Traditions and Trees

A few weeks ago, I picked up a huge carton of heavy cream of Costco. No, wait. Let me back up. Two weeks before THAT, I had a homemade caramel apple at my friend's house. It. Was. Amazing. I never knew that caramel apples could be edible. When I was a kid, it was just sticky caramel that got all over your face, slid off the apple...and then you were left with a nasty Granny Smith on a stick that you didn't want to eat. Weird. My friend's apples, though, were delicious. And they showed me the light: cut up the apple. They pulled the stick out, sliced and cored the apple, and served it on a plate with toothpicks. GENIUS. So. I bought me some cream, thought about it for a few weeks, and then finally got out a pot, put on my big girl britches, and gave it a go. 

An hour and a half later, I was ready to dip apples. (I must have done something wrong, right?! Even though I used a candy thermometer, and followed the recipe exactly, my caramel came out just under the "crack" stage. It is tough, man! Real tough. Oh well.) We dipped our five apples (because the recipe said five, and only make a half a batch, and I made a full batch, because i wanted a pan of caramels to eat. So. Five.) and then I poured the rest into a buttered pan to cool. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our apples that night for dessert! We polished off two, and left the rest for later. 

The wrapped up caramels. I just sort of whacked at them with a chef's knife, and they broke off into chunks. You had to whack at them - cutting did no good. But a sharp tap with a big knife, and they cracked off in clean lines. Weird.

In any case, Ming Wai has requested that we add Making Caramels to our list of Christmas Traditions. Baby, as long as I only need to do this once a year...sure. Why not? I love me some caramel. 

This morning, my twin sister and I kept up with another tradition - our second annual Movie Date. The two of us skipped out on our husbands and kids, and went to the movie theater. Today's movie? Frozen. It was absolutely delightful. Lo Gung took the kids to see it yesterday, and I heard absolutely glowing reviews from all three of them, as well. (If you see it...and if you are a fan of Wicked...check out the "Let It Go" ballad. It's sung by the same woman who was the original witch in Wicked, Idina Menzel. And, just like her ballad in Wicked, it's about a witch who comes into her power and then runs off to the woods to "be herself." Just sort of fun.) 

After I returned home, Lo Gung had to get out - he grabbed something that had (apparently urgently) to be returned to the store. He got in some retail therapy, picking up a few Christmas gifts, and I knuckled down and tried to get the house decorated for Christmas. (Setting up our huge artificial Christmas tree is no joke!) With help from the two big kids, and a well-timed nap for the baby, we got it done. 

I call this last one...All I Want For Christmas is My Mithing Fwont Toof.

(Lo Gung brought home this crazy singing hat from a White Elephant gift exchange at work. The top waggles around and the whole thing sings and lights up. The kids think it's hilarious.)