The mister and I just returned from a road trip...I wish I could tell you something exciting or funny or fun about it but I've got nothin'...I was in the car with the mister for 14 hours going and 14 hours coming...and believe you me, there is nothing fun about that! I spent most of the drive playing on my iPad...Candy Crush, Pinterest, Facebook and looking up factoids for the mister, like how long the Snake River is or where the nearest car wash in Nampa, Idaho was...yes, the mister drove through a car wash in the in the middle of a 14 hour road trip! Godfrey! How many times do you think a person can say, silently to themselves, OCD before they become OCD?!? Just curious...because I said it about 14,000 times in 14 hours...it didn't help the situation but it kept me from killing myself. But enough about that...let me tell you about Peter's Caramel.
My cousin Barbara (Hi Barb!) introduced me to Peter's Caramel and Gygi many years ago...Gygi is a fabulous kitchen store in Salt Lake City (300 West 3500 South) - think Sur La Table on steroids. And while you can purchase Peter's Caramel at other places, I always get it from Gygi when I'm in SLC...and I order it from them online at well. A 5 lb. brick is $16.99 - and it's worth every penny. In the past I have melted the carmel in a double boiler or in the microwave but this time I took the advice of the check-out gal and put the brick in a glass baking dish in the oven at 200 degrees for 90 minutes...it was liquid gold...smooth and creamy and the perfect temperature for dipping! A 5 lb. brick of caramel will coat 12 to 13 medium apples, with a nice thick coat of caramel!
Caramel Apples are usually just a Fall treat around here...but I decided to break with tradition and make them an Easter/Spring treat as well! I invited the young girls from church to come dip apples with me - we had a great time...and regrettably I didn't get pictures of their apples - but they were really, really cute! After they left I dipped some more...dipping is easy, decorating was a bit more challenging...so I just sort of winged it - and they turned out okay - not beautiful like I had hoped but at last they tasted great! I used Fuji apples...I like them better with caramel than Granny Smith's which I think are too tart. Peter's Caramel is better tasting than any homemade caramel I've ever had...and it always works!
Pink and yellow chocolate melts, pink "bunny" sprinkles, marshmallow ducks and Peeps - that's what we had to work with - oh and some multi-colored pastel sprinkles for the bottom of the apples.
Making Easter Caramel Apples is a great way to guarantee the Easter Bunny will come to your house...as you know, he only goes where the welcome mat has been placed...so I have made sure to put a few things out so he will spot our house as one that needs another treat! And it's quite possible the Easter Bunny will leave with one of these caramel apples...as they make great gifts.
It looks like we're going to have a nice Easter...the sun might even make an appearance! I've got a pretty fabulous menu planned...not sure if we're having guests or not but no matter, we will definitely enjoy our feast and hope you enjoy yours, too! And let's all try to remember the reason we celebrate Easter...JELLY BEANS, COLORED EGGS, CARROT CAKE and the EASTER EGG HUNT!!!! Happy hunting to you all - in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!
