Candy Making

And that fresh taste - while the candy was still warm?

Oh so tasty.

Don't get me wrong, you can buy some pretty good store candy - but it just never tastes as good as candy you make yourself.

And, when you make candy yourself, you can use a spoon and scrape the mixing pan clean. Yum...

20 Ways to Add Personality and Punch to Your Cooking!
Joi Sigers
122f Let's get right to it!

1. Add Sour Cream to your mashed potatoes.

2. After icing your cinnamon rolls, dust the tops lightly with cinnamon.

3. Always use special napkins - use seasonally-appropriate patterns and colors. If your family has a favorite sports team, serve their colors on the days they're playing. If you are NASCAR fans, by all means, go with your driver's colors on race day!

4. Never underestimate the elegance of candles. They set the mood and add mood to your setting.

5. Use freshly-grated Parmesan and leave the cans on the shelves.

6. Serve only coffee that has been freshly-ground and freshly-brewed. Top this coffee off with a dollop of whipped topping, and if you're really feeling high brow, fresh shavings from a block of chocolate.

7. Use REAL crumbled bacon on top of your salads and baked potatoes. Leave the plastic containers of wanna-be bacon bits on the shelves beside the Parmesan.

8. Speaking of salads, add crumbled feta cheese to your tossed salads. You'll never want salads without it again!

9. Never, ever, under any circumstances - make salsa without fresh cilantro. If your store is out, drive to the next store. If, three stores later, you still haven't found any cilantro, skip the idea of salsa all together! Yes, it's that important.

10. Add zip to your loaf of French Bread. Spray, or brush, the top of the loaf with olive oil. Then sprinkle on dried red pepper flakes and dried onion flakes. Bake as usual.

11. Get a rounded ice-cream scoop of ice cream, roll in crushed nuts and serve on top of a plate that's been swirled with caramel or chocolate syrup. Then squeeze more over the top.

12. Do the same as above, but use coconut in place of the crushed nuts. This time, place the balls of coconut-covered ice cream on top of slices of pound cake. Now, pour some pineapple bits, juice and all, on top of the servings.

13. Serving Italian food? Softly play Italian music in the background.

14. Invest in several sets of dishes, as many as your budget will allow. Match the mood of your meal you're serving with the mood of the dishes you'll be serving it on. For example, if you're serving seafood, either a Lighthouse dish pattern, or blue dishes would be perfect. Asian food is great on black or floral dishes. Hamburgers? Red, white and blue!

15. When making grilled cheese sandwiches, use a thin layer of cream cheese alongside your typical slice of cheddar. Serve with a knock-out salad or your favorite soup.

16. Set aside a Saturday for Candy making. Try out fudge, taffy and even molded candies. If you have someone in the kitchen with you, it's even funner. If not, at least you don't have to share your spoils!

17. Make a tradition out of trying a new, challenging bread recipe on the first Sunday of every month (or any day of your choice, of course!) Start out with the basic loaf, then move on to Sourdough, Wheat, Irish Bread, French Bread, Twisted Loaves, etc.

18. Place sprigs of parsley on special dishes. Your family will appreciate the extra-special thought and it looks really pretty!

19. Buy thick Texas Toast for making French Toast. Prior to dipping into the egg bath, cut a slit in each of the bread's corners, fill each with 1 Tablespoon of softened cream cheese. Prepare as you normally would. Serve with syrup, a dusting of powdered sugar and a few fresh, plump strawberries. Delicious!!!

20. When serving Refried Beans, warm a small amount of Sour Cream until it has the consistency of whipping cream. Top each serving of beans with a teaspoon of the sour cream and top with chives or diced green onions.

Remember: Cooking is an art, so get creative and have fun with it!

About the Author

This article, and others, can be found at /www.buttermilkpress.com target=_blank>http://www.buttermilkpress.com>http://www.buttermilkpress.com, as can recipes, cooking tips, products, and more. Feel free to contact the author at joi@buttermilkpress.com

One of my favorite candy recipes for cold weather is peanut brittle.

PEANUT BRITTLE
1 pound (2 cups) sugar
1 teaspoonful lemon extract
1/2 pint (1 cup) golden syrup
1 gill (1/2 cup) water
2 heaping teaspoonfuls baking soda
1/2 lb. (2 cups) shelled peanuts
1 lb. (2 cups) sugar
1 oz. (2 tablespoonfuls) butter
1 teaspoonful glucose
Cook the syrup, sugar, water, and glucose until it commences to thicken and bubble; then add the butter and peanuts and stir constantly until the nuts begin to brown. Remove from the fire, beat in the lemon extract and the soda, and stir through quickly until it foams up.
Pour out on a well-greased slab and roll out very thin. Then break into pieces.
Wonderful...

From the big book of Bon Bon Recipes.

Candy Recipes

10-Minute Dessert: Thai-style Creme Caramel If you like desserts, but aren't so keen on spending your valuable time baking, try this super-fast and easy Thai-style Creme Caramel Dessert Recipe. This Thai version... Swank Martini: Candy Corn Martini Recipe Tomorrow is the big day. It is indeed Halloween. In the meantime, here is a little preview of just one of the reasons why Halloween is so great. In honor of National Candy Corn Day, here is the Candy Corn martini recipe. Ingredients: 1 ½ oz vodka ½ oz gin Microwave caramel popcorn cooks in a brown paper bag By Karin Welzel TRIBUNE-REVIEW Wednesday, March 22, 2006 For Mary Rebosky, of Greensburg, who asked for a recipe for microwave caramel popcorn made in a paper bag.Comment Soft Caramel Corn | submitted by AUBRY5 This soft, yummy caramel corn will disappear before your eyes! Great for the holidays, parties, or gifts. I promise, this easy recipe won't let you down! REQUESTS from Thursday, November 16, 2006 Womans magazine Cornish Hen chocolate entrees Microwave Caramel Pie Creamed pull candy Chicken Corn Chowder Polish Sauerkraut Soup Napoleans Pastry hearts ~~~~~~~~~ My wife had a magazine she was saving for a recipe inside. I can't remember what the magazine was called but I think it was Woman's World or Woman's Day or something with Woman in the title. Butterscotch Pudding With Caramel-Espresso Bananas A lovely recipe I've adapted slightly from from Ripe for Dessert by D. Lebovitz. Both homey and sophisticated. -- posted by evelyn/athens

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