The Most Perfect Caramel Candy Apple

 This is the season for candy apples. They are not only fun to eat, they're festive to look at. They can be easily made and made to perfection.It just takes some skill and patience.

Before you start get yourself a good candy thermometer. A perfect coat is what makes a candy apple great. If; the coating is too soft, it may slide off or becoms too hard. OXO has an excellent brand that also works for a deep fryer along with Polder which also works for cooking jellies and jams too as well as deep frying.The recipe is easy.It's three cups of sugar and half a cup of corn syrup mixed with one cup of water. Red food coloring is added when the mix hits 300 degree Farenheit or the hard crack stage. You can test this by dropping a drop of the syrup into a glass of cold water. It should form into a hard droplet not unlike hard candy. The apples are placed on lollipop or popsicle sticks and one by one swirled into the red goo. Place on  waxed paper or a butter greased cookie sheet(  doing it this way gives extra flavor).What apples should you use? I'd prefer  small Granny Smith simply because their tartness is a nice foil to the sweetness. Fuji, Jazz and Gala, all reds, also make for good candied apples. Keep in mind that some apples come with a waxy coating which will make the coating slide off. To remove it , boil six cups of water with one tablespoon white vinegar. quickly dip the apples in this for five seconds and thoroughly dry.

Caramel apples are another yummy treat right now. The question is to use Kraft caramels or take it an extra step to heaven with home made caramel. The Kraft way has always been the easiest. It's just cutting up the caramel, putting them in a microwavable bowl with two tablespoons of water. The apples are then dipped into the caramel , then swirled and finally placed on parchment paper. They can be hardened in the fridge for one hour or until firm. Homemade caramel is much more labor intensive but worth it. It's more chewy and buttery, think a rich taffy that won't pool at the bottom. You will need heavy cream or heavy whipping cream which is the backbone. You cannot use milk or milk substitutes. Corn syrup is also required because that's what makes the caramel stick to the apple. Brown sugar is used instead of white.It's softer and better tasting than the granulated for this. Butter gives caramel that creaminess and extra flavor as does vanilla extract. All the ingredients except the vanilla are cooked until the caramel reaches the soft ball stage about 235 degrees Farenheit. The vanilla extract is added a few minutes later. Let it cool before dipping the apples in. Keep in mind that caramel burns the sides of the pan so use a wet pastry brush to clean it. You can dip both kinds of apples in coconut flakes or chopped peanuts for added flavor.

Happiness right now is a candy or caramel apple. Make these homemade candy and caramel ones for a perfect fall treat. They're fun, festive and delicious!!

A Sweet Juneteenth Treat Homemade Strawberry Soda

 Everything red and traditional will be served this Saturday for Juneteenth, the holiday that celebrates the end of enslavement in the US. There are red velvet cakes and  red beans and rice. Some will have red barbecue sauce. What to drink? Strawberry soda. The old fashioned home made kind.

The first step is making the syrup. This is taking:

1 1/2 cups -destemmed  strawberries cut into halves or quarters

1 cup water

1 cup granulated sugar,

Combine all three ingredients in a sauce pan over a medium high heat. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for twenty minutes, Strain the strawberries out from the syrup, Don't press down on them or they'll make the syrup cloudy. Save this mash for yogurt or ice cream. Chill the syrup in the fridge for an hour or two. Keep in mind you can use other summer fruits like peaches , blueberries and nectarines too.

After make the soda according to Soda Stream instructions add about three tablespoons to the carbonated water. Shake bottle to mix and chill until serving.

This is the perfect soda for the celebration but it's also a great drink for the summer. Add it to your Juneteenth celebrations. 

Time For Summer Treats

It has been a strange summer with restrictions on both coasts along with shark sightings off of New York's Long Island. Yet we can still celebrate summer with the foods and treats we love so well.

August is the time of so many harvests.Tomatoes are still in abundance. Nothing says summer than a tomato and mayo sandwich on white bread. You could give this classic a Mediterranean twist by replacing the mayonnaise with olive oil and a good sprinkle of oregano. Of course this calls for a heartier bread such as Italian or French.Another summer favorite is Neopolitan bread salad  or panzanella which calls for tomatoes , cucumbers and onions. Another summer favorite is corn. Grilled corn with seasoned butter is a summer staple and one of the best sides. Lemon or herbed butter works as does honey butter. Add some flaky seas salt and fresh ground pepper for bite. Unfortunately most of the peach orchards are closed to families right now. You can still buy baskets of them at local farms and your supermarket. A plain one is good just on it's own but you can also slice and peel them for crumbles and pies. You could also make a peach sundae by splitting one in half and pitting it.Add vanilla ice cream and top with honey and toasted oats.

