So I make caramels. It's my thing. It's my claim to fame. I've even won a couple blue ribbons at the Arizona State Fair. I generally don't brag so much, but since I've been known to sell them, I'm making an exception. That's not really what this post is about though, it's just background information.
Anyway, I was making some the other day, and it takes awhile. This is when I really wish I had a gas stove, because it seems to take forever to get the caramel up to 242 degrees (in my opinion the perfect temperature for the perfect firmness) Even at our other house when I had an old coil stove, I think it went faster. This stove is a flat-top and I swear I am standing there stirring, FOREVER. Loads of times I have my headphones on, or I have a book to read, but I forgot both yesterday, and I was alone in a quiet house (older kids at school, Christopher asleep) with only my brain to keep me company. This is what I was thinking about:
I was remembering way back when, before John and I were married. I swear he fell in love with me the moment he tasted my mother's caramel. (I hadn't the foggiest clue how to make them at that time.) But I get ahead of myself. I should start with some background info. When my Grandmother got a divorce and moved to Utah to be closer to her girls who went to BYU, she lived up in the avenues in Salt Lake next to this lady who made caramels. I hear the original recipe actually called for paraffin wax. My grandmother modified the recipe, made them her own and taught her daughters, who in turn taught their daughters. Back before I knew how, my mother would occasionally make them, and I kid you not, nobody in our house really cared. Sure, we liked them okay, but they weren't chocolate. We are all die-hard chocoholics. The caramels would go stale before we'd eat them. Mostly she just gave them away to appreciative souls. However, rarely did anyone else get anything made out of chocolate, it was always eaten before she could give it away. My BFF since jr. High, Jamie, however was a huge fan of my mom's caramels. My mom would make her her own batch for her birthday for several years, and made sure she got some whenever she had extras.
Fast forward a couple of years. I am away at college, Weber State University, and I am working at this store called Media Play. I started off as the music department lead, then ended up head cashier. John worked there too, that's how we met. He started in the backroom, then ended up being the hardlines (computer software and video games- go figure) department lead. (assistant manager) The customer service desk where I worked was right next to his department so over the course of a year we became pretty good friends. Rumor has it that it was love at first sight for him (I was a babe), but I went out with other guys and obsessed about other guys and he and I were "just friends". But I enjoyed talking to him. He was easy to be with. There got to be a point that I was happy to see him even if it meant I'd have someone to "hang out with" on really boring nights. I talked ALOT. Once I even remember thinking (while my mouth was working) that "if I ran out of stuff to say, it's gonna get real awkward around here, real quick." Obviously I never did.
So one day, as we are talking, I reached into my apron (we wore aprons- red for cashiers, blue for music and hardlines, green for books, etc., but they had big pockets on the front, and mine was always stashed with crap. Pens, money, etc.) So I reach in and feel something I don't recognize and I pull out a couple of caramels. I guess my mom had sent some up to college for me and I brought them to work, and had forgotten. I just kindof say, "Want a caramel?" and hand one to him. He makes some comment about them being amazing or something, and I say "If you tell my mom that, she'll make you a whole batch of your own." End of story? No way. A few days later, I get a phone call from my mom, saying she found a note taped to the front door from a guy named "John". I just about flipped out. Are you kidding me? He actually went looking for caramels? I guess that was just an excuse to "stir some dirt" and get me to really sit up and pay attention. It worked- So remember I live away at college and have for a couple of years? My parents had never met John, he'd never been to my parents house, I grew up in a suburb of Salt Lake, and this is up in Ogden. Not terribly far away, but far enough that those worlds DID NOT collide. And Remember that I talked ALOT? Well apparently he had been taking notes. Stuff I didn't even remember saying. The name of my Elementary school. The canal by my house with the hundreds of ducks that live there year round because people feed them year round, etc. So he enlists the help of another co-worker to sneak into the office and check out my personnel file and get my address, and on his day off he decides to pay a visit to my mother. She wasn't home, so he left the note. Yeah, kindof stalker-esque, but it got my attention. We were married less than a year later.
Caramels
2 c sugar
1 ¼ c light corn syrup (I prefer Karo)
¾ c dark corn syrup (ditto on the Karo)
1 cube butter
1 can evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups pecans (if desired)
Grease the bottom and up the sides (about an inch) of either a 7 x 11 glass pan (or a 9 x 9 works too) for plain caramels or a 9 x 13 glass pan for caramels with nuts. Set aside.
Have all the ingredients and utensils prepared and ready to use.
I find it easiest to measure the sugar and syrups by layering in a 4 cup glass pyrex measuring cup. I measure out 2 cups of white sugar into the bottom of the 4 cup measuring cup, then add light corn syrup until it reaches about the 3 1/4 mark, then add dark corn syrup until it reaches the 4 cup mark. It's easier and less messy this way and gives consistent results.
Bring sugar and syrups to boil, stirring frequently, with wooden spoon. Drop small pieces of butter into mixture stirring constantly. Slowly pour in canned milk- keep stirring, don’t let it stop boiling.
Cook and stir constantly until it forms a firm ball when dropped in cold water (or until temperature reaches between soft ball and firm ball on candy thermometer depending on preferences.- around 240 degrees for lower altitude, but about 232 for higher altitude) It should pull away from the sides of pan in “strings”.
Remove from heat, add vanilla and nuts. Pour immediately into buttered 7 x 11 pan for plain caramels or buttered 9 x 13 pan for caramels with nuts. (these last two steps need to be done pretty quickly as the caramel continues to cook) Cool completely- usually several hours or overnight.
Cut into 1 inch wide rows, cut each row into 8 pieces. Wrap in 3.5 x 4.5 squares of wax paper
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