caramel

Homemade Cracker Jack

It was 40 degrees outside and I was craving a hot fudge sundae with salty roasted peanuts on top. Spanish peanuts.

I dug through the freezer and found the peanuts, but there was no ice cream, and I was too lazy to make it and the hot fudge sauce from scratch. Jonesing for salty and gooey, I settled on homemade Cracker Jack, sprinkled with Secret Stash Salt vanilla salt. Just the thing. If I'd had any leftover, I'd have gone to the store for vanilla bean ice cream and folded it all in.

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Rum Caramel Apple

They sat at the end cap - between bins of waxed Red Delicious and Granny Smiths. Shiny yellow envelopes of flattened caramel wrappers, what I believed, at the time, was the magic needed to bring the fairgrounds into our living room. Later, I learned I could melt caramel bouillon (what I called the Brach's bin caramels) in the microwave and get nearly the same results. That's about where I left them, save for cakes and pastries that married the two flavors in a very grown-up way. I rarely went back to the basic caramel apple snack until recently.

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Croquembouche

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to go to Paris. My family's full of anglophiles, and dinners were opportunities to discuss the Tudors and Stuarts, Victoriana, and Gilbert and Sullivan. I went the other route, to the east. By the time I graduated college my romantic notions of the place were in full bloom. I'd studied French history, knew my art, and spoke passable book-French. The only thing left to do was go.

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Bacon Pecan Bars

I'd seen a recipe for Bacon Pecan Bars recently and was dying to give them a try. What could go together better? I love bacon pecan waffles, and hoped that these would translate just as well. I made a few miscalculations along the way that resulted in bars that were less than I'd expected, but I think with a few adjustments these would be great next time.

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