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Salt Water Taffy Gone Wrong

By Heather, on April 6th, 2013

DSCN9101

One of my husband’s favorite childhood memories comes from a taffy pull.  Having never experienced this myself, I thought this would be the perfect ending to a spring break week.

So we looked at several salt water taffy recipes and they all seemed relatively straight forward.  Essentially sugar, corn syrup, and flavoring.  We swung by Hobby Lobby with coupons in hand, and to my delight, found butter rum and raspberry flavoring oils in the candy section.  The thought of butter rum taffy still makes my mouth water.

salt water taffy gone wrongThe whole family assisted in preparing ingredients, buttering pans, and readying waxed paper.  I inserted the candy thermometer, followed the directions and started stirring.  And kept stirring. Thirty minutes later, I begged for respite.  Then I provided respite for the respite-provider.

Forty-five minutes later the candy thermometer finally, mercifully reached the temperature the recipe instructed.  I now suspect that my candy thermometer is a worthless piece of glass.

DSCN9097We quickly poured the hot liquid into three different bowls waiting with flavorings (vanilla, raspberry, and the oh so good smelling butter rum).Within minutes, I picked up the “taffy” but it started snapping as I pulled.  I enlisted hubby and the kids to pull.  Snap, snap, snap.

DSCN9098Turned out we made delicious hard candy.  Very large chunks of hard candy.  That would likely break your teeth if I let someone try to eat it.

Sigh.  It smelled so good, it looked so good, and it tasted good if I gave someone a hunk to lick. “Don’t bite it! You’ll chip a tooth!”

Turns out that there is a science behind salt water taffy.  Once the sugar is crystallized, you don’t stir anymore (my arms are so mad at me for not knowing this), and you let it bubble until you reach the appropriate temperature, assuming you have a trustworthy candy thermometer.  Others seemed to stir with good results, but used the cold-water method.

So, if we try again, I’ll try this recipe.  Feel free to join us for the taffy-pull but be prepared for it to turn into a stick-candy pull.

Have you made it successfully?  Offer us some tips!

 

2 comments   Family Activity   ,  

Eggciting Day

By Heather, on March 31st, 2013

Happy Easter!  Each year I’m surprised at how different the eggs are from the previous year. Of course that might be because we try a new method or two each year.

This year we added the use of toothpicks and paint to make flowers.

One of my new favorite techniques is tie-dye eggs.  You take a vinegar-dampened paper towel, wrap it around the egg, and drip food coloring on it.  While I really like the results, prepare for lots of hand washing unless you want the people at church to look at your hands funny when it’s the shake-a-hand greeting time.

One carryover technique from last year was using hot glue on the egg before dipping it.  Sam had the brilliant idea of using hot glue on his drawn-on eyes before dying.

Only one problem.  Sometimes the hot glue likes to take some egg shell with it.  (WARNING: The following pictures may be graphic in nature.)

When this happened, I expected a lot of frustration and disappointment.  I wasn’t expecting this:

And I really wasn’t expecting what he’d do next:

Even the other eggs were asking each other:  ”Who invited that guy?”

And, thanks to a learning experience where hard-boiled eggs were hidden inside too carefully and some grandparents who will remain unnamed suffered horrible awful smells for months until the eggs in question were finally found, the Easter Bunny always accepts our request to hide the plastic eggs inside and the hard-boiled once outdoors.

Much to my son’s disappointment, the Easter Bunny refused to hide the pig egg outside.  Apparently, the bunny didn’t want to terrify the other children.

Good call, Bunny. Good call.

One comment   Family Fun, Normal Holidays   ,  

Perspectives

By Heather, on March 19th, 2013

I’m a big believer in handing off the camera to kiddos.  Kids take pictures at angles you might never have thought of – at least I never did.

Things you see every day suddenly look very cool with a different perspective,

in a different light.

And, then, there are other times that the kids simply steal my camera for a school project.

And even then, it’s a reminder to look at LIFE® a little differently.

 

3 comments   Family Fun

Art Time

By Heather, on March 3rd, 2013

Using only pastels, my youngest colored this for me.  Ah, perfect timing too.  It still feels and looks like winter outside, but my inner clock is ready for spring and flowers!  She said the secret to her drawing is to outline everything in black to make it pop.  It makes me want to pick up the pastels!

I wonder if city dwellers would be more cheerful if our buildings were a bit more colorful.

A hilarious project to get kiddos to work on perspective. Entitled, “Oops! I forgot my parachute!”   I told her the title was a bit dark for my taste. I think it should be called, “On the trampoline and about to land on Mom.”

 

3 comments   Family Activity   ,  
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