where there's smoke, there's fire- really! (a.k.a. '08 baking part 1)

this evening, i had the pleasure of listening to our smoke detector not once, or twice, but three times!  (*sigh* yes, courtesy of myself . . . )

so really, anyone reading this probably wants to know why- esp as i also mention baking in the title . . . well as you have it . . . there's a reason most recipes for caramel involve either sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk- because if you use whole milk and cream- there's a great deal of moisture to be removed - so {a} it takes forever and {b} it it likely to boil over . . . though it probably didn't help that i made 125% of the recipe since i wanted thicker caramels : ) . . . *sigh* bit of a brain lapse- but at least the fire was tiny (even if it scared me to pieces as it's probably one of the only things in the kitchen i'm afraid of . . . well- more like oil fires- but fire none.the.less can be frightening) and as it was caused by the overflowing sugar-milk syrup - it burned out rather quickly . . . 

and luckily the mess under/in the burner wasn't as terrible as i expected (once i transferred 1/2 the mix to a second pot and continued to cook for 15 more minutes - leaving charred sugar- yummy) . . . once i was done pouring the caramel in my pan, i thought to myself- that was probably THE MOST difficult recipe experience i've done- probably ever! . . . so what did i do?  well- i licked the spatula, well, nibbled, rather, and rejoiced as it was all worth it- now for reals- yum yum!  i must admit- next time i will have to stick to 1/2 the recipe or buy a bigger pot!

also, while i'm at it- i think i'm moving towards 3 for 3 in my attempts this year-

first- there were the cherries . . . 

second- we've got marshmallows . . .

and third- (hopefully once i cut the slab-o-sweet wonderful goo tomorrow) - we have caramels!

(p.s.- a thirtysomething goal is to be able to sell all these delectable treats - so be on the look out for more info!)

now for the weekend- yay!  tomorrow has a huge to-do list- from finding cocoa butter + x-mas shopping + picking up my new glasses (yes, they're in!) and chocolate ganache and nougat : )  (and maybe a run if it's not terribly cold out - i've got 7 miles down (i think) - and am moving up to 1.5 miles (even though i still count those as 1) . . . hopefully next week i can check off 3-5 more miles . . .