DIY caramel apples

this post is a repeat from last year. amazingly enough, i posted the original post on october 17, 2012 and here we are exactly a year later and i'm craving them again! tomorrow i'll be dipping gala apples and using a store-bought caramel to compare to the delicious homemade recipe you'll find below. (i'll add my notes about these options.) happy october!


dan's sister sarah taught me all that i know about caramel apples a few years ago on a family trip to sun valley. i finally had the courage to try them on my own, after a little refresher course from her a few weeks ago. you'll find her amazing homemade caramel recipe below. (after researching online, i found a few expert tips too, which i've included. please comment with your own if you have additional techniques!) i am posting this tutorial mainly to remember all of the steps and to readily admit that dipping apples is not as frightening as i once thought it to be. i hope you'll try them if you haven't already! i definitely want to make this a tradition (and improve my skills) each year. here we go!


we agree that green apples taste the best with the sweet toppings. i bought giant packs from costco. these were organic which means i didn't have to scrub so hard to get any shiny coating off of the apples. you want the apples completely cleaned off. sarah even uses a tiny drop of dishwashing soap to get the skins nice and clean. i read online that apple dipping experts use a bit of fine sandpaper (yes, real sandpaper!) on the apple skins before washing them to ensure a nice caramel coating.


dry and polish the apples until they gleam. they need to be very dry. any moisture will deter the caramel from sticking. all of this prep work is somewhat tedious (especially when you are working with forty-two apples!), but like i learned while painting the rooms in my house, prep work is oh so important for a job well done. no skimping! and whistle while you work!


stick the apples in the fridge overnight or at least for several hours. cold apples are best!


optional: gather all the stuff you'll need and head to a friend's house for the caramel making. it's much more fun doing something this messy and marvelous with a friend (bonus if her kitchen is big and fabulous too)! plus, her kids will entertain yours while you work. (see benji wearing star wars storm trooper costume below. he was in heaven!)


have one friend plant wooden sticks into each apple while the other starts the caramel in a heavy duty pot. i was too busy stirring and feeding and holding the baby to take pictures of the caramel bubbling (boy does it smell incredible). mainly you need to keep stirring it so it won't burn to the bottom of your pan. my candy thermometer was not behaving so we totally guessed on the firm ball stage. i dropped it in a cup of ice and didn't know what to look for, but it seemed good to me. for two newbies, we did pretty well! p.s. be sure to line your cookie sheets with parchment paper, not waxed paper! caramel will stick to wax paper. eek. experts pour the hot caramel into a clean metal bowl to allow it to slightly cool before dipping. obviously we skipped this step and just started dipping straight from the pan because we're adventurous impatient like that. luckily, it still worked like a dream. set the caramel apples in the fridge while you melt the chocolate.


now the really fun part. dipping and sprinkling! we had our assistant (my friend's super helpful and eager eight year old son) prep all of our toppings into separate bowls while we melted the chocolate. he even creatively concocted one bowl with all of the toppings mixed together for a 'suicide' type apple (always good to have options). you'll want the toppings ready to go before melting chocolate.

you can melt white chocolate in a double boiler, a pretend double boiler (does anyone really own a real double boiler?!) or in small increments in the microwave. whatever works. again, we threw caution to the wind and just started dipping after melting in the microwave. (hers had a special 'melt' button! if your microwave does too, you should be melting on a regular basis. you have no excuse. i am unbelievably jealous.)


some toppings to try: sea salt on plain caramel, crushed oreos, seasonal sprinkles, brown sugar & cinnamon, reeses pieces, candy corn, heath toffee, mini chocolate chips and then some. we had trouble with the heavier toppings sticking well; they just drooped down the chocolate. but the kids were happy to take those apples off our hands. i love the look of dark or milk chocolate dripping down the sides in a pretty drizzle design, but i ran out of energy for that final step. definitely will do it next time (you know, when seth is a year older and toddling around and pulling everything out of the cupboards and putting everything into his mouth. funny when you imagine things will be easier next time around...)


allow apples to set up in the fridge. wrap them up with cellophane, ribbon and tags. because everything is pretty with cellophane, ribbon and a tag! devour the apples or give them as gifts within 48 hours.

here is the recipe scanned in from my cookbook scrapbook. click and print out for yourself! enjoy!

fall in love | autumn is the season

here at our house we are excited for fall. i love september! what about you? autumn is one of my favorite seasons to decorate for; you can use so much of nature to create a smashing display!! lookie here and here for more of my autumn decorating tips. benji loves changing up the house with me and we can't wait to decorate for halloween. last week he helped pour some corn kernels, lentils, pumpkin seeds, black beans, and other dried grains into glass vases to create simple (and inexpensive) harvest decorations. i plan to leave them until we're ready to deck the halls after thanksgiving.

