home made rock candy

so much to write about and such little time. we have been very busy already this summer. the avengers party was a huge hit, but that will have to wait till i have more time. today's topic is ROCK CANDY!!!!!! if you don't like it, then something might be wrong with you. just saying. rock candy always reminds me of our family trips to gatlinburg, tn. i have such great memories of all the cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents spending time together. we always went to ole smoky's candy kitchen to get our sweet treats. rock candy was always a big hit, so i thought i would give it a try at home with the kiddos this summer.

a few things before we get started......
 *it takes about an hour to make (20 mins of cooling time).
 *despite the time it is ridiculously easy to make.
 *the jars need to sit in a warm, preferably sunny, place where they won't be disturbed for about a week. 
 *you will be dealing with VERY HOT liquid so please use caution and common sense.
 * i am not responsible if your wits are lacking.

with that being said, let's get started. here is what you need for this tasty treat.
* 6 quart pot (worked for both recipe sizes)
* wooden candy sticks or wooden skewers cut to size, 2 per jar (skewers are a lot cheaper)
* mason jars (NARROW mouth jars are the easiest. the jars need to be at least pint size) *see below*
* sugar (if using pint size, 10 cups. if using quart size 15 cups. plus extra to coat sticks)
* food coloring and flavors (not a must, but definitely makes it more fun)
* ladle (once again not a must, but makes your life sooooo much easier)

****decide which size jars you want. if you use pint size jars, your candy will be shorter, but it makes 6 jars (12 sticks). if you use quart size jars, your candy will be longer, but even with the extra sugar it only makes 5 jars (10 sticks). keep in mind all of your sticks might not turn out. i like to have an extra jar so i can ladle the sugar mixture into there to keep my candy jars from having spills down the side.

1. soak your wooden skewers/sticks in warm water -using a cup will keep the ends dry so sugar won't stick later.

2. Pint size jars: mix 4 cups water and 4 cups sugar over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
    Quart size jars: mix 6 cups water and 6 cups sugar over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
3. gradually add sugar 2 cups at a time and stir until dissolved. sugar mixture will be cloudy.

4. stir every few minutes to insure it doesn't stick to the sides and bottom of pot. heat until it starts a low boil.
5. while waiting for it to boil, i prep my jars. i label them and add coloring and flavors.

    Pint size jars: 5 drops of food coloring (you want it to be fairly dark. candy will be much lighter)
                           1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of flavoring or to taste
    Quart size jars: 7 drops of food coloring (see above note)
                            1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of flavoring or to taste
6. remove sticks from water and coat them in sugar; set aside to dry. (make sure your sticks are thoroughly wet. it allows the water to pull the sugar into the stick to help it 'seed')

7. once pot starts to boil remove from heat and let it cool for 20 minutes.
8. VERY CAREFULLY (remember the common sense part comes in here) fill jars with liquid sugar mixture about 3/4 of the way full with ladle.

9. now is the time to mix up the colors and flavors to taste.

*****MAKE SURE YOUR STICKS ARE DRY BEFORE YOU START*****

***** if not rock candy can not 'seed' to your sticks*****

10. attach clothes pins to the end of your stick and slowly put them in the jar.

be careful to keep stick away from sides and bottom of the jar. remember only 2 sticks per jar and make sure they don't touch. the less you move them around the easier it will be to keep the sugar on. some of the sugar will come off of your sticks- it's o.k.

11. now comes the really hard part........... you put them in a warm sunny place and WAIT.

and we wait some more

let's fast forward 6-7 days and tada we have ROCK CANDY! you can do your happy dance now. we will wait to continue.

12. there will be a hard coating on top of the jar. use a spoon to gently break, so you can free your candy. scoop out this top layer and discard, if you plan to go to the bonus round (see below). set rock candy on a plate or cookie rack to dry.

13. ENJOY!!!

wait!!!!! there's more! welcome to the bonus round.......

if you look in the bottom of your jar, you will see that all the sugar that fell off of your sticks in the beginning has also turned to 'rock candy', but it's hard. (insert sad face)

ding! ding! ding! here's the bonus part. microwave your jar for 1 to 2 minutes. ****this will vary it depends on how many watts your microwave is. (please insert common sense here)**** jars will be very hot. let them cool for a few minutes. use your spoon to break up the crystals on the bottom and scoop them out onto a plate to dry. tada! we have more rock candy, but without the sticks. yay!!!!!

good luck and happy cooking! 



mother's day or teacher gifts

happy happy mother's day to all the lovely ladies out there! usually when we make gifts for others, the kids help me bake. baking is just kind of my thing. i really enjoy it and everyone else seems to as well. this year i decided to mix it up. thanks to pintrest, which also happens to be my new favorite thing. i decided to do different body scrubs. i found a recipe for lemon hand scrub, vanilla and brown sugar body scrub, peppermint foot scrub, and a facial scrub. i had to go to several different sites to find these, but since i think you're so special i will post them all here for you. these are also really great for teacher's gifts. they are simple to make and the kids can help.

lemon hand scrub:
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 tbl. lemon juice (i used fresh)
2 (12oz.) mason jars

*mix sugar with olive oil *add lemon juice
the mixture will look almost curdled, but it's not. you can also replace lemon juice with essential oils if you would rather.

vanilla and brown sugar body scrub
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup sunflower oil
1 tbl. pure vanilla extract
2 (12oz.) mason jars

*mix both sugars until there are no lumps *add oil and vanilla

peppermint foot scrub
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup mineral oil (hypoallergenic baby oil)
2 tbl. corn syrup
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 drop green food coloring (no it won't rub on to skin once mixed)
8oz. mason jar

