Saturday, June 16, 2012

Our Life in Pictures


The "new" doors on the chicken coop (compliments of my father and Master Hand Grenade).  Our compost pile is on the right
Master Hand Grenade also made a door for the playhouse
Master Calvin and Princess Dragon Snack
splitting massive amounts of kindling
Virginia Creeper winding its way up the arbor with
Iris's peeking through an old chair
The flowers are abloom
Making Caramel with Miss Serenity
Testing the candy using the old fashioned water method
Miss Serenity decided that she wanted to make a batch of caramel (her favorite candy).  She mixed everything up and brought the mixture to a boil and then realized that our candy thermometer was broken!  Thinking she may not be able to finish her candy, she called me in to help.   Taking a look at the thermometer, I decided that it was indeed done for, so I showed her how to test her candy in cold water to determine what stage it had reached.  We had to test it a number of times, but finally it formed a medium/hard ball when dropped in cold water and we deemed it finished.  It turned out great and Miss Serenity added to her kitchen preparedness knowledge.  Yeah!

The Best Caramel
1 C butter
2 C brown sugar
1 C corn syrup
1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. vanilla

In saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and milk;  bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Cook and stir constantly until mixture reaches 248°, about 30 to 40 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.  Pour into a buttered pan to cool.  Cut into squares and wrap in waxed paper.

*  Test candy without a candy thermometer by dropping a bit of candy into a glass of cold water.  When the candy is done, it should form a firm ball that can be squished when squeezed, but still hold its form.

Pouring our newest batch of Raspberry wine into bottles
My Ghillies
Just try to get face paint off a 4 year old!
I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.  Thanks for visiting.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the pictures - the names you use for your family are so funny and strong!

    Making caramel reminded me of making fudge with my mother - she taught me to bring it to the soft ball stage after stirring well to make sure it wasn't "sugary". Can't describe "sugary fudge" but I know what it is when I eat it and I prefer the "smooth" fudge!

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  2. One day there are going to be some young ladies that look up and call you blessed for teaching your boys to men. Well done.

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  3. Enola Gay,

    Good morning! I love your new blog picture, that flowers are gorgeous.
    Talk about a beautiful chicken coop, it's nice enough, I could live in it, lol....
    It's nice to see the kids totally involved on your farm. The little ones splitting kindling, Miss Serenity making candy and the boys crawling around learning to be good look outs. I hope you and yours have a blessed Sunday.

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  4. Your inspiring. This has to take precious time away from family and chores. Thank you for sharing.

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