Time Flying & Caramel Goodness

Time has certainly flown by since January for me. I find it hard to believe it's February 16th already. Valentine's Day was interesting at our house, with two teens, both having girlfriends this year. There were plans made, plans changed, and more plans made, but in the end everyone had fun. There was homemade pizza involved, as well as candy and brownies. This Friday, February 18th is also an example of time flying. My husband and I will be married 22 years on Friday. We didn't meet until we were heading towards 30 years old, and I've found I appreciate my marriage so much more since I had to go through several frogs to get to my prince:) It really was worth the wait, especially since we get to celebrate with our three kids who are already 17, 16 and 10.

Now that the mushiness is out of the way I thought I'd share some caramel recipes I found, to make up for not posting any Valentine's Day goodness last week. These are from a booklet I had from the 1950's.

Caramel Popcorn Crunch

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Craft Caramels (28)

2 tbsp. hot water

2 quarts popped popcorn, salted

Place the caramels and water in the top of a double boiler. heat, stirring frequently until the caramels are melted and the sauce is smooth. Pour over the popcorn in a large bowl and toss to coat all of the kernels. Coat your hands with cold water and spread on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Let it stand until the surface is dry. Break apart to serve.

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 pound/28 caramels

1/2 cup hot water or milk

Place the caramels and water or milk in top of a double boiler. Heat, stirring frequently until all is melted and smooth. Makes 1 cup sauce.

The recipes below use the sauce. You can now buy premade caramel sauce, but it's always good to know how to make it from the caramels, and buy which ever is on sale or cheaper.

Caramel Parkay Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Parkay Margarine

4 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 cup coated Kraft Caramel Sauce

Cream the margarine. Add the sugar alternately with the caramel sauce, blending until the frosting is smooth and creamy.

Caramel Breakfast Cake

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. chopped pecans

20 buttermilk biscuits (2 or 3 tubes)

3/4 cup caramel sauce

1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted

Sprinkle the sugar over the bottom of a well-greased 9 inch round cake pan. Cover with the nuts, then pour on the caramel sauce. Separate the biscuits and dip each in the melted margarine or butter. Place 15 biscuits, overlapping, around the outer edge of the pan. Use the remaining 5 biscuits to make an inner circle of overlapping biscuits. Bake in hot oven, 400 degrees, for 20 minutes.

~Brenda