When I was a little girl a box always arrived at our house in the weeks right before Christmas. Actually more than one box (which you will know about if you have read
this post ).
Multiple boxes were delivered each Christmas season by the UPS man to our doorstep. One was covered in Christmas stickers and filled with boxes of Russell Stovers mini chocolate Santas, among other fabulous presents. The other was plain, but full of equally excellent presents and homemade goodies.
I had two grandmas. Well I had three, but I didn't spend all that much time with the third. Plus she just sent cash (which I also enjoyed, just not with my taste buds.)
My maternal and paternal grandmothers were different from each other, but each was special in her own way. One was a first grade school teacher for years, hence the great Christmas stickers. My other grandma spent most of her life at home, but she could bake delicious treats. One took me shopping and shared books with me. One took me hiking and baked me cookies and bread. They were both excellent grandmas who enriched my life.
So back to those boxes showing up each year. I LOVED it.
We'd open them up and find the very best things: chocolate and caramels. (Okay I really do like a variety of things beyond chocolate and caramel, but these were the things that I got in every box, every year, forever. Big time memories with sight, taste, and smell going on here.)
My sweet Grandma M sent chocolate that became progressively more expensive and refined as I grew in taste and refinement. My dear Grandma C made and sent dried apples, dried apricots (not enough - ever), and HOMEMADE CARAMELS.
Now making caramel back in the day was a long and involved process. You needed a heavy pan, a wooden spoon, a candy thermometer, a strong arm, and patience. Lots of patience. Until I actually stood at a stove for an hour making a batch of homemade caramel myself, I did not understand the love and sacrifice that went into those hand wrapped morsels. Even cutting up the wax paper and wrapping the pieces is a time consuming process. (I think my grandpa helped out.)
You can still make caramels this way. I tried one year. Once. Bought a candy thermometer, stood at the stove for forever, and decided I didn't love caramels that much anymore.
But then after a long hiatus, a talented baking friend brought me caramels for Christmas. I was instantly transported back to Christmases past.
"I LOVE THESE THINGS!" I said.
"Oh, they're easy," she replied. "Microwave caramels are a piece of cake."
SERIOUSLY?
I haven't had homemade caramels in this abundance in years. (Probably since the early 1990's.) If these things are easy, I needed to learn to make them.
Of course like many less than vitally important things in my life, I procrastinated getting started. I do have five children who apparently require 24 hours of my time nearly every day, so caramels didn't make it to the top of the To Do List for quite a long while.
Then the week before Thanksgiving 2012, my teenage daughter up and decided that she was making cookie plates to share with the neighbors. I don't not normally make cookie plates to share with the neighbors. My life is too short. I make bottles of fudge sauce, cheese balls, bread, anything that is mass producible in a short amount of time. I especially do not make sugar cookies. (My life will never be long enough to roll out another sugar cookie and frost it.)
But she wanted to, and who am I to stand in front of an industrious teenager/child. (I have enough others who would rather laze around and play a video game, than actually work without whining.)
So off she went making regular and chocolate sugar cookies, chocolate cookies with peppermint Kisses, homemade chocolate Oreos, chocolate covered pretzels, and pumpkin bread with chocolate chips.
You might have noticed she has a chocolate theme going. I decided that a none chocolate item was in order, so thinking back upon my favorite treats of the past, and respecting her dislike of toffee, I remembered Microwave Caramels.
I pulled out my trusty tablet, googled, and up it popped.
Microwave Caramels in 6 Minutes
Six minutes? Are you kidding me? Gooey sweet deliciousness in well under an hour? Holy Gluttonous Goodness Batman. We are in business.
I made them.
A M A Z I N G. That is all I have to say.
That and thanks grandma. I appreciate all the hours you sacrificed for me. I'm sorry nobody figured this out and told you to stop using the microwave as a bread box back when it could have saved you time too.
