Quiet Pandemonium

In the Kitchen

Holiday Bliss 2010-December 14

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Since I posted about my great grandma’s sugar cookies yesterday, she has been on my mind.  There is one other recipe that I have that we love around here that came from her.  It is for Molasses Popcorn. The funny thing is that the first time I made it as a girl, I was the first person to know and understand what she meant in her directions.  She says to cook everything until thick and done.  I got it right and I always have.  It aggravated the rest of the family because no one else could manage to do that.  No one understood what that meant exactly.  And since great grandma had passed away, no one could get a definitive answer from her.  But her answer would have most likely been something along the lines of “When it is thick and done.  Just like I said.”

Luckily for the family, I have a heart and I eventually figured out what temperature should be reached on a candy thermometer.  I still do it by just looking and by feel, but for those less blessed in the mind reading department, I have it written down and included in my directions.  I don’t profess to be able to read the mind of anyone else, but I apparently do understand my great grandma.  One of these days I just know I will find her salt-rising bread recipe and be able to master that as well.  No one seems to have a copy of that one, but I do have a couple of places to still look.  I have faith that I will find it and be able to include it in my recipe treasures.

Great Grandma’s Molasses Popcorn

1 Cup sugar

2 TB molasses

1/3 Cup canned (evaporated) milk

1 TB butter

1 tsp. baking soda

Cook all ingredients except baking soda until thick and done. (275* on a candy thermometer.)  Then add the baking soda and stir well.  Pour quickly over popped corn.  (This cooks quickly, so watch it carefully.  Stir fast when adding baking soda.  It gets foamy.)  Never gets sticky, just sugary and good.

What Holiday Bliss are you celebrating today?

Holiday Bliss 2010-December 11

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I am still going to hold my nativities hostage until Sunday.  I’ll post all about them then.  i promise.  😉

One of the things I love about Christmas time is making homemade candies and treats.  You got my popcorn ball recipe yesterday.  Today, I am going to share my favorite recipe for cream caramels.  I love caramel and this recipe is especially good and easy to make.  I have made this since I was a teenager.  It was the recipe of an older lady in my church and people are always excited when I make these.

Cream Caramels

2 Cups Sugar

1 Cube Butter

2/3 Cup White Karo Syrup

1 Cup Light Cream (2 Cups Cream altogether)

Bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly.  Slowly add other cup cream, stirring well.  Cook, stirring frequently.  When it becomes dark and thick, stir all the time.  Cook until it reached hard ball stage.  (Or when it forms a hard ball when placed in cold water.)  Pour in buttered pan and cool.  Cut into pieces and wrap in waxed paper.

Can add 1/2 Cup chopped nuts before pouring in pan.  Enjoy!

If you want to dip these in chocolate, I recommend freezing the individual pieces before dipping.

What Holiday Bliss are you celebrating today?

Holiday Bliss 2010-December 10

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I know that yesterday I said I would tell you about my nativities.  But after working so long all day and into the night on work problems, I am exhausted.  So today, I am simply going to share a favorite recipe.  It is a Christmas tradition around here to make popcorn balls.  We love to make red ones and green ones.  The funny thing is that Chandler hates popcorn.  We could skip this completely each year and make him happy.  But I love them and especially this recipe.  We have made them every year I have been married and that is a long time.  I think I will insist we make these today so I can indulge in the sugary goodness they bring.

Popcorn Balls

1 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Butter (the real stuff)

1/3 Cup water

1/4 Cup Karo Syrup

3/4 tsp. salt (optional)

1 tsp. Vanilla

Food Coloring (optional)

12-16 Cups Popcorn

Combine ingredients except for vanilla and food coloring.  Cook to hard ball stage.  Add the vanilla and coloring.  Stir and pour over popcorn.  Form into balls.  Enjoy.

What Holiday Bliss are you celebrating today?

2010 Gratitude Challenge-November 10

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Today I am thankful for getting to try new things and having the confidence in my cooking abilities to alter a new recipe and make it my own.  Wow!  That was a mouthful, wasn’t it?

As you all know, I received some persimmons in my Bountiful Baskets order this past week.  We had never tried persimmons before, and I was trying to figure out what to do with them.  My sister in law added some to a fruit salad and that was ok.  It wasn’t my favorite, but it was edible.  So I knew I wanted to find something else to do with them and I wanted it to be special.

After perusing the internet and several recipe sites for quite a while, I finally settled on making a Persimmon Bread.  I knew I had enough for that.  Although, I have to admit that the cheesecake was calling my name.  I just didn’t have enough to make that.  So a sweet bread it was going to be.  As I pondered over several different recipes, I finally decided to just jump in and tweak the different recipes and make my own.  And I wanted to add some Craisins in it.  That just sounded good to me.  The result was the most delicious and fabulous sweet bread we have ever had.  That is saying something, since we are big fans of sweet breads.  In fact, my son even suggested that if they had a case of persimmons for sale this week, that I should buy them so we could have this bread all year long.  I actually have to agree.  I am really, really hoping that we get them again this Saturday.  I really NEED to make this again and again.

For those of you who are interested, here is the recipe for my Persimmon Bread.

Brenda’s Persimmon Craisin Bread

1 cup persimmon pulp

2 tsp. baking soda

3 cups white sugar

1 cup olive oil

4 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup water

3 cups all purpose flour

1- 6oz pkg Craisins (Or about 1 1/3 cups)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C.  Grease 3  medium or standard size loaf pans.  Be sure to line these with baking parchment paper.  This is extremely important!  Without the grease AND the parchment paper, the bottom of the bread will stick to the bottom of the pan, no matter how well you think you have greased it.  Trust me on this one.

In a small bowl, stir together the persimmon pulp and the baking soda.  Let it stand for about 5 minutes to thicken the pulp.  (It almost solidifies again, kind of like jello jigglers, so don’t be alarmed.  You’ll just break it up a bit before you add it to the batter.)

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, oil, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Blend until smooth.  Add in the persimmon pulp and water, alternating with flour.  Fold in the Craisins.  Divide the batter into the prepared pans, filling each pan about 2/3 full.

Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

What are you thankful for today?