thanks to some sweet instagram encouragement & inspiration, i've created an autumn bucket list for my shop. it's an 8x10 print and fits neatly into a standard frame. you can purchase either the download option or order the print straight from me (domestic shipping is free)! the prints are ready to ship this week. for my own fam, i've also made an ongoing specific Fall Fun list on my phone to refer to. here are some activities we plan to do this season. what are your autumn faves? (why let summer have all the fun? bring on the bucket lists.)

our autumn bucket list | 2013
+ brunch at Ruth's
+ hot dog cook out with church group
+ pumpkin patch
+ make Nutter Butter ghosts
+ host a cider & donuts party
+ carve jack-o-lanterns together
+ dip caramel apples
+ have chili in breadbowls
+ celebrate birthdays & anniversary
+ check out halloween library books
+ take a sunday drive to see the changing leaves
+ candlelight read-a-thon
+ bake pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
+ make homemade applesauce
+ trick or treating, pizza & home-brewed root beer
+ Disneyland (!!!!)

round up of our favorite july eats

my mom's amazing red velvet cake

oatmeal pb chocolate and toffee bars

homemade coconut ice cream

homemade oreo ice cream

laney's s'more brownies

patriotic peanut butter cookies

mom's tuna and shell pasta salad

thanksgiving, in the making / early prep

man. thanksgiving is so close. i am so excited. we did a lot of prep work around here. i wore my apron all day long and the kitchen smelled amazing, thanks to the orangey olive oil and a sprinkling of rosemary on the ciabatta cubes. (the heavenly scent was my reward for making a giant mess.) i did a lot of cutting, chopping and toasting and crying (over onions) and did two rounds of dishes with more currently soaking. i am tweaking my stuffing recipe and figuring out how to feed it to 25 people. it may end up with four types of bread in it. i decided to make up martha's buttermilk cornbread muffins while my kitchen was still a disaster. (we're having chili the night before thanksgiving and–if there are leftover muffins–they are headed into my stuffing. yay.) i'm taking notes on the recipe. after this much work, it better be epic.

okay, tons more to do before i hit the hay tonight.
happy thanksgiving.

i am thankful for my little boys. for health and strength. for our nice friends and our warm home. for our huge extended families. for internet and for a washer and dryer. for a car that works and a bed to sleep in. for the power of loving someone and letting it change you. for good gel pens, pretty ribbon and a collection of tags and wrapping paper tucked underneath the stairs. for curiosity and books. for libraries! for orange chicken and fried rice. and mcdonald's dollar sodas for those crazy days. for seasons and preschool songs and funny happenings that i want to remember forever. for bubble baths and piles of laundry. for spontaneous talks with a stranger at a park. for making a connection. for sparks flying. for first date butterflies. for knowing someone so well you can finish their sentences and eat off their plate. for a husband who never complains and loves me endlessly; so grateful we have each other in this life and the next. for siblings. for socks. for a thermostat to argue over. just like my folks did. for quilts piled high. for childhood memories and smells that take me back to them. for letters and lipstick. for patagonia fleeces and dansko clogs. for bikes in the garage. (for a garage!) for growing boys. big and strong. for love. and more love. for patience and friendship and understanding and humor and a listening ear.. and all the ones i know who possess these qualities. and let me text them really long wordy texts. for reading late at night and surges of inspiration. for writing things down quick, before they get away. i am thankful. ever thankful for God who gives and gives. He loves us and never quits.

james bond + nail polish

OPI SkyFall collection

 i love how opi keeps cranking out pretty polishes for new movies. it's a genius marketing maneuver. i especially liked the polish, the spy who loved me (seen here). it's the perfect glimmery red for your upcoming christmas party. of course–they are all so glam–any shade will do.

p.s. have you seen the new 007 yet? (no spoilers.. we're waiting for thanksgiving break.)

valentiney vibe / it's almost love month

secret garden by nick scott

valentining from the archives.
soon i'll give you an updated peek at our preps for february.
tomorrow is dan's birthday, so we've already baked a cake. 

+ watercolors & gummy hearts
+ benji's first valentine project
+ favorite quotes about love
+ little ways to say i love you and more guy valentine ideas here
+ remember this from 2008?
+ sugar cookie love

recently / thanksgiving pics and then some

+ i planned to make a sweet little video of thanksgiving in sun valley, idaho. it pretty much ended where it started. i have like four short clips. nevertheless, it was gorgeous and a little bit snowy and sunny and dreamy, just as a thanksgiving road trip should be. our memories of that place are so firm in my mind, it was okay that i kept forgetting my camera on all our fun little outings. (i prefer having my hands accessible for lots of hand-holding.)

+ dan is extra happy when prepping for a shooting activity. it's mountain man rendezvous come to life. p.s. i'm not sure if i've documented it in stone yet, but dan has my very favorite crazy hair ever. mine is never as rad. people spend big bucks to get their hair to do what his does. just sayin'.

