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 This week marks the beginning of my annual candy making marathon. The white candy pictured is divinity which has been made in my family at least as far back as great grandmother’s on both sides (it’s not going to stay a great slab like that, I’ll cut it into pieces before shipping). The brown candy is a praline which I learned to love during the many years I spent in the deep South. This year I’m testing out lighter/recyclable/less expensive packaging that also allows me to be a bit more crafty with my shipping. I hope the candy is edible when it arrives at it’s destination!
Divinity
2 1/2 cups
sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 large egg
whites, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup
pecans, chopped
Combine sugar,
water, and corn syrup in a 3-quart saucepan; cook over medium heat,
without stirring, to hard ball stage (260 degrees F, 125 C). It
should boiling rapidly for about ten minutes to reach this
temperature. Remove from heat.
Beat the egg
whites in a large mixing bowl until stiff peaks form. Pour the hot
sugar mixture in a very thin stream over egg whites, while beating
constantly at high speed of an electric mixer. Add vanilla, and
continue beating just until mixture begins to hold its shape (3
minutes). Stir in pecans and spread onto foil with a spatula (I wet the counter with a few drops of water to help the foil stick in place while I spread), working
quickly, or it will set too soon and get lumpy. Let cool about an
hour, cut into squares with a knife and then let stand at room
temperature overnight before you transfer it into wax paper lined
airtight containers.
My sister, Heather, says this freezes
well. Also, this is easier to make when it’s less humid- you
definitely want to avoid a rainy day if you are a beginner.
Pralines
2 cups
granulated sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1
pinch salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups pecan halves
1
teaspoon vanilla
Combine sugar,
buttermilk and salt in a heavy bottom saucepan and cook over
medium-high heat to 210 F on a candy thermometer, with occasional
stirring. Add the butter and the nuts and continue to cook to 235 F
on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and
baking soda (it will foam like crazy at this point). Stir
continuously until the mixture begins to lose its glossiness and then
drop by spoonfuls onto a silpat or freezer paper.
 The "not Halfdome" hat went missing last week after about 2 minutes inattention in a restaurant. It was a very chilly blustery day following a very warm foggy one so I suspect someone snagged it as we did look very thoroughly in addition to asking several staff if they’d seen it. This is more or less a replacement though the decreases are done differently.
Last night’s dinner was a big hit and as a bonus it was quick and easy to fix. The method is similar to the absorption pasta I tried earlier this year. The dish calls for Israeli couscous which is a larger pearled couscous. If you can’t find that then use regular couscous and simply turn off the heat when you add the boiling water then stir and let stand about 5 minutes before you serve.
Couscous with Chicken and Moroccan spices
1 pound chicken tenders
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 3/4 cup pearled couscous
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch saffron
salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cups boiling hot water or chicken broth
In a wide saucepan 3 or 4 inches deep, brown chicken tenders on both sides over high heat then set aside. Add onion, green onion, celery, and carrots to the pan and cook over high heat until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except the liquid and cook over high heat 3 or 4 minutes. Pour in boiling liquid, stir, and simmer 5-7 minutes or until couscous is cooked to desired doneness. Remove from heat, let stand 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh chopped tomatoes and parsley.
 The test knit sock has progressed on to picking up stitches for the gusset. The top half of the cuff has mistakes but the bottom half shows how nice these will look when done properly. I had plowed on past the mistakes hoping to get corrections back to the author before Thanksgiving but alas that was not meant to be.
 Last night’s dinner was gnocchi in browned butter with peas, sage and crushed red pepper. I’ve attempted gnocchi two or three times before but I think these came out the best (bearing in mind that I’ve only ever eaten my own so I’ve really no idea what they should be like).
