I have a couple more stories about things we made around Christmas time that I really wanted to share. (Yes I know its February).
The English Toffee Mishap
In December I baked and baked all my favorite Christmas treats. One of the recipes on my list was English Toffee. I gathered all the ingredients together and started creating. I was boiling the concoction together in a saucepan over the stove for the specified time. Then when said time was reached, the recipe instructed to remove the mixture from heat and add vanilla. This is where I think I messed up- I turned off the heat to the burner but did not move the pan to a cooler spot. I asked Jeff to take over stirring while I got the vanilla out. He continued to stir as I poured in the vanilla and then it started exploding!!!! Chunks of boiling hot toffee started bursting out of pan. I jumped away immediately, but sweet Jeff tried to take the pan off the burner, and received two burns on his fingers in return. Once the pan stopped spurting hot chunks of sugar we examined the contents, hoping it was salvageable. Once look at the spoon told me no, I was not going to be giving this to friends.
The spoon had melted into the toffee. Mmm chunks of plastic and toffee anyone?
We had to pour cold water over the toffee to get it out of the pan. He is what it looked like. It went straight into the trash. I really do not know what went wrong. I have made English Toffee tons of times and never had this happen. All I can think of is that I did not remove it from the heat as I poured in the vanilla. The mixture must have been too hot I guess. Any guesses?
I had all the ingredients to try again, but my baking enthusiasm was crushed. That was the end of Christmas baking for 2009. (Jeff's poor fingers healed, but they were nasty-looking for quite a while).
Christmas Countdown Blocks
Here's the Christmas countdown blocks I made at the Hamaker Thanksgiving craft party that I promised to post a picture of. I think they turned out really cute!
The "Bradley Bunch" Recipe
Our friends had a recipe on their blog that we wanted to try out. (We halved the recipe). You take some of this
And some of these
We'll let you know how it turns out September 5th.
8 comments:
Yay! Congrats!!! Cute way to announce. Parenthood is the best.
Hheehee, you "halved the recipe." So funny. You guys are too great.
So, english toffee. I once had a coworker make me a batch that caused me to be violently ill. So with that experience in my past and this story in my head, I think I'll stay away from the stuff permanently!
CONGRATS!!!!! So exciting!!!
P.S. I love your blog (makes me feel like we stay in touch :)
i know the answer and i still don't get it hahaha
Seriously Amy!?!? "Prego"... BABY carrots... BABY corn... haha
Excellent news!!! YAY!
Jeff, she can't help it. Even if she dyes her hair, she is still a blonde at heart....or in her mind....or whatever!
Congratulations to the both of you. I kept waiting for some kind of indication that you were making your news public knowledge, but you guys were taking FOREVER!!!!!!
JEFF! We used to make English Toffee for Dad (before the Atkins craze!) at Christmas...remember? Never had a batch that looked like that...
PS...Angela...about your idea for "Baby" countdown blocks...if it's a girl, I have some pink ME paper you can look at next time up here
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