NEVER FAIL EASY PEASY MICROWAVE CARAMELS

Just about every year I post

this recipe because people

LOVE IT!

AND- you can't screw it up.

 When I was a kid,

 my mother

often whipped up a batch 

of fudge from scratch

after the chores were done

on a snowy Pennsylvania night.

I make caramels instead.

As most of you know, I love to bake

and make candy.

I don't know how many 

caramel recipes I have tried

over the years.

Some of them called for

stirring for what seemed hours

and then...

they might or might not

"turn out".

These are quick!

Less than 10 minutes from

start to finish AND they

NEVER FAIL 

to set up properly.

I am not sure how these would 

turn out if you have an old

low wattage microwave.

I have had people tell me that 

you need an extra 1/2 minute or so

on the low wattage ovens.

I think most of ovens are at least

1000 watts now.

I have made them in 1000W,

1200W & 1500W mics

and the timing is the same.

Ready?

Get yourself a nice big 

microwave measuring cup.

I use an 8 cup one.

Make sure it is microwave safe.

Before I start-

One warning-

You CANNOT double this recipe.

You would have to make two batches

if you want more.

Everything that is measured out

is in 1/2 cup increments.

Melt 1/2 cup butter.

Remove from microwave.

Add 1/2 cup Karo syrup,

1/2 cup light brown sugar,

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup sweetened CONDENSED MILK

(not evaporated milk)

Stir until mixed and dissolved.

Microwave on high 3-1/2 minutes.

Stir down.

Microwave on high 3-1/2 more minutes.

Remove from mic.  Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts-if desired- I don't.

Stir until few air bubbles remain.

Pour into 8x8 buttered dish.

Refrigerate until set.

Cut into squares.

You can wrap these if they last long enough.

Ours never seem to make it to the

wrapped stage!

Serve these to your husband.

Make sure he eats twice as many

as you do.

Remember- the fatter he gets

the skinnier you look

standing next to him!;>)

If you do have some left to wrap

they make a perfect little 

take-along gift in a pretty little box.

I am getting ready to head to IN for

my daughter's house for Christmas this year.

Her husband is doing well and on his second round

of chemo.

If ANYONE can beat brain cancer,

it is Jason.  He has the most positive

attitude of anyone I know.

Keep the whole family in your prayers

or wing well wishes their way.

Have a GREAT weekend.

We have SNOW!

Lots of SNOW!

UGH!

A LITTLE THANKSGIVING POEM I WROTE YEARS AGO-WISHING YOU ALL A BLESSED THANKSGIVING

I have so much to give

Thanks for...SO much.

Thanks to my family,

Thanks to friends coming my way,

Thank you to everyone that

touches my day.

Thanks for my husband,

Thanks for my home,

Thanks for a resting place

wherever I roam.

Thanks for new babies,

Thanks for sweet life,

Thanks for allowing me

peace amidst strife.

Thanks for my children,

Thanks for grandchildren, too.

Thanks for the blessings

that fall on this crew.

Thanks for Thanksgiving,

As we gather this clan,

Bless every child in it

and woman and man.

Which brings us to the banquet,

The banquet of life,

Where some poor old turkey

Gave us his life.

We'll surround him with taters,

We'll smother him with peas,

We'll say, "Pass the gravy"

and Thank You and Please.

But let us remember,

As the table boards bend,

That all of this bounty

Belongs to God in the end.

Amen!

 © D. Diana Kosmoski 2011 

Told you it was an old poem

but some things never change.

Thank you to everyone that has stuck

here over the years and been part of

my blogging world.

Love to all of you-

Diana

WHERE OH WHERE HAS NANA BEEN? OH WHERE OR WHERE CAN SHE BE?

What a whirlwind the last few weeks

have been!

As most of you know,

my grandgirl, Alana, 

was accepted into the 

DISNEY COLLEGE PROGRAM.

Many of you watched her grow up on my blog as

LITTLE LULU.

I have a timeshare in Florida

about an hour from Disney.

I left a week early to spend some time

with her before she starts the program.

As most of you know,

once they enter an away-at-school program

they never really ''come home" again.

We had a wonderful few days hanging out

at a resort on the ocean.

Her mom, my daughter, Tara,

joined us for the last two days 

before we headed to Orlando.

What a wonderful, wonderful experience.

The three of us spent 2 days in 

The Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

We ate our way though Epcot

and enjoyed all the rides in both places.

