Dad's Favorite Treat: Homemade Caramel Recipe

For Father's Day this year, I decided to make my dad's favorite...homemade caramels!!! I loved seeing his face yesterday when he opened up his box that was filled to the brim with his favorite treats. This will please any sweet tooth. 

Homemade Caramels 
Makes about 60 caramels

Prep and cook time: 1 hour (not including time to cut and wrap caramels, save extra time for that).

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, unsalted
1 cup light corn syrup
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Equipment:
candy thermometer
3-qt. sauce pan 
parchment paper 
8×8 or 9×9 pan 
wax paper for wrapping caramels

1. Line pan with parchment paper, even up the sides. 
2. Cut butter into smaller, even sized cubes for even melting. Melt over low in sauce pan.
3. Carefully add sugar by pouring it into the center of the pan. If any sugar crystals stick to side of pan, push them down with a damp pastry brush so they do not crystallize the entire batch. Stir slowly until well combined with melted butter.
4. Add and mix in corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk.
5. Cook and stir on medium for one minute, then to med.-high until boiling. You want to change temperatures slowly so you don’t shock the candy. Once boiling, clip on your candy thermometer (don’t let it touch the bottom of the pan or it will be off). By the time your caramel is boiling, if you have been stirring well, you should have the butter fully blended into the caramel mixture, not separated.
6. Reduce heat to about medium, adjusting so that you keep a moderate, steady boil. Stir frequently. If you let your caramel go too long without stirring, you’ll end up with a separated, greasy batch of caramel. 
7. Temperature does not raise at a steady rate, so watch thermometer closely. 
8. When thermometer reaches 244°, remove caramel from heat.
9. Stir in vanilla and then pour the caramel into the prepared pan. Careful....it's very hot. 
10. Allow to cool for several hours and use a large knife to cut into pieces. Wrap in wax paper. Enjoy!!
    
    

Sleepwalking

I do weird things in my sleep. I have since I was about 10 years old. Please don't laugh, but I am a 32 year-old sleepwalker. When I was twelve, I woke up in the middle of the street with my bedspread wrapped around me. I was dreaming that my bedspread was actually my neighbor's across the street and I had to run over and return it...in the middle of the night. I can't imagine my neighbor's faces if I hadn't woken up. There I would have been, at 3am, in my pajamas, trying to give them my bedspread. Other nights, my mom would hear someone walking around the house, panic a bit at the thought of an intruder, only to find out that it was me. I'd wake up a bit startled to mom yelling, "Erin, get back to bed." I had no idea what was going on. LOL...I don't blame her though. I'd be a little freaked out too.

So, for most of my life, it has only been my parents and sister that have been able to experience this, beyond weird, night time phenomenon of mine; that is, until I got married. Oh, poor Noah. He didn't know when he married me that he was going to have to experience some of the craziest nights he could imagine. It's something that most people grow out of, but not me. Being a sleepwalker is a bit embarrassing to admit, but Noah and I always have a good laugh about it. It's really nothing I can help, I just need to go with it and hope that I may still grow out of it before I really do go and knock on my neighbors door at 3am.

Last night, Noah got to, once again, experience one of these sleepwalking experiences. He had almost thought that the episodes were done since I had not had one in a few months, but no such luck. Noah was awoken to me in a bit of a panic because a "spark" from a neighbors' campfire (at 3am) had made its way into our bedroom and was now floating into the bathroom. In my state of mind, I somehow thought that the spark was going to set fire to the house, so I asked if Noah would go stomp it out. Noah, being frustrated about being awoken and knowing that I was dreaming, simply said, "No, it will be fine." I remember getting pissed that he was going to make me go and do it. Note: From my experience of sleepwalking, I am in a state of dreaming and yet still conscious. It's really weird. I think this is why I am often able to remember what's going on and how I am feeling. Anyway, I get frustrated with Noah, let out a big sigh as I get out of bed, go to our closet, proceed to find a sturdy shoe, and go back to the bathroom to stomp out the spark that some how had found its way into our house. Low and behold, when I make it to the bathroom, no spark is to be found. I turn on the light and see absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. It is at that moment that I start to think about what is going on and the actual possibility of it, and realize that I am in fact sleepwalking. I get back into bed, my heart racing (it always does that when I wake up from one of these episodes) and relax enough after a few minutes to fall back asleep.

This morning, as I get out of bed, I stumble on one of my winter shoes, wonder what it's doing there, and then go to Noah and ask, "Did I sleepwalk last night?" Noah bursts out laughing and proceeds to tell me what happened. As soon as he sparks my memory, I'm able to remember everything. We just sat and laughed at my silliness. If nothings else, it provides some great entertainment.

Wow, dreams are funny things. Please tell me that I am not the only 32 year-old sleepwalker out there.

Dreams

You will find that today's blog post is a bit short, but not lacking in the entertainment. I should give you a brief background on this post. I LOVE Harry Potter! I love reading the books and I love the movies. I am pretty pumped to see Deathly Hallows part two. I can't wait actually. Noah on the other hand...well, he has chosen to accept Harry Potter, but only because his wife loves it so much. When we first started dating, I tried to get a feel on where Noah stood with Harry Potter. It was my dream to have a spouse that appreciated Harry as much as I did. One evening,  I finally asked him the big question, "What is your favorite Harry Potter book and do you think you are more like Harry or Ron?" His response was, "Harry Pooper?" and was far from the proclamation of admiration that I was hoping for, but I let it slide. I wasn't going to let a division on Harry Potter influence how I really felt about him. I did come close to breaking up with him a few times when he would make a gross comment on only one of the greatest stories every written, but here we are today and...well....he can learn to love Harry Potter, right?