+ i made a special creme brulee french toast to help stretch everyone's stomachs before our thanksgiving feast that afternoon. it worked. mine hasn't been the same since.

+ this year's tasty feast was one to remember. the food was lovely, as were the faces around the long table. everyone was happy and admiring their plates of food. admittedly it's a bit nerve-racking taking little children out in public to eat (ever), so i was delighted our little dude did so well on such a special day.

+ one evening my mother-in-law served chili. dan's brother dave made a special trip to the store for the avocado. these are my kind of people. he was right, it was delisch. (i ordered my chips on top in hopes they would not get sogg-ified beneath the chili. they thought i was a little bit nuts.)

+ stealing the sun on a late november day at the park.

+ a little christmas-ing around the house. here is the hand-wrapped wreath i made last year and my printable christmas poster (this is the 11x17 printed at fedex kinkos for $2.63). i am still obsessed with that greige paint color. it's benajmin moore, revere pewter. it's subtle and light, but still packs a pow.

+ my sidekick and i did some errands the other day and wound up at the mall. it was more fun than i imagined. who knew pb kids does storytime?! everything during the holidays is a big deal; the twinkle lights, the santas everywhere, even the christmas music. kids notice everything. he could've stared at this trolley scene all day long. here he is pointing out which ones he wants from santa.

+ merry christmas to my freezer. (this is very dangerous living.)

// am taking a little blogging break. i'll be notifying the winners on monday. am throwing a little advent together last minute, am thinking sheena's envelope idea is brilliant.

am a fan / pump up for the holidays edition

am a fan of getting a head start on christmas decorating before taking off for thanksgiving weekend. dan kindly relented and let me bust out all the christmas boxes early. yay. so worth it when you can come home to christmas.

am a fan of this pumped up kicks tune by foster the people. discovered it on the radio and now listening to it on repeat.

am a fan of skein red pom pom yarn (i found it at michael's). it's an easy instant pom pom garland. my happiest holiday find so far. it is currently swooping through my house. and i plan to drape it over our christmas tree branches. and tie it around gifts too.

am a fan of this wood-working etsy shop. the wooden map puzzle magnets are rather dreamy.

am a fan of glittery round labels for holiday packaging. yes sir. i needed more things to glitter in my life.

am a fan of these handmade plump cheerful stuffed owls. i know dozens of girls who would love one (myself included).

am a fan of pretty polka dots on everything; these straws are so festive for a party!

am a fan of this ira glass quote and the beautiful way it has been designed, poster style.

am a fan of liz's gold toe flats. talk about festive! i love me an excuse to break out the spray paint.

am a fan of this recipe card stamp. so clever, so charming.

am a fan of danni's collage book; notes for nicholas. she is the ever-thoughtful one. something akin to this would make the best kind of the-thought-that-counts gift.

am a fan of the knitted critter hats for kiddos at old navy!

am a fan of so many elements from this kitchen makeover. beautiful and family friendly.

am a fan of this tinseled-out advent calendar; i love the mishmash of it, the simple (random) packaging and the bright hues too. sometimes we i get obsessive over things like advent calendars. this one is fabulous and reminds me to make it light, make it fun. this is christmas.

// take a peek at my christmas collection category for a look into my holidayesque archives.

thankful

thank you for the food before us, the friends beside us, and the love between us. 

wishing you and yours a wonderful long + lovely weekend. we're planning to roadtrip, rest, relax, watch movies, paint nails (while boys go to the shooting range) and most of all, count our blessings. oh yeah–if there is snow–we'll play fox and geese too. happy thanksgiving. 


tune in friday, i have a special (overdue) am a fan post scheduled.

a simple (yet dazzling) homemade autumn display

i wanted to share tips on making an autumn display, mainly because it was so much fun to create. benji and i hunted and gathered for all the ingredients to concoct something charming for our entryway. i've seen so many lovely (and expensive) ideas in the pages of magazines and thought i ought to try assemble a version of my own; handcrafted from items around our yard and home (and tucked away in christmas boxes too).

our twig arrangement came together nicely (thanks to our excess of tree limbs, see below) and i was glad to use glass containers i had on hand. the burlap was purchased a few weeks ago at wal-mart (for another project, so i didn't count that cost) and it's my new favorite material. the texture and soft hue is just right for the season and the fray method says rustic rather than i-can't-sew. methinks this year will be the christmas of burlap. the gold spray paint is my pick of the month. it adds dazzle to everything. it just makes me feel crafty having it in my garage (yay! we have a garage to store messy, crafty things!); so yes, i've been a little spray paint happy. it was nice to give myself a challenge to create something from nothing, without spending much (the walnuts, in shells, were the only thing i actually purchased!) the best part about them is every evening when dan comes through the door (to happy shouts!) and cracks one or two open to snack on (and share).