Homemade Gifts: Salted Caramel Sauce

Confession: I have tried to write this post 10 times with as many different intros and I have deleted each one in frustration. Maybe I have writer’s block. Maybe I’m just being lazy. Maybe I overdosed on pie and online Christmas shopping this weekend.

Maybe I am just too enamored with this Salted Caramel Sauce to think of anything more to say than, “Make this. Please make this. Make it to give as a Christmas gift or hoard it and keep it for yourself. Your ice cream needs this topping. Your pancakes and waffles and coffee and hot chocolate need this sauce. You need to experience the bliss of just eating this sauce off the spoon. Trust me. Make this.”

This recipe is straight from Confections of a Foodie Bride and is perfect just as it is. No adapting. One note, though: this truly is salted caramel sauce. If you are not a fan of the sweet/salty combination, I’d recommend that you reduce the salt so it if more of a background instead of an up-front flavor.

Salted Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce (from Confections of a Foodie Bride)

1 vanilla bean pod

1 cup heavy cream

5 tbs unsalted butter

2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

Using a sharp knife, split the vanilla bean down the middle, stopping short of one end so it stays in one piece. Scrape the little vanilla beans out of the inside of the pod with the knife and place the beans and pod in a saucepan. Add the cream, butter, and salt to the pan and heat just until it boils. Turn off heat.

In a large saucepan, heat the sugar, corn syrup, and water and stir until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture boils. Continue boiling, swirling the pan occasionally but not stirring, until the mixture is a golden caramel color.

Remove the vanilla bean pod from the cream mixture and add the cream to the sugar. The mixture will bubble quite a bit, but don’t be afraid! Simmer the caramel for 3 minutes, whisking occasionally. Pour the caramel into a heat-safe container (at least 3 cup capacity) and let cool.

If you don’t eat all the sauce straight out of the bowl as it cools, store it in the fridge (I use half-pint mason jars). The sauce can be reheated in the microwave or on the stove. This caramel sauce is fantastic over ice cream, cake, sweet quick breads, pancakes, and in hot beverages.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! It makes a great homemade Christmas gift as well, so you can pass on the goodness to your friends and family.

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I Hate Sniffles

I am just getting over a cold I have had for the last few days. Nothing serious, just a typical winter cold bad enough to make me feel completely lousy but not bad enough to go to the doctor. So far, though, no one else in the house has gotten sick, for which I am very grateful.

Back when I worked at my old job and got a cold, the one redeeming part of being sick was staying home for the day. Getting to spend the day on the couch wearing comfy clothes and watching movies while everyone else was at work at least a little bright spot in the midst of sniffles and aches. But alas, that is not the case with a homekeeping job. It’s hard to call in sick to work when work is at your house!

But really, I can’t complain because this little cold has served to remind me of two very important things. 1) I can’t do everything all by myself and I really shouldn’t try, and 2) Big Man is such an awesome husband.

Since becoming a full time homekeeper, I’ve found that one of the biggest things I struggle with is believing that I can and should do everything homekeeping-related by myself. I should do all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, diaper changing, and shopping myself since it is my job. If I’m honest, it is mostly my own pride that makes me resistant to letting others help. In reality, I can’t do everything on my own and I need to learn to ask for and accept help sometimes. So while I do take most of the responsibility for homekeeping, I’m working on accepting help when I need it and not feeling guilty when I do.

The biggest help for me over the last couple of days has been Big Man. My cold happened to coincide with his days off work, which was a blessing, and he basically used all his time off taking care of me and the Little Ones and everything else in the house.  He went grocery shopping for me, cooked meals, and entertained the kids so I could rest and sleep. He was such a huge help to me and this cold just reminded me again how blessed I am to have him. Thank you, Big Man, for everything. There’s a big batch of cookies in your future!

It’s good for me to be reminded how much I need others and that I can’t do everything on my own. It helps me be more thankful for all the people God has put in my life. It also helps me remember how much God has done for me since my salvation is none of my own doing. So if I have to get the sniffles every so often to be reminded to be humble and thankful, I guess that’s OK. Maybe I don’t really hate sniffles as much as I thought.

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Ozark Apple Pudding

I’m totally a morning person. I enjoy the quiet and stillness. In summertime, I love seeing the dew on the grass and how everything is the most green early in the day.  In the wintertime I get to see the sunrise and freshly fallen snow without any tracks in it yet, which is awesome. Big Man works nights currently and he sleeps later in the morning, so I enjoy relaxing with a cup of coffee and my iPad, checking email and the news, browsing new posts from the blogs I follow, planning my day, and generally enjoying some “me” time. Mornings are relaxing, peaceful, and home to the best meal of the day, breakfast.

Of course, Little Man and Little Lady don’t have the same appreciation for quiet, peaceful mornings as I do. While I do get a few days here and there to have my quiet “coffee by myself” routine, more often morning consists of waking up when the Little Ones decide it’s time. The baby monitor kicks on and I either hear Little Lady’s waking-up grunts or Little Man practicing all the words he knows, running through them in no particular order. And once the Little Ones are up, any hope of quiet morning time is gone.

Of course, mornings with the Little Ones have their own special charm. Both kids are all warm and snuggly, and love to give lots of hugs and kisses. Once Little Lady wakes up a little more, she starts her morning monologue, which consists of constant grunts, giggles, squeals, and wiggles. Little Man gets super excited for breakfast and gives me his “happy for food” smile when I set his plate on the table. And so our morning routine continues, with Little Man enthusiastically eating breakfast and Little Lady nursing, then continuing to “talk” and wiggle around (she’ll be crawling soon!). We get to hang out together, eating, snuggling, usually singing along to Snow White, and enjoying the morning. And then Big Man wakes up, and there is a whole new brand of excitement from the kids upon seeing Daddy. In short, mornings are good.

Since morning is such a special time here in our house, I usually try to cook or bake something for breakfast.  I grew up with my mom making a hot breakfast every morning, so it is something I enjoy doing for my family as well. (And surprisingly, most of what I make for breakfast is actually more economical than if we ate cereal every day). I do enjoy making things like pancakes and eggs, but that adds another dimension to the morning activities and sometimes it is nice to have a ready-made breakfast that Little Man can eat on his own while I feed Little Lady. So I make things like coffeecake or sweet rolls the night before and then all I have to do in the morning is serve them up.

This recipe is a perfect make-ahead breakfast! It is really tasty and easy to make; it doesn’t even require a stand mixer.  One bowl, a wooden spoon, and clean hands are all you need. I do have to say that the texture of this cake is very good, though unexpected. It is similar to a blondie or cookie bar, which I really like since it can be eaten as finger food and is filling. If you are looking for something with a more tender, cake-like texture, this isn’t your recipe. But I hope you’ll try this out and enjoy it as much as we do. And if you want to serve it as dessert instead of breakfast, I’m sure ice cream or whipped cream would be a perfect accompaniment.

Ozark Apple Pudding (directly from Tasty Kitchen)

2 cups sugar

1 ¼ cup oil

2 eggs

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

3 cups peeled, diced apples (I used Gala)

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (or spray with cooking spray) a 9×13 pan.

In a large bowl, stir together sugar, oil, and eggs with a wooden spoon. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients and stir to combine (the dough will be very stiff, like cookie dough). Mix in apples (I used my hands).

Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream for dessert, or let cool and serve for breakfast.

Enjoy your morning routine, whatever it may be!

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