Wednesday, February 14, 2007

I Made It!



Stephanie set up a contest where you make something from scratch. I read the rules and immediately I thought I would make homemade Valentine's treats! My mom got my a subscription to Martha Stewart Living magazine for Christmas and I had just read this article describing the wonderful treats she made and placed in a homemade Valentine Heart shaped box! I opted out on the box and I wasn't into her complicated candies so I decided to rely on my old trusty cookbooks! I picked out several candy recipes and made a short little list of who would be my "Valentine's". I had big dreams. In the end I only ended up making three things but I guess that is okay....the contest was for one thing. Here is what I made.....

1. Homemade Valentine's Cards. Okay, I'll admit this one wasn't a stretch for me at all. I make my own cards all the time. But I did want to share them. Especially since I didn't get around to mailing any out. That is also very typical of me. I may still send a few so, if you get one act like you've never seen it before!


2. I made Chocolate Covered Cherries. I did find a fancy shmancy recipe for them but I did them the way my mom does. I bought a big jar of cherries, froze them and then dipped them in chocolate. I did mess up by just buying chocolate chips instead of the actual melting chip things. I somehow ruined like 3 cups of chips before figuring it all out. I recommend just buying those chocolates used for candies. You can keep the cherries in your fridge for like 3 weeks so I made those last week when we were having subzero weather. I froze them outside since I didn't have room in my freezer! How cleaver, huh? So the cherries worked out great and Jude was able to help. I had to threaten Jake not to touch them because they are for Valentine's Day. To my knowledge he hasn't. I must be scary. ha ha.

3. This is the biggy. I made homemade caramels from scratch. I had been wanting to do this for a long time. I made my first batch last week and used a recipe from a cookbook. I (of course) didn't read the recipe all the way through and mixed the vanilla into the ingredients while they were cooking. It ruined everything. I followed everything else to a t and the caramel came out very dark and it burned. It was too hard to cut or eat. So much for that. But I persisted and went with a different recipe from allrecipes with reviews from people who had actually made the stuff. I decided either my thermometer is off or there was something funky going on with the temp so I didn't let it get as hot as the recipe called for this time. It worked out beautifully. The caramel did end up a little darker than I prefer it but nonetheless I think it is pretty good. Overall it was easy...just a lot of standing by the stove and stirring. It may become a Valentine's tradition in the Miller household!

If you would like to read about more Made from Scratch items visit Stop the Ride today!

10 comments:

Stephanie Appleton said...

Those cards are too cute!~
Caramels on thier way to WV?

delilah said...

I am planning on sending some with your card! Better late than ever, eh?

delilah said...

ever??? I meant never.

amyd76 said...

The card is very cute. Chocolate covered cherries??? YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can I declare the winner?? :)

Celeste said...

I used to love making chocolate covered cherries. I need to do them again. My hubby loves them. Carmels can be tricky.
It may not have been the thermometer. In high humidity or low there will be a varience in how things come out. I always rely on the cold water test along with checking the temp.

Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads said...

Great job with the card. Very cute.

I love chocolate covered cherries the simple way! (I've been using our garage as an extended freezer as well.)

Yum! Caramels!!!

Katie said...

Chocolate covered cherries AND caramels AND a great card?! You are the winner of this contest, hands down!!!

Butterfly Mama said...

Wow!!! I think my hubby would pass out if I made him homemade caramels - he loves them. I just might have to try them sometime!

Great job chocolate covered cherries sound yummy too!!!

crystal said...

Love the card. It's SO cute and very well done!

Chelle said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. The card is so cute! Mmmmm...and I've had homemade caramels...I simply can not learn how to make them! I can't stop eating them! They are so delicious!