Gnocchi
1 1/2 pounds starchy potatoes
1 large egg
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup flour plus more for dusting
Put the potatoes in a saucepan and fill with water to a depth 2 inches above the potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes or until tender. Let potatoes cool until you can handle them, 15-20 minutes. Peel potatoes and grate into a large bowl and let cool completely. Stir in egg, salt and pepper briefly with a fork. Add flour and mix gently with a fork just until it’s well distributed then knead with your hands until it comes together in a ball. The less you work the dough the lighter your gnocchi will be. Flour a board lightly and roll out the dough into long snakes a little at a time (about 1/6s in my case). Cut into 3/4" pieces and transfer to a lightly floured baking sheet. When all the gnocchi are completed, cook them by dropping into boiling water. Stir once and cook about 60 seconds or until gnocchi float to the surface.
 These are the new papers I’ve added to my origami stash this week. I particularly like the smaller sized ones. My niece and I admired the paper crane earrings we saw in the PEM gift shop and wondered if we might be able to make something like that ourselves. I think this smaller paper might be the right size so I may give it a go sometime this week. I’m wondering if I can use a spray lacquer to stabilize the paper and make it a bit more suitable for an earring. This morning while poking about their website I found some fabulous video instructions for various folded things, this lovely butterfly among them. Now I’m interested in learning to wet-fold though I’ve never seen the appropriate paper in stores so I’ll have to search online for a source.
 Before she had to leave yesterday morning my niece and I squeeze in just a bit of origami. She’d asked the night before if I would teach her to fold a paper crane so I had directions printed and ready to go when she arrived. She’s a quick study and had no trouble at all folding the crane. I also showed her how to make bookmarks and gave her a bit of paper to practice with in the car on her way home.
 It’s hard to believe that Chris will graduate in the spring but the time has come and he requested a suit for interviews. We got up early on Friday and headed out in search of a suit, ties, shirts, socks, a belt, and dress shoes. We arrived about 15 minutes after the stores opened and the suit section was thankfully mostly empty. A salesman explained what to look for and how to evaluate fit which made our job a little easier, still it took us nearly 3 hours to accomplish the task as neither of us has had any experience buying suits.
My sister and her family joined us for the rest of the day in Salem, MA. While they visited the Salem Witch museum Jason and I popped into the Peabody Essex where I found a fantastic exhibit of origami (there might have been some paper purchased in the gift shop as well). Together we visited the brewery for lunch, the pirate museum, the oldest candy shop in the US and the house of the seven gables. After an amazingly warm Thanksgiving Day, Friday seemed bitterly cold and even more so on the ride home as their van was without heat. We finished the day off with a delicious meal at a local Indian restaurant for which the boys joined us. How my niece talked Daniel into that I’ll never know but it was definitely fun to have the whole crew there.
 Yesterday was our big shopping day. We loaded up the cart with all sorts of goodies for today. I don’t really do fancy table decorations but I do like to have fresh flowers. I have some simple cylinder vases that are about 6 inches tall and for today we’ve filled them with red carnations and white Dendrobiums. I cut a length of red ribbon long enough to wrap around the vase, tacked the overlap down with a needle and thread and then slipped it onto the vase to obscure the fact that my stems are held together with a rubber band. Yesterday afternoon I made some cranberry sauce whose recipe I’m not allowed to change from year to year as Jason prefers it exactly this way. I’ll have to experiment sometime but not on Thanksgiving.
Spiced Cranberry Sauce
4 cups fresh cranberries
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 pinch ground ginger
Wash cranberries and drain; set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Add cranberries; cook 7 minutes or until cranberry skins pop. Reduce heat, and simmer mixture 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove mixture from heat, and allow to cool. Chill until ready to serve.
 Yesterday I managed to finish up the placemats and the last of the napkins. The napkins are sewn with a folded edge like this. I can’t find the old tutorial for these placemats but I’m hoping to pop back out to the store next week for supplies to make two more and I’ll get some pictures then if all goes well.
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This week marks the beginning of my annual candy making marathon. The white candy pictured is divinity which has been made in my family at least as far back as great grandmother’s on both sides (it’s not going to stay a great slab like that, I’ll cut it into pieces before shipping). The brown candy is a praline which I learned to love during the many years I spent in the deep South. This year I’m testing out lighter/recyclable/less expensive packaging that also allows me to be a bit more crafty with my shipping. I hope the candy is edible when it arrives at it’s destination!
