We bought cozy patio furniture on Saturday. I curled up on a loveseat to read on Sunday. Later we built our first fire of the season, roasted the first marshmallows/made the first s'mores of the season.
Then, overnight, this:
We bought cozy patio furniture on Saturday. I curled up on a loveseat to read on Sunday. Later we built our first fire of the season, roasted the first marshmallows/made the first s'mores of the season.
Then, overnight, this:
I am trying the 1000 hours outside challenge this year. Given the way the first part of the year has gone, I think I will be happy to reach 500 hours by new year. However, my mother's day present to myself and my family means that more time out of the house just may be quite a bit more feasible.
Just need this to not be the next "most wildfires ever recorded" year so we can breathe the outdoor air.
Since the last post, way back in January ...
Friday's adventure: maple syrup taffy
All it takes is some boiled syrup (to 235-245F) and snow. Check and check.
In one set of instructions I found online the writer mentioned that candy thermometers are notoriously inaccurate so she uses three simultaneously. Given what happened with our attempt, I'd say she was probably right. By the time the syrup hit the right temp the consistency was definitely off. Several recipes mentioned letting the syrup cool for up to 5 minutes before pouring but this was already hardening. We did get a few crunchy, hard candy clumps before Terry tried to salvage what was there by adding water and boiling down again. That gave us somewhat creamy, sweet snow. Definitely not what we were after.
So, we will try again.
And try again we did. That was Saturday's adventure. I took the boiling maple syrup off the burner when it was only about 225 degrees. That created the kind of thick, sticky, taffy consistency that could pull out a filling.
So I guess we need a third try, for that perfect Goldilocks of chewiness.
... a few days late. This year was a pretty good one. It started with chocolate chip waffles and Alex' card. The card included a secret code I had to crack to find the batches of cookies she made just for me.
We tried to make maple syrup taffy, which failed miserably. We watched a movie together, Terry made my five hour duck (delicious as always, and the source of a year's worth of duck fat), and after dinner we had a brief jaunt to Confederation Park to check out the light displays and do a little sledding.
The kids' s'mores cake was fantastic, although the marshmallow frosting melted into the cake a bit. The kids gave me what I always ask for (but don't always get) - a whole day without fighting. I *may* have napped between 10-11pm but did get up in time to watch the fireworks on TV. We could see a tiny bit of the highest fireworks from the front steps but that wasn't reason enough to stand outside in the -20 chill.