Sweet Home Sweets
Categories: Family Life
Written By: Kim Anderson
It’s not only armies that march on their stomachs. Young adults troop home for the culinary delights they can only get at home. So planning food is a big part of building homesickness into your holidays.
Don’t think that this is cheating! God does it this way, too. His biggest parties featured foods that would speak of His work on our behalf and of our adventures together. Some of my favorite Bible verses come from His descriptions of Passover and the Lord’s Supper, which teach us to long for the wedding feast of the Lamb.
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Explore God’s recipe for homesickness in the NEW audio CD, Quests & Homecomings. Discover how to release your children into God’s calling and how to connect with them as adults in healthy ways, as you work together to build Christ’s kingdom and to celebrate His goodness.
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At our house, our favorite Christmas candies are the ones no one else makes: sugar plums and pecan caramels (OK, you can get those at the store, but making them is half the fun). Sugar plums are so easy to make that your pre-schoolers can do it. And they are so delicious that I have to have someone hide them from me.
Nowadays, we often have candy-making parties for my daughter’s college friends – for our younger children’s friends as well – as an Advent Sunday study-break. Somehow the laughter, the music and the interesting conversation flavor the sweets with special intensity.
Yes, you can have the recipes! I love you, too.
Sugar Plums
Whole or slivered almonds
Pitted prunes
Marzipan or almond paste
Sugar
Cut the marzipan into almond-sized slices or a little smaller. Press an almond into a piece of marzipan. Slide the two into the prune where the pit was cut out. (These can be frozen at this point) Roll the whole thing in sugar just before serving.
Pecan Caramels
Whole pecans
Caramel cubes
Semi-sweet chocolate morsels
Set the caramels on a cookie sheet. Heat in a 300F oven about 5 minutes or until the caramel has softened. Don’t overdo it here. Flatten the caramels with the back of a spoon. Top with chocolate morsels. The warmth of the caramels will melt the chocolate. While the chocolate is still hot, press a whole pecan into it. Cool and enjoy!
Check out other sweet treats on the Homeschool Memoirs Meme today.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
Those pecan caramels sound wonderful.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:01 am
I never knew what sugar plums were, and that they were so simple!! Great recipes!
December 3rd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Thanks for the comments on my post. I like that you noticed the tie between my love for dark chocolate and the way God leads us through life! I have been experimenting with something lately that might make your pecan caramels either easier or better. You put a can of sweetened condensed milk in a pot and cover it with water (you can do as many as you can fit in your pot). Boil it for three hours, making sure that the can is always completely covered. It caramelizes in the can and becomes a soft caramel (officially it is called dulce de leche). All you would have to do after that is spread it out on a pan and proceed with your recipe. I have also tried making it in the crockpot on low for 8 hours and it was a very spreadable consistancy. If you want more info I can direct you to some websites.
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Those pecan caramels sound amazing!
December 4th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Oh, how yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipes!