More candy

I made a double batch of truffles tonight, which turned out very well, and a single batch of divinity, which failed when my candy thermometer went on the fritz. (Long story, but the thermometer has serious problems that will necessitate replacement before I attempt another temperature-sensitive project.)

I also boiled a can of sweetened condensed milk for two hours and let it cool. If I felt ambitious, I’d nuke a bag of miniature Hershey Kisses and start in on my turtle project, but I’m starting to run out of steam after too many consecutive hours in the kitchen. I’ll just pick up a thermometer tomorrow and do another batch of divinity along with the turtles. I’m going to cheat and just chop the pecans and sprinkle them into the caramel this time. Arranging the pecan pieces to make the turtle’s head and feet results in a cute finished product, but I’m not sure it’s cute enough to be worth the time involved. 

Emily

UPDATE: I went ahead and made turtles, cut some of the peanut-butter fudge into little heart shapes with a cookie cutter (it finally set up last night … just took longer than usual to do it), and formed the rest of the peanut-butter fudge into little balls, which I dipped in dark chocolate. Now, if I can just get a new candy thermometer tomorrow, I can make another batch of divinity and have my Christmas candy project all finished.

Gratuitous recipe post

I just made myself what is quite possibly the second-best dinner I’ve ever eaten. (The best was duck ravioli from the late Cafe Balaban in St. Louis.) 

I made up the recipe as I went along. Here it is, but be forewarned: This ain’t diet food.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 stick butter (use the real stuff, please)
8 oz. button mushrooms
8 oz. shiitake mushrooms
8 oz. oyster mushrooms
5 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 c. water
sprinkling of celery seed
1 tsp. rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp. smoked salt
2/3 c. heavy cream

Chop mushrooms finely and saute in butter over medium-low heat until they release  liquid. Add garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Add bouillon, water, celery seed, rosemary, and smoked salt and simmer for 15 minutes or so. Add heavy cream. Cook until about half the liquid evaporates.

Yow. Za. What a great way to end a long, tiring week.

Emily