Homemade Caramels

I have always shied away from homemade candy. There's the fussiness of thermometers, and trying to figure out "soft ball" and "hard ball" stages. I think we tried to make candy in Home Ec (oh, there - I've just dated myself - good job Lis) and it was a resounding disaster. So for the better part of 30 years, I've been content to buy my candy and make other things.

Well not yesterday, folks.

I know there's a lot of controversy right now about Pinterest. I'm in "wait and see mode" at this point - I'm currently keeping my boards but re-pinning very cautiously to be sure I'm pinning the original, etc. Anyway, I found two recipes I simply could not avoid trying. Today I'll tell you about the Microwave Caramels. Yeah you heard me - mic-ro-wave.

That got my attention, too.

Cornbread Surprise

Love me some cornbread! Love me some cornDOGS! Do not love the frying, grease, and picking off the coating that comes with corndogs.

So I saw a post on Pinterest where someone had made cornbread muffins with a quarter of a hot dog in it. Clever! We're lazy around here, and muffins have a way of generating more crumbs that I want to deal with. Hence the birth of Cornbread Surprise. I can't figure out yet how to turn pictures, so I'm going to be missing a few - darn it all, Blogger! Anyway, the ingredients are simple - and you absolutely need an adorable little helper to come and steal a hot dog and eat it while you work. It's just sort of a rule.