Second up...Grandma's Caramels

I don't know about you, but a good caramel is hard to find! Maybe that is why I make them and don't ever buy them. I have tried a few recipes over the years and I keep going back to Grandma's Caramels (this recipe is from my Grandma Garvin). You could also call this No Fail Caramels - unlike the traditional heavy cream caramels that I seem to have trouble with from time to time.

Grandma's Caramels

1 cup butter

1 lb. brown sugar (2 cups packed)

Dash of salt

1 cup light corn syrup

1 can sweet and condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter, add sugar and salt in heavy pan. Stir in syrup and gradually add milk. Cook and constantly stir over medium high heat until firm ball stage (243-245 degrees). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour into buttered 9x13 or slightly smaller pan.

Cool and cut.

For wax paper wrappers: I use my fabric cutter to cut the wax paper in 4x5 inch rectangles. Then wrap each caramel individually.

Feels like 3 below...

I have gradually stocked up on butter, sugar, flour and eggs over the last couple of weeks and this is one of the reasons why. Living in Iowa we are bound to have snow and blowing winds of 38 mph gusts and that day is today! Lying in bed this morning, listening to the wind whipping around outside, I thought to myself what shall I bake first? So, I crept down the stairs, trying not to stir anyone, made a pot of Dunkin Dark and began to work. First up...

Vanilla - Almond Sugar Cookies - adapted from Bake at 350. This is not my usual sugar cookie recipe, but the fact that this dough does not need refrigerated intrigued me. They are a little crispier than what I am used to, but the taste...buttery and delicious! They definitely stand alone, as Ellie (my middle) chose to have hers without frosting.

Vanilla - Almond Sugar Cookies

3 cups unbleached flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 cup sugar

2 sticks, salted, cold butter

1 egg

3/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour and baking powder and set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts. Gradually add the flour mixture, scraping sides.

The dough will be crumbly. Pat together on a floured surface.

Roll dough out - rather thick. At least a 1/4 inch. Place cookies on parchment lined cookie sheet (I used my Silpat baking mats and they worked great.) Put cookie sheet in freezer for 5 minutes (some of mine were in freezer for longer:) and then bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Let cool on cookie sheet before transferring cooling racks or my marble island.