Sunday, August 16, 2015

Out the Old, In the New

I love Halloween. No, scratch that: I adore Halloween. Truly. In fact, if I could find a way to make it socially acceptable, I would dress up as a scary witch with a smooshed black hat and a warty, crooked nose. I'd go out, and yell "Trick-or-Treat!" right along with the tiny people. In fact, my height and relative arm-length advantage might make for a real coup d'etat in the candy score. I'd be like some mythical Halloween legend. Maybe, after some years and careful dedication to my part, I'd even garner the same attention as the Chester Headless Horseman! Ah. Now there's a story...

The place where I spent my first two years of college, in Chester, NH, had the tradition of the Headless Horseman. For a small town of (at that time) less than 1,000, it wasn't unusual to see at least that many trick-or-treaters filing up and down either side of the town's main road, Chester St. When it got dark, the Headless Horseman came, riding atop a huge black horse and carrying his pumpkin "head" in the crook of his arm. He'd ride up and down the street, scaring the little goblins, and adults, too! It was very cool, but also a little scary; even for this witch-in-waiting!

I love all the holidays, but there's just something special about getting to dress up and be someone you're not, for the sole purpose of extorting candy from your neighbors. Maybe the kid in me yearns to go back to those carefree years. Because, much as I love them--and I'm sure most New Englander's would agree--holidays in New England can be a little stressful, especially in the small, quaint towns. The town where I live, Amherst, NH--blanketed by snow as it usually is by Christmas--looks like something that just sprung off the pages of a Charles Dickens novel. We have a lot of tradition, history, and no small amount of good taste and decorum to live up to. It can be daunting. Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas...they're big holidays, and New England is intrinsically linked to them all, by history, geography, and even climate. The Puritans first Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Mass, Sleepy Hollow, NY and the Legend of the Headless Horseman, the picture postcard quaintness of a New England Christmas and the snow, and snow...and more snow!

So, as a lover of Halloween, I have sort of been biding my time, waiting for that invisible line to be crossed; the line that signals the end of summer and the beginning of Halloween season (err...Fall). That invisible line is APPLE PICKIN' SEASON! Because apple season, well, it's almost an unofficial holiday in its own right! We have festivals and carnivals, and auxiliary events dedicated to it. And if ever there was legislation offered up to make apple pickin' season an official holiday, I'd be the first one at the ballot box! But, for now bereft of its own official status as a holiday, apple pickin' season is what marks the change in seasons. Once it happens, I know to expect to see bags of Halloween candy piled in impossibly high displays at area stores.

So I had to do a double-take when I was out doing my weekly shop early last week and saw Halloween candy displayed in prime store real estate, at the front of the store. Reese's Cups normally come in orange bags, and for that matter, so do Kit Kats (reddish-orange, anyway). Snickers and Milkyway bars are usually in brown bags, which work equally as well as red, because Halloween does happen in the Fall, after all. But there was something different about these bags. They had little drawings of ghosts and skeletons and pumpkins... HALLOWEEN!! my inner child cried out. But no, my keen observation of other store patrons, their dress, the heat-induced crankiness of their little would-be goblins, and of course, the things in their carts (watermelon, salad makings, barbeque-ready meats), all pointed to the fact that we're still knee-deep in summer. How could this happen?

So I'm standing there, looking at this mountain of candy, and, before I knew what I was doing, I grabbed a bag of bright orange Reese's Cups and literally RAN over to the register with my loot (before good sense could overrule my oh-so decadent, Halloween candy-loving side!) I didn't even sneer at the woman in front of me when she turned to look at my purchase and boomed "Oh My God. They Have Halloween Candy Already Don't You Just Hate That?" Oh no, I love it, lady. Sincerely. Love. It. Now stop judging me!

At home, whilst munching away on a Reese's Cup, I start thinking about Halloween and the way it used to be when I was a kid. We stayed out late. We went inside strangers' homes. We went through homemade haunted houses and played tricks on each other and rode our bikes in full makeup and costume, bags of candy dangling dangerously close to the front tire spokes. And the family who left a bushel of apples on their porch? We were so displeased that we each left a note. Mine said something like:  "Thank you for the apples, but please hand out REAL food next year (and not just candy corn!). Yes, we were little hooligans, but we weren't mean, and we could use the apple as a bribe to get our mom to let us eat some of our candy that night! We were even allowed to eat the homemade stuff that didn't look iffy: Popcorn balls, Rice Crispy Treats, caramels... mmmm caramels. 