Then we helped Alana move into her new apartment

right on Disney property.

They are state-of-the-art apartments

and beautiful.  

The campus is like a resort.

Alana will be working in 

THE MAGIC KINGDOM  in FRONTIERLAND.

Her first day is tomorrow and she is really excited.

The unexpected bonus was a wonderful roommate

They connected and 

have spent lots of time hanging out.

As we know, that kind of connection 

doesn't always happen.

I was gone for two weeks and my 

son and his wonderful wife & Carlisle took care of

SCRUFFY 

for me and kept tabs on John while I was gone.

Scruffy after his initial 

WELCOME HOME NANA

punished me for two days by ignoring me. 

LOL- Now he is back to his usual

nose on my leg-where are you going demeanor.

I just got home and turned around to go to a 

VERY SPECIAL PARTY in Chicago

but I will let another blogger share that first.

Thanks for bearing with me. 

I hope to be a better blogger 

during the next few months.

 

NOT YOUR NORMAL BEFORE AND AFTER-DID YOU EXPECT NORMAL FROM ME?

There's a story for everything,

isn't there?

My sweet Alana/Lulu and I

were outside on the porch.

It was so hot that we decided to

step inside and sit at the kitchen table.

About five minutes later,

as we were sitting there, we heard a

LOUD POP!

It sounded like someone had run into

the side of our building.

We looked out the window and

couldn't see anything.

I stepped outside to inspect

and found a paint can that had

EXPLODED IN THE HOT SUN!

Seriously?

I mean, I know it says that 

CONTENTS ARE COMBUSTIBLE

but--really?  REALLY?

Yep!

Kinda scary to think we could have

gotten plastered with

hot spray paint if we had

still been out there!

After inspecting the damage,

I was able to scrape the paint off

the window.

However, the screen is ruined,

of course.

I called the manufacturer to see how

to get Verde Green paint off brick.

Well, sadly, this is not normal paint.

No, indeedy.

This is paint with 'stone' mixed in it.

So--what can I do to cover up

THIS MESS,

I ask myself.

My smarter self answered.

Well, dummy....you got a door, you know.

Yep I do have one ugly door.

I also have a mirror and my son 

has an old porcelain doorknob.

TA DA-

This door is placed right over

the paint on the brick and 

attached to the brick wall.

Ir's not done yet~

Nope!  It still has a door knocker that I need to attach

and I think it needs a sweet wreath,

don't you?

I should have waited for a final finished project

but I have been away so long

that I wanted to touch base 

before I forget how to blog and use 

BeFunky! (Photo Editor)-love it-

AND-

Just for your viewing pleasure,

this is what Verde Green Paint

looks like on brick and soffit and trim.

I still have to scrape the soffit and 

window trim and that will have to be touched up.

Oh-and the porch 'floor', too.

Lest you are wondering,

I returned the other

FIVE CANS of VERDE GREEN

to Home Depot.

And that, my friends,

is the story for today.

PICK YOUR FAVORITE OCTOBER TABLE RESULTS

 What a bunch of

whining weenies some of you are!

Lordy!  Not enough wine-

No fire in the fireplace,

Can't see enough of the table,

Don't want to sit with the SQUARES...

seriously,

I had to close my eyes when I typed

some of your names...

and YOU know who YOU are!

Anyway- here we go~

These were your choices....

remember?

Let's start with  

Table#1-Sweet Serenity

Nellie, Lynne, Judy/NorthOra,

bobbi, Theresa, Lisa, Sandie/Chatty,

Sharon, Jan L, Lorrie, Carla, Cindy/Cloches,

Ellie (my 'sis-by-marriage'), Nancy, Connie, 

Laura, 16 Blessings, Doris (made a HARD choice)

AND

Mad Snapper-first time I EVER posted a table she liked but she is moving the pumpkins to make it perfect for Herself!

AND Terri-hovering between here and #7~

ALMOST left her out!!!!

TABLE #2 -Orange & More Orange

Cecilia (wear some bright outfits because she doesn't like no color-she's an artist, you know), Nonie-Wants a wine list, 

Pam S, MA, Dawn, Amy/Toody

Jack & Sherry-my sweet nomads

and HAPPY is happy to be here!

TABLE #3- Blue & Gold

Y'all are in for a treat.  There aren't many of you here but you have 

Sandi-wondering why the name tag says Henry, 

Ginny, Janie

Marybeth & Lisa K.

