5. Bake @ 250 for 45min, stirring every 15mins
6. Pour onto wax paper, spread out to cool

Upside-Down Blueberry Cake

This is a handed down recipe. Jason's Mom came up with this idea (so I am told) but at their house it is called "Slop". At their house it is made with blackberries, at ours, blueberries.

We use a combination of fully ripened berries and some that are just barely red. When we pick berries we pick everything that doesn't have any white on it. The blueberries in our cake are a little tart. You may want to adjust your sugar according to the sweetness of your berries.

Ingredients:
4 Cups Blueberries
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2 Cups Sugar - divided
1 Stick of Butter
2 Cups Flour
2tsp baking powder
1 Cup Milk
1Tbs Cornstarch
1 Cup Water to boil

Make:
1. Use stick of butter to butter a 9x13 pan. Preheat oven to 375. Pour berries into pan & sprinkle with cinnamon (or, if you are brave, just dust the top of the berries)
2. Mix together: 1 cup sugar, flour, melted remains of the stick of butter, baking powder, and milk together. Spread over berries evenly.
3. Mix together remaining 1 Cup sugar (or 3/4 if your berries are super sweet) and cornstarch and spread over batter.
4. Heat water to boiling (on stove or in microwave) and pour over all the ingredients.
5. Bake for 1 hr or until top is brown and hard, and the blueberries are boiling.
6. Cool for 10-15mins and serve making sure to flip it over so the berries are on the top. Or, eat cold for a fantastic breakfast!

Barbie

Our brother recently started dating. Last week he asked us to make a cake for the six year old daughter of his girlfriend. He dropped off two boxes of cake mix and two things of frosting. He told Little Sister that the six year old liked Barbie and to do what ever she wanted to the cake.

I have been wanting to make a Barbie dress cake for a long time. I do not have any daughters of my own so I thought: "Hey, let's go crazy." We went to Wal-mart to pick up extra batter, frosting, frosting in a tube (all my cake decorating stuff is MIA), and most importantly the perfect Barbie.

I thought we were being clever by putting two cake batters in one baking type dish to make a nice deep dress. Not such a good idea after all. The dress to almost two hours to bake and was super dense. However, it did look amazing.

I was told we made the Mom and the little girl almost cry. Apparently the Mom had received a Barbie cake like this for her sixth birthday. I was also told that the little girl was so excited that as soon as the candles were out she was trying to get the Barbie out of the cake! 

I am so happy that we were able to make a little girl very happy.

Happy Sixth Birthday!

Cool Treat

Best treat on a summer night: ice cream and a batch of edible cookie dough.

Trail Mix Cookies

Cookies are a big thing around here, mostly because once a batch is made, it's gone in a matter of hours. The other day my Dad came home with store bought cookies and said to me (the baker of the cookies) "These cookies are great, can you make cookies like this?" To which I replied, "You don't like my cookies?" He said, "I like your cookies, but these ones are soft and chewy, can you make yours like this?" And so the quest began to find the perfect oatmeal cookie for Dad.

Mom kept telling me, "I have an oatmeal cookie recipe that I think will work." But, being stubborn I sought out one of my own, and failed. Twice. Today I actually listened and had success!

I made them big like the men like (I like to eat lots of cookies not just one giant cookie) and filled them with butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, cranberries, raisins, and finely chopped almonds. They are soft, sweet, and perfect.

Trail Mix Cookies (bake at 350deg)

3 Cup Brown Sugar (not packed)
1 Cup Shortening (Butter will make them flatter)
1.5 tsp Cinnamon
3 Eggs
1.5 tsp baking powder
6 Tbs hot water
1.5tsp baking soda
2 Cup white flour
2 Cup whole wheat flour
3 Cup Oatmeal
2 Cup Trail Mix

1.Cream shortening & sugar
2. Add eggs, then cinnamon and baking powder
3. Dissolve soda in water and add
4.Mix flours, oatmeal, and trail mix together in a separate bowl
5. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture (dough will be thick)
6. Form into balls (about the size of a large meatball) and then squish flat (I could fit about 6 on a cookie sheet).
7. Bake for 13-15 minute or until top is slightly browned and edges are brown. It should be slightly firm to the touch

Harvest Crisp

We felt the desire to have a bit of something sweet on Saturday. We looked into the fridge and found some strawberries and rhubarb. Then we recalled that there was a gallon of pears prepared to make a crisp in the freezer. We pulled it out, thawed it, and added half of them to the crisp. You could substitute any fruit, but I'd try and keep the rhubarb to retain some tartness.

Harvest Crisp

Fruit:

1 pint strawberries - sliced

4 stalks of rhubarg - sliced thin

3-5 pears (3 cups) peeled, cored, and sliced

1/4 Cup white sugar

1 Tbs cornstarch

1 Tbs flour

1. Combine all ingredients and spread out in an 8x8 dish. Allow to sit for 20-30 mins

Topping:

1 Cup quick oats

1/4 Cup white flour

1/4 Cup wheat flour

1/2 Cup brown sugar - not packed

1/2 Cup butter - slightly melted

1 tsp cinnamon

dash nutmeg

1. Mix until crumbly.

2. Using hands spread topping over fruit.

3. Bake at 350 for 40-45mins or until fruit is bubbly and topping is slightly browned.

Making Pizza

Little Sister has agreed to be interviewed about how she makes her delicious pizza dough.

Mrs Ham (MH): How did you learn how to make dough?

Little Sister (LS): From Culinary Arts at Foster Tech Center

MH: What is the Foster Tech Center?

LS: Its a program where you learn life skills. Its at Mt Blue High School.

MS: What is the key to making good dough?

LS: That's an excellent question. I don't know, I just make it.

MS: What would you like to tell people who are afraid of using yeast?

LS: There's no reason to be afraid of using it. As long as you don't put the yeast in too hot or too cold water, you'll be ok.

MH: What is the right temperture for yeast?

LS: 110-115deg, about the same as a baby bottle. Basically if you put it on your wrist and you can't feel it then it's perfect.

MS: Does anything you do to your dough set you apart from other dough makers?

LS: No.

MS: What is your favorite part about dough making? And why?

LS: Kneeding. I like to feel the dough coming together.

Pizza Dough (makes 2 large pizzas)

2 Cup warm water (110-115 deg)

4tsp yeast

2tsp sugar

2tsp salt

4 TBS oil

4 Cup flour

1. Heat water watching the temperature. Check temperature before adding yeast. Add yeast. Stir with a whisk. Allow to sit for five minutes while you are measuring everything out. 

2. Combine everything together minus the flour.

3. Add flour 1/2 Cup at a time until dough is no longer shiny and doesn't stick to the bowl or spoon. You may need more or less flour. 

4. Kneed dough. "The dough feels like liquid in your hands before you kneed it. When it's done it feels more like kids silly putty. I guess you could say kneed for three minutes." -Little Sister 

5. Transfer into greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled (couple of hours).

6. Divide and roll it out. After it's rolled out allow it to rest a couple of minutes before baking.

7. Bake pizzas at 425 for 15 minutes or until crust is brown.