Boardwalk foods have always been a summer must.Some are open and take advantage of what they have to offer. A typical favorite is fried clams. You can make these at home using corn flour and cayenne pepper.Sausage and pepper sandwiches are another seaside must eat, especially in New Jersey. Use fresh green peppers and any kind of sausage from sage to vegan and fry up together. Core and julienne the peppers and then saute in oil. Add the sausages along with salt and pepper. Generously heap onto hoagie rolls. Cotton candy and candy apples are what really make those Boardwalk trips memorable.If you can go just for those however you can easily get them at home. Amazon has the best array of them , ranging from $57.00 to $400 in price. Get the most affordable along with the flavored sugars and cones. If you have qualms about making it, watch the many YouTube how tos on how to use the machine and swirl the floss onto the cones. Candy apples can be bought on line at Nandy's Candy's  of Jacksonville ,Mississippi if you can't make it to your favorite boardwalk. You can also make the coating at home using light corn syrup, granulated sugar and red food coloring.It's boiling  all three into a syrup and then dipping the apples into them. You could add coconut flakes the way the boardwalk stands do.

It's the summer and despite it all , it's a time to enjoy hot weather favorites. Grab that buttery ear of corn or chomp into that candy apple. It's all part of the fun that's the season.

Rum Balls With Zing

One of the most classic holiday treats is the rum ball. This is a no brainer for seasoned home bakers - an experiment in fun for novices. Yet the original recipe can be fusty -  a throwback to holiday parties of mid 20th Century America. It's time to liven it up with exciting twists and flavors.

Melissa Clark did just this n her recipe for them in  yesterday's New York Times Food section. Her A Good Appetite  centers around the recipe, marrying another Christmas flavor, gingerbread. Hers was a happy accident, thanks to the scraps left over from a gingerbread house. She was left with weeks of nibbles and still had more remaining. As with any frugal home baker, she pulverized  the pieces.
,using the crumbs for both the balls and a few cheesecake crusts subbing them in for graham crackers. The first were a big hit.People like their heady, boozy buzz  and the gently spiced bites. This year she deiced to make them again, using packaged gingersnaps.along with pecans and amber rum. You can also use bourbon or brandy too, just to vary them.Ms.Clark also uses cocoa powder to give the rum balls an earthy mellowness along with freshly ground ginger, and freshly ground cardamon along with ground cardamon and more ginger. this time ground. Get rid of the usual corn syrup and put in maple for a warmer, deeper flavor. The cookies can be coated in either confectioner's sugar for a moist exterior or granulated sugar for a nice crunchy crust.

The recipe is simple and a no bake one. What brand of gingersnaps should you use? Ms Clark doesn't have any favorites. You could use Nabisco's new and improved recipe which features real ginger and molasses. For a buttery flavor then go to the cream of the crop - Tate's gingersnaps which have the lovely addition of butter flavor too. She does specify what kind of rum to use. The amber  variety has
 a mellower flavor than the white but she recommends using the one you like. It starts off with pulsing the cookie crumbs and pecans in a food processor until coarsely ground. Do not over process. The nuts have to have some texture. Alternately finely chop reserved nuts  and add them to the crumbs. In a separate bowl stir together 3/4 ths of a cup of confectioner's sugar , rum.maple syrup and the cocoa powder. Also add the spices. Stir in the crumb mixture, adding more ginger if you want more fire. Squeeze everything together in a mass. Roll the dough into one inch balls, finishing in a roll of either confectioner's or granulated sugar -your choice. Store them in an airtight container where they'll last up to two weeks (although they'll probably go in a day) Drizzle more rum onto the older ones to keep them moist.

Make these zingy balls to add to a cookie swap or end a holiday dinner. They're easy and fun. Bestof all they're delicious and boozy - the perfect Christmas bite?

Making Those Dogs Bark

Memorial Day kicks off the barbecue season and that means a season of hot dogs. What's so great about this summer standard is that they can be zinged up with all sorts of extra. They're not just plain dogs anymore. They're something special.

