A Day In My Life

A few years ago, I told my friend's mom I wanted to learn how to make candy. And although my friend had since moved out of state.. her mom planned a day for me to come over and help her make a LOT of candy. Seriously - we cooked and baked all. day. long. I loved the experience, and I took away some amazing recipes. One of my all-time favorites is the recipe for caramels. It's super easy, but it takes a lot of patience to keep stirring while you're waiting for that thermometer to get to the "soft ball" stage. What's that? You want to make some? Okay. Here's the recipe: 2 cups light corn syrup 1 cup milk 4 cups sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla 14 ounces sweetened, condensed milk 1 1/2 cups whipping cream 1 cup butter (2 sticks) 1. Butter a 9x13 pan. Actually, I use one of those jelly-roll pans that is a little larger, but either will work. 2. In a 6 quart pan, combine syrup, condensed milk, milk, cream, butter and sugar. Heat on medium and

These are the best cookies I've tasted. Ever.  And I made them for a cookie exchange party I'm going to tomorrow. Yum. 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 2 eggs 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 twelve-ounce bags semisweet chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. In another bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips. With your fingers, place golf ball-sized dough portions 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes or just until edges are light brown. Makes 30 cookies.