Sour Cream Caramels, Who Knew?

Recently a cup of sour cream was loafing in my refrigerator. Admittedly I don't have the strongest work ethic, but something about the way this sour cream was just doing nothing all day got on my nerves. In the morning at breakfast I'd open the refrigerator and there was the container of sour cream on the shelf, sleeping in when the rest of the world was long since up and about. At lunch when I'd go to make my usual sandwich -- Swiss cheese, iceberg lettuce, sweet onion, mayonnaise on toasted multigrain -- the sour cream hadn't moved, not even an inch! And at dinner it would still be lounging shamelessly.

After several days of this behavior, the affront became too much to bear. So I tried a little experiment, and used the cup of sour cream to make a batch of caramel. A hiccup of protest was all the sour cream could muster, and then it was dissolving into some melted sugar. The result surprised me. The caramel was outstanding. I added some honey roasted peanuts, thinking I would cut the caramel in squares and dip them, but this batch didn't last long enough to meet its match in dark chocolate. Maybe next time.

Five Ways of Looking at a Cream Cheese Brownie

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Five

Butterflies

Ye Olde Fourteen Carrot Cake

Many thousands of years ago the king of Persia called to his court the wisest men of his realm. His master stonemason also he commanded to his presence. "You are the wisest men in my kingdom," he said. "And you are my master stonemason." The wise men and the stonemason bowed reverently. "I am an old man," the king continued. "I know that my rule and the rule of all my generation is reaching its end. I know that my children and my children's children and their children too will all reach their appointed end at their appointed time. I know that my palace, my jewels, my tapestries, even my bowls of burnished gold and copper, will all one day turn to dust and ashes. It is enough. I have lived a good life and can die content, almost, provided I can leave one thing that will truly endure. I commission you, my wise men, to decide for me that one thing. I commission you, my stonemason, to etch that one thing into the deepest stone."

With a clap of his hands the king made the full hospitality of his palace available to the wise men and the stonemason for as long as they needed to determine the one thing that will truly endure, and then with another clap of his hands dismissed them from his presence.

After many months conferring and arguing and reflecting and enjoying all the rich stores gathered by the royal ambassadors from the four corners of the earth, the wise men and the stonemason were recalled by the king, who demanded to learn the one thing that will truly endure. When the king heard this thing, he sprang from his seat and waved his hands above his head with delight. "I can die content," he said. And he did, but not before instructing the stonemason to inscribe the following words into the hardest rock of the most prominent cliff overlooking the greatest plain of the land:

Fourteen Carrot Cake

2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups finely grated carrots
1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
1 1/2 cups finely chopped mixed walnuts and pecans

Preheat oven to 350.
Stir together dry ingredients. Mix sugar, oil, and eggs to combine. Add carrots and pineapple. Stir in dry ingredients and nuts. Makes two 9 inch layers, one 9x13 sheet, or 24 cupcakes.

And the cream cheese frosting will be 16 oz cream cheese and 12 tbs butter creamed well, then two tablespoons orange juice will be added, and enough 10x sugar (about 3 1/2 to 4 cups) to bring it to a pleasing consistency.

Soul of a Waffle

Even Cookies Have Dreams