A hot dog has a relatively bland taste that can go with any other flavor. Bacon lovers should think about wrapping the slices around them to create a salty,  crunchy treat.You can even dunk the dogs in barbecue sauce and then put the bacon on.To really elevate them, add some sharp cheddar. You can buy Sargento's to sprinkle or just buy a block and grate at home. If you want a fancy cheese dog then spread Brie on them and put on a toasted croissant (you'll have to break the dog in half  so it fits better on the crescent shape)Vegans can also enjoy this treat by using the Morningstar Brands veggie dogs and their fake bacon. In order to get it pliable and bend-y just microwave the soy strips thirty seconds less . If you want crunch then microwave it according to directions and just crumple it on the dog. You can also have a dairy free cheese dog too. There are several brands of vegan cheese that can top your hot dogs. One of the best is Ciao, This is a buttery tasting faux fromage that would off set the vegetarian dog's saltiness.

Chili and hot dogs are meant for each other. A pot of homemade chili would go well with grilled dogs. If you have to spend more time at the barbecue then just make it in a crockpot. In fact it will be better because the slow cooking time allows for the spices and chilis to mellow .If there's no time, then buy a can of chili. Again, vegans can also enjoy this taste, thanks to vegetarian meatless sort. Put as much as you want on your dogs. Some famed hot dog hang outs like Rutt's Hut in Clifton New Jersey also puts onions in their chili sauce. You can do this for both the homemade and canned chili. Just add a small chopped  white onion to the chili and cook up.Since  hot dogs are essentially German, think about adding sauerkraut as a topper. The homemade is popular right now , thanks to foodies and hipsters jumping on the fermented food bandwagon. It's just taking shredded cabbage, pounding it to extract the juice and brining it with salt and the juice for a few days.. This is much more flavorful than the canned kind however if you don;t have the time, use the store bought.Zing it up with some freshly ground pepper. Of course relish is a must.If you''re ambitious think about making it. Relish is a mix of red and green peppers  mixed with cucumbers and onions. These are then cooked with a brine and a paste made with granulated sugar, cornstarch and vinegar. Everything is poured into pickling jars to ferment,

Think of your hot and veggie dogs as blank canvasses. Add bacon or relish, cheese or sauerkraut or combine these to create a unique flavor. Be creative and come up with a new kind of hot dog.

Your Holiday Baking Guide

It's that time of year when home bakers start creating all those holiday goodies.A successful bake relies on a well stocked kitchen. Get the arsenal ready now. The end result is stress free prep, without any worries.

Before you even assess your ingredients, take a look at your cookie sheets and baking pans. Sometimes rust sets in  which means only one thing -toss.The same principle applies to cookie sheets and pie plates. Splurge and give yourself the early holiday present of a new bake set. Stores such as K-Mart, Target and Wal Mart have great sales on them right now so it pays to replace the old set. The same goes for whisks and rolling pins too,. along with both plastic and metal cookie cutters.Another pre-baking must is checking your hand mixer and blender to make sure they're up to snuff.If not, then take advantage of the holiday sales and buy a new one.If you're thinking of making candy invest in a good candy thermometer.This will help more in registering the right temperature as opposed to the old fashioned way of dropping the mixture into ice cold water to determine its' stage.Cake icers can also crack so check to see if yours still works. If you're planning on creating elaborately decorated cakes and cupcakes, you may want to get more icing nozzles . These will help in fine tuning the decorating with different squiggles and swirls.

Basic ingredients also have to be scrutinized. Luckily granulated sugar can last indefinitely. Brown sugar doesn't and after two years can get hard, sticky, and lumpy.Replace your flour if its' been in the pantry for more than seven or eight months.Anything baked with it will have a stale taste. Whole wheat lasts even less. If you;ve had it more than six months toss. Keep the vanilla extract. it's good for four years. The same for your cocoa powder - it lasts  two years before going stale.If you have to go shopping for new ingredients, make a list beforehand. Ask yourself if you want to make a holiday treat from scratch or from a mix.You can stock up on mixes  if you're pressed for time. The same goes for ready made icings too,.Also stock up on sticks of butter and margarine because you'll be using these the most. Get a five pound bag of flour instead of the usual two pound bag. (remember extra flour will come in handy for thickening sauces too ).It pays also to get bags of almonds ,walnuts and pecans for both baked goods and candy. Don't forget the holiday themed decorations like red and green  sprinkled and metallic sanding sugars.

The best treats come from a well prepped kitchen. Makes sure yours is ready for the onslaught of holiday baking.Stock your arsenal now so you don;t have to run out later.