A few days after my trip to the store, the weather started to change. The oppressive humidity went away, and we had temps in the 70's with a nice wind that made it feel even cooler. Not bad for a New England summer. I started to think about turning on the oven. Then I thought better of it and decided that firing up the old stove might be a good compromise. An hour or so later, this is what I'd made: 

Uhmmm, it is now three hours later, and I'm finally able to get back on my computer. In the meantime, this was happening:


Didn't have the heart to bump him off the comfy chair he
appropriated not two seconds after I left it to get a glass of water.
Oh, and cats DO snore. And it's cute. Really cute.
Darn that cuteness.


And now for the recipe: 

Easy Homemade Salted Caramels to Put You in Mind of Halloween

1 regular size can of sweetened condensed milk (8 oz, I think?)
A few tablespoons of cream or evaporated milk
4 tablespoons of butter
1/2 teaspoon flaked sea salt, or good old Morton's salt in the blue container (use less if you use the regular salt)

Place everything but the salt into a heavy bottomed, non-reactive sauce pot. Stainless steel, enameled, or glass are good choices. I don't advise using "non-stick." Start it under medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sides begin to bubble. The heat will cause the sugars in the milk to turn to volcanize and tumble in on itself. At this point, it will look like a lava and be quite hot, so it's important to keep small children and curious pets well away from the stove during this step. Once the mixture is up to temp, turn it down to the lowest setting. Watch it carefully for overflowing and splattering, but resist the urge to stir it constantly. If you must, dip a silicone spatula in at the sides of the pan and gently fold inward, following the natural inward flow of the caramel. If you smell burning at any point, that means the heat was too high and you'll unfortunately have to throw it out and start over (unless you actually like the taste of burnt caramel). 


When the caramel reaches softball stage after a few minutes on heat, you'll want to move to the next step and start working it. Use your silicone spatula to scrape the caramel out onto a clean, non-porous surface. You can use a baking sheet, clean counter, or even a baking tile. I used a baking sheet and my Silpat silicone bakers' mat  for this step. 

Tip: To test that your caramel is ready to be worked, spoon a dime-sized amount onto a plate. Wait until you can touch it without burning yourself, then gently roll it up between your fingers. If it rolls into a softball and keeps it shape, it's ready to be worked.

Work the caramel using two large spoons, two spatulas, or even two large, non-serrated knives. Start by rolling it out flat, like you're frosting a cake. Sprinkle a little of the salt over the caramel, then "knead" it with the utensils until it cools enough to be worked by hand. Place it between two layers of wax paper and flatten it out with a rolling pin. Lift it up, fold it into thirds, place back in between the wax paper and roll out again. Continue to do this, adding a pinch of salt with each fold, until the caramel begins to glaze. You'll see it go from rather dull to shiny. Once you're at this point, you're ready to add the last bit of salt to the top. No more folding at this point. Just put the wax paper back over the salted top of the caramel and gently press down on it. Discard the wax paper, and cut the caramel into whatever shape you desire. I decided on 2" long candies of about 1/2" in width. You'll get about 20 candies this way, give or take (it's not an exact science). Cut strips of wax paper slightly larger than your candies, and hand wrap each, twisting the ends to close. 


These would make a great gift, especially loaded up into one or two of those pretty "old style" Mason jars from Ball Corp. They began re-releasing the colored glass jars a few years ago, and I have used both the blue and the green. There's just something about a colored glass Ball Jar that's homey and stylish, and...well, just spectacularly sweet! I would decorate my whole pantry with them if I could. 

Let me know how your caramels turn out!



2 comments:

  1. Susan, I love this story. Makes me want to be in Amherst during the holidays. Thanks for this recipe too. Love you .
    Candy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love you back, Candy! And you're welcome to visit any time! (We'll make caramels! :-)

    ReplyDelete

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