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Thank You

Three weeks into the new school year I was combing out my daughters hair when she said, "My head itches." Those words strike dread in a mothers heart. I immediately starting plowing through her hair and sure enough- lice! Panic attack setting in. I grabbed my other daughter and. . . lice! Full blown panic happening. I immediately called a friend, mother of six, hoping she'd know what to do. Sure enough she empathized, calmed me down and gave me solid advice on how to handle this crisis. Thanks to her advice, that was the last day I saw lice. As my daughter said, "you went gang-busters." And I did. It was all out war at our house that day, but the lice lost and I won. That same friend showed up that evening with pizza, salad and Oreo's. It had been a very long day of laundry, treatments, combing and cleaning. Pizza and Oreo's never tasted so good. Today we made caramel apples for her family as a thank you. I've used this recipe for years, ever since I discovered it on marthastewart.com. It is simple and delicious. I don't fuss with the nuts and I use whatever apples I have on hand. As for the puddles, well frankly who would ever complain about a puddle of caramel? Not me! But if you want the caramel to adhere a tad better to your apples, well then, cook a bit longer than I did.
I think you could prevent the caramel puddles if you are patient, but patient I am not.

http://www.marthastewart.com/339736/caramel-lady-apples?search_key=caramel%20lady%20apples

 Caramel Lady Apples

  • yield: Makes 12

Ingredients

  • 12 lady apples, washed and stemmed
  • 2 cups hazelnuts, toasted, peeled, and chopped
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup dark corn syrup
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

  1. Step 1

    Insert a 5-inch dowel or ice pop stick into the top of each apple. Place hazelnuts in a small bowl.

  2. Step 2

    Place sugar, corn syrup, cream, and butter in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue cooking until the temperature registers 245 degrees.on a candy thermometer, 10 to 12 minutes. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Remove saucepan from heat, and briefly plunge it into ice water to stop the cooking. Dip one apple into the caramel, coat the top and sides using a spoon, and roll the bottom in the nuts. Transfer to a serving platter. Repeat with the remaining apples.

Source
Martha Stewart Living, October 1997
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