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first day of a three-day weekend
As the seasons change and fall comes around, I always get a hankering for caramel apples -- or rather, caramel sauce to dip apple slices in, because then you get more caramel! But it's rare for us to find a good caramel that we really like, in part because we both like our caramel really salty. (The last good caramel that we had was a jar we bought at the Salon du Chocolate in Paris in...2007? 2008?) I decided a few days ago to google for recipes to see about making our own, figuring that it would be a good thing to do today, since it's (yet another) national holiday, day care is closed, I have the day off work, and hence I've got three days in a row with Gwen. I found a few that seemed rather simpler than I was expecting, and I have a feeling that they are sort of "cheater" recipes. But, if they gave me something that tasted good, I'll be happy.
I made sure to run to the market last night after I got home, knowing it would be closed today, to get cream and brown sugar. Struck out on the latter: They apparently don't carry it (it's a lot harder to get brown sugar here, and even harder in NL, than it is in the US). Luckily Joel uses it on his oatmeal every morning and had a completely unopened bag, so I knew I wouldn't be using up too much.
I used this recipe, and it worked pretty well. It never really thickened up -- for a bit I was worried that if it cooled down all the way, it would turn into brittle (though if it would, it would be great with cashews), but now it's been sitting in the fridge for a few hours and it's thicker, but not brittle. We sliced up two apples and had it for snack this afternoon: Gwen approves, Joel thought it was decent, and I'm happy with the result though next time I'd add more salt, maybe some sea salt crushed up in the mortar and pestle, rather than ground from the mill. And is it strange for me to also feel like it's a bit too sweet? I'm not sure how to reduce the sweetness in something that is, essentially, sugar. Maybe more cream? Maybe more salt?
In any case, we've now got a yoghurt jar 3/4 full of caramel sauce, it'll take us awhile to finish it. (Or maybe not. I bet it would be good on waffles.)
All told, day 1 of the long weekend has been too bad; her nap was dismally short (45 min.), but she's spent a larger proportion of the day playing on her own than she usually does, so I've had the stamina to play with her and entertain her for all the other time she isn't. This morning we sat on the couch together for awhile going through books of illumination trying to pick out some ideas for my scroll assignment for coronation. She kept going "oooh!" and "wow!" and "super pretty!" pointing at the pictures, which was adorable. We also had a couple of hours in the afternoon of successful (clean-and-dry) underwear wearing.
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It's November, which means time to decide whether to do NaBloPoMo this month. I'd say "go for it", except that I know there will be at least one day where I am unlikely to have any internet whatsoever -- the day I leave Kathmandu airport at 7:45am and arrive at Chicago airport around 5:30pm, i.e., 3:30am the next day Kathmandu time. There are a number of other days when I'm not sure if I'll have internet access, e.g., the entire time I'm in Lumbini. We'll see. But for now, I think I'll give it a shot. It's not like I won't have plenty to talk about.
I made sure to run to the market last night after I got home, knowing it would be closed today, to get cream and brown sugar. Struck out on the latter: They apparently don't carry it (it's a lot harder to get brown sugar here, and even harder in NL, than it is in the US). Luckily Joel uses it on his oatmeal every morning and had a completely unopened bag, so I knew I wouldn't be using up too much.
I used this recipe, and it worked pretty well. It never really thickened up -- for a bit I was worried that if it cooled down all the way, it would turn into brittle (though if it would, it would be great with cashews), but now it's been sitting in the fridge for a few hours and it's thicker, but not brittle. We sliced up two apples and had it for snack this afternoon: Gwen approves, Joel thought it was decent, and I'm happy with the result though next time I'd add more salt, maybe some sea salt crushed up in the mortar and pestle, rather than ground from the mill. And is it strange for me to also feel like it's a bit too sweet? I'm not sure how to reduce the sweetness in something that is, essentially, sugar. Maybe more cream? Maybe more salt?
In any case, we've now got a yoghurt jar 3/4 full of caramel sauce, it'll take us awhile to finish it. (Or maybe not. I bet it would be good on waffles.)
All told, day 1 of the long weekend has been too bad; her nap was dismally short (45 min.), but she's spent a larger proportion of the day playing on her own than she usually does, so I've had the stamina to play with her and entertain her for all the other time she isn't. This morning we sat on the couch together for awhile going through books of illumination trying to pick out some ideas for my scroll assignment for coronation. She kept going "oooh!" and "wow!" and "super pretty!" pointing at the pictures, which was adorable. We also had a couple of hours in the afternoon of successful (clean-and-dry) underwear wearing.
--
It's November, which means time to decide whether to do NaBloPoMo this month. I'd say "go for it", except that I know there will be at least one day where I am unlikely to have any internet whatsoever -- the day I leave Kathmandu airport at 7:45am and arrive at Chicago airport around 5:30pm, i.e., 3:30am the next day Kathmandu time. There are a number of other days when I'm not sure if I'll have internet access, e.g., the entire time I'm in Lumbini. We'll see. But for now, I think I'll give it a shot. It's not like I won't have plenty to talk about.
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I totally wouldn't mind a few bags of Brach's caramels. :) If I had them, I'd just melt them down for caramel apples, instead of making my own (though making my own caramel sauce has been fun).
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If you want 'em, send along your address off-line?
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Hmmm, now if they just created a version for web page development....
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Hmmm, web pages.... NaWePaWriMo doesn't have the quite the right ring.
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(Anonymous) 2013-11-03 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)no subject