*mix sugar and oil *add remaining ingredients, mix until food coloring is well dispersed

lavender and rosemary facial scrub
2 cups fine sea salt
1 cup sunflower oil
1/2 tsp dried crushed rosemary
13 drops lavender oil (adjust to your scent preference)
 2 (8oz.) mason jars

*mix all ingredients together
you could make this any scent you like, by changing the essential oil and eliminating the rosemary.

i got fabric and decals from my local craft store. i also bought pretty tags to tell people what they were getting and wrote ingredients on the back. it would look much nicer if printed, but mine's broken so i did handwritten instead.

the next thing you need is a pretty box to put it in. i am a huge fan of hat boxes or small decorative suitcases. then you are giving them the actual gift and something to decorate their home with.

have fun with your gift giving and have a delightful day! 

coming soon....avengers party

so i have to say sometimes my insomnia has it's perks. i usually am most creative when i'm praying for sleep and everyone else is nicely tucked into bed. i've tried several different things, but the best solution i've had is to keep pen and paper by the bed and purge my ideas. maybe it's finally having the quiet settle over the house, that allows the creative juices to flow or maybe i'm just a weirdo. either answer has about a 50/50 shot. even though i'm exhausted today, i came up with some AWESOME ideas for noah's avenger party. i plan to post pic and instructions in case anyone is interested. i checked on line the other day and couldn't really find anyone else with party ideas, so i'll share mine. so far here are my ideas: independence punch (it's red, white, and blue), hulk juice (green punch), a tray of strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream arranged to look like captain america's shield, hulk and/or ironman cookies, hulk smash game, thor's hammer pinata (i'm going to make), and a captain america endurance obstacle race. high hopes i know, but most of it can be done ahead of time. as i make the recipes i will post them and hopefully upload pics. i will also give instructions for the games and pinata making. if they don't turn out then....... we might experience 'technical difficulties'. that's it for now. i hope everyone has a delightful day!!

driving feet and police detectives

we had a busy week this week. to recap the highlights....we will start with noah (my youngest) . he announces on the way to school, "i can't wait till i get old and can drive (thanks for that!). cause when i drive i am going to drive with my feet and never my hands!!!!" yes this was said in all seriousness. he very much reminds me of max from wizards of waverly place. if you've never seen it, check it out. i laugh every time. o.k. back to his feet comment... his oh so wise older brother (by all of 19 months) responds, "well that would be very dangerous and you could not turn well." he is actually very much like the oldest bother on the show. it's good times! noah had to do a report on cougars this week. found out some pretty cool stuff. they can jump lengthwise over a school bus, they eat 10 lbs of meat a day (same as 40 hamburgers), and they don't chew their food just swallow it whole. much like moms have to do when we have toddlers. i have to brag on my guy because he got 20/20 on his report. so very proud!!! he has also decided to have a captain america bday party. what was the deciding factor you might ask? (o.k. you probably didn't, but i forgive you) thomas decided the day before that captain america was his favorite super hero, so being the typical younger brother, noah calls dibs on the bday decorations. thomas is mad, but i'm quite pleased because i will just reuse them in october :-)

thomas' teacher asked the kids to pick from a list what they wanted to be when they grew up. since when do you have to pick from a teacher provided list?! anyway! being my son and all, he of course does not pick from her list. he tells her he is going to be a police detective. he has been saying this for awhile now, so he is pretty adamant when people ask. police officer was on the list and he said he knew he had to start there, but planned to work his way up to detective. now for some side info for the rest of our conversation... my mom's house was broken into a few months ago. ever since the kids have been 'plotting' what would happen if someone broke into ours. i use the word plotting, because they are very much like the kid on home alone. so back to my chat with thomas.... after we talked about his defying his teacher, he tells me not to worry about getting old (once again! thank you very much!). he goes on to tell me that since he will be such an awesome police detective, he will be able to catch the bad guys if they try to break into our home. i of course want to know how. he tells me that since he is quick like a ninja he will be able to sneak up on the bad guy and then..... hit him on the head with a bottle of juice (there is a bottle of juice on the table from my grocery shopping that day). i am of course duly impressed. with his cocky grin and hands on his hips, he says, "yeah after i knock him out, i'll handcuff him and you will be safe. so you really shouldn't worry."

to top off my week, i made up a new recipe. it's based off of the dominoes spinach cheesy bread. yum! yum!!!! turned out really good but want to use a larger pan next time, so i can spread the dough thinner. i will post recipe on next blog. i've got to remember to write down my ingredients :-) thanks for reading and have a lovely weekend!

hello blogging world!

this is my first official blog. i thought i would tell you a few things about me. in case you haven't picked up on it yet, i don't capitalize. i just prefer lower case. every now and then i will make up words, like craptastic. (definitions will be provided) craptastic:/adj/ the opposite of fantastic. it's good times. keeps you on your toes. i also love exclamation points!!!!!! i am a bit of a spaz, so they really are necessary. one last bit to warn you about. i am not the world's greatest speller, so i am formally offering you my apology now.

i plan to write about just about anything. i will offer any new and scrumptious recipes i try out or make up. if my kids happen to do something hi-larious, i will of course be obligated to share. it's in the parent handbook. there might even be a chance for me to rant about something. i don't do this often, so you should be fairly safe. being friends and all, i will of course fill you in on any fantastically awesome products i try. other than that, not really sure what i will throw at you.

i believe that about does it ladies and gents. i hope you all have a delightful day!!!

God bless, cat