TABLE #4- Paper & Pears

There is a sweet simplicity here...

Jane K, Kim-here for the dishes, Melanie*,

and Ellen

TABLE #5- Dare To Be Square

Hi to Debra, Julie

Nonnie, Diane/LavenderDreams,

Denise-here because there are TWO glasses-

guess we know who the lush is at this table.

*Melanie was here but thought the table was

TOO FANCY and she would have to change her outfit so she moved to Table #4.

TABLE #6-Grapes?Where's The Wine?

Mevely, Jeanie, 

Babbling Brook-seated right next to Missy, 

Jan/Lowcarb, Jenn-Bringing BOXED wine-

(think what you will there:)

& Dewena-thinks we should have 

a progressive dinner!

TABLE #7-I'm In Love With Ivy

Right this way, ladies~

Shelia-Likes the traditional vibe, 

Linda/Life Journal, Rita, AnnMarie,

Kris, Penny/SimpleThings, 

Linda/Life&Linda,

Jane, Marilyn &

Bless-wanted to sit @#1 but there was no tablecloth-

So-she's here instead.

Seriously?! lol

And then we have 

ANN-Didn't like ANY of the tables

and Jan-Said to let her know when I

was ready to do a Chistmas table-Yes-ma'am

Just for you-Here's a little Christmas table

from my daughter's brunch table last year-

 Maybe Ann

can join you?

So-there you have it!

Size up your companions and move if you choose.

I don't  mean to offend anyone; it is all in good fun.

I HOPE I included everyone--

I think I dropped some names by mistake.

if I didn't catch your name-

let me know so I can add you to a table

and make fun of you, too.

Have a GREAT Sunday and

Y'all come back real soon!

PICK YOUR FAVORITE FALL TABLE-SEAT YOURSELF-THANK YOU~

Well, kids-

Here in the midwest

SUMMER IS OVER

that means we have to 

start embracing Fall!

I haven't been around much lately

but thought I would do a 

Pick Your Favorite Fall Table post.

There is. lot going on in our family

right now-

Some wonderful things and some

things that are worrisome.

That being said-

I think we all need the chance to 

escape to a peaceful place-

and what better place than

sitting at

a table with good friends!

I have always loved the 

vibrant colors of Autumn-

the color of the leaves on the trees,

pumpkins and bittersweet....

but I also found some

wonderful Fall inspirations

that are quite neutral

and I love those, too..

You know the routine by now.

I present you with 7 tables

and YOU get to pick 

YOUR FAVORITE TABLE SETTING~~~

and after you pick your favorite

I get to make fun of seat you if I so choose.

Of course,

some of you are
SO NICE that I would

NEVER MAKE FUN OF YOU---

Okay---I mighta lied about that.

Anyway....

Ready?

RAISE YOUR HAND 

if you would LOVE to sit at this table!

(and leave me a comment and let me 

know your hand is up--m'kay?)

TABLE #1

SWEET SERENITY

Okay-Put your arms down-

You can't drink coffee 

with your arm in the air, silly.

This one is a bit more colorful.

Would you want to sit at

Table #2?

ORANGE, ORANGE & MORE ORANGE

Next we have

TABLE #3

BLUE & GOLD

Blue not your choice for Fall?

This is the Soft Side of Autumn for me

Aren't those paper leaves cute and fun?

TABLE #4

PAPER  & PEARS

Or-You can pull up a chair and sit here.

A modern look at Fall

TABLE #5

DARE TO BE SQUARE

Don't want to be square?

Well then---

How about the really warm,

 cozy harvest feeling of

TABLE #6

GRAPES? WHERE'S THE WINE?

And last, but not least

Matthew Mead featured by 

Martha Stewart.

TABLE #7

I'M IN LOVE WITH IVY

So- There you have it.

What's your pick?

You are welcome to come IF

 you promise NOT to spit your food out

when I am not looking.

Now you DO KNOW I can 

MOVE YOU

at will, if I so choose, right?

but I won't...unless...you start acting up

like SOME of you are prone to do.

I won't mention any names here.

I can't wait to seat you

with your foodie friends.

Okay- That's it!  Pick your seat-

snicker 

Bear with me if I don't respond right away.

I apologize for not visiting you like

I have in years past. 

It's been a long few months here.

I am spending the last days up at the camper

and I have no internet up there.

I will tally these as soon as I can.

Meanwhile-sit and party!