Anyway, I wake up this morning and find Noah in the kitchen making our usual morning cup of coffee.
Noah turns to me and says,

"I have something to tell you, but I don't know if I should admit it or not. You will never let me live it down."

At hearing this statement, I immediately get excited!! What juicy bit of information does Noah possibly have that I will be able to use against him in the future? The anticipation was killing me.

Noah replies with a big smile, "I had a dream about Harry Potter last night."

That response quite possible made my day. To that I started, in my most goofy manner, to tease him a bit and whip out my imaginary wand and force him to have magical dual with me. Unfortunately, he wasn't having it. His next comment however was priceless.

"I didn't really dream ABOUT Harry Potter. I WAS Harry Potter... fighting off evil."

At that, we were laughing hysterically in the kitchen. Noah tried to cover it up his embarrassment with, "I think it's because I've had to wear my glasses the last few days."

I do believe my husband is a closet Harry Potter fan!!!

Date Night at the Drive-In

First, let me say how important I think date nights are. Whether you are a newlywed or you've been married for over 60 years, date nights are something that I think every couple needs. Some people may ask, "Why do you two need a date night? You spend every night of the week together?" To that I say that there is just something different about setting aside and evening to focus on nothing else but your significant other. Most nights that Noah and I are both home, we end up with a few hours after work to take care of dinner, cleaning, and whatever other projects need to get done around the house. When we get together with friends and family,  I want to pour my energy into them when we get together. A date allows us to just focus on each other and in the end helps us continue to grow as a couple. I can see that it will be especially important once we have kids, so we figure it's good to get into the habit right away.

Last Friday, Noah and I had our first date night in a while. It was a blast! It was our first beautiful weekend here in Minnesota. Summer is finally here. We grilled chicken, opened a cheap bottle of wine, and sat down to have dinner together. We then went for a walk down by the river and headed out to the Cottage-Grove drive-in. I LOVE THE DRIVE IN!! I always find it funny when talking to people that have never been to the drive in or have even seen a drive in. To me, that seems crazy since I live within 5 miles of two drive in theaters.

Here's a fun fact- There are only 372 drive in theaters left in the United States. Minnesota has 6 drive in theaters. Only two are in the Twin Cities metro area; one in Cottage Grove and the other in Lake Elmo.

Anyway, if you've never been to the drive in I highly recommended it. Pack up your cooler with your favorite snacks and beverages, sit back, put your feet up on the dash, and enjoy. We got to see two movies for less than what we would pay to see one of those movies at the local indoor theater complex. Plus, we got to enjoy the great summer evening  and sunset.

The drive in experience has been endangered with competition from the indoor super screen complexes. There has been talk about tearing the Cottage Grove drive in down so that the city could build...what else....another shopping complex. It's sad to see a great and fun piece of history on the verge of being extinct for yet another shopping center. I'd say, be sure to go out and enjoy it while it lasts. It's great fun for all ages.

Oh No!!!! Could I Be The Next Coupon Queen?!?

I've been inspired!!!! The new show Extreme Couponing has me hooked! If you haven't seen an episode yet, it's a must watch! The show follows people that save BIG TIME at their local stores by using coupons. When I say that they save BIG TIME, I am not exaggerating. On most episodes you see them bringing a food purchase of over $1,300 down to $50.00. The first time I watched the show I was left speechless! How on earth did they do that?!?!?  I had to figure it out.

After watching a few more episodes, I started catching on to the method behind this madness. The whole idea is to basically collect coupons from the internet (coupons.com) and from the Sunday paper. You then watch the local store ads and see what's on sale that week. They say that using your coupons during store sales is the best way to cash in on the savings. For example: Buy one get one free sales are a great time to use the coupons because you can use 2 manufacture coupons even though one of the items is free, doubling your savings. Some stores also offer double coupon day or they will match your coupons up to a certain price, usually $1.00.


It seems that this show came on at the perfect time!! Noah and I are on a pretty tight budget right now, so saving money is important. I figured that I had to try this couponing thing out. I decided to focus on just a few items on this first grocery trip. I don't want to buy anything that we are not going to use just because it's on sale. In one of the episodes, a woman bought 67 bottles of mustard and no one even eats mustard in her family! REALLY?!? Who needs 67 bottles of mustard in the first place? It goes bad in a year!!! Crazy woman!! Anyway, I noticed that Rainbow Foods had pretty good deal on Kelloggs cereal, buy 8 for $13.00. I went into my coupon stash and I found three coupons for Kelloggs cereal each worth $1.00. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, Rainbow will double your coupon value if your coupon is $1.00 or under, so each of those coupons were actually worth $2.00. In the end, I got 8 boxes of cereal for $7.00!!! HUGE SAVINGS!!! I was so proud of myself! I took advantage of a few other items as well. In the end, my grand total was $57 but with coupons and the in-store savings, I only had to pay $26!! I saved $31!! I saved more than I spent! I was so excited!


I never thought I would get this excited over something like couponing, but saving money is big for everyone these days. How are you and your family trying to save money this summer? Noah and I are looking for some ideas.