Mac and Cheese Candy Canes? Fun with Shirley Raye Redmond

Blogger Shirley Raye Redmond

Mac-and-Cheese Candy Canes?

Put the Trick in Trick-or-Treat!

I think gift catalogs are fun, don’t you? In fact, I am a catalog queen.

My mail carrier told me so. One Christmas, he gave me a card, thanking me for ordering from so many catalogs as it provides him with job security.

Funny man.

I am always perusing catalog pages looking for something silly or unusual for birthdays, Christmas and other special occasions. One of my favorites is Bas Bleu (French for Blue Stocking). If you’re a booklover and are not familiar with this specialty catalog, you’re missing out. It boasts books and gifts that I’ve not seen for sale anywhere else, like literary fortune cookies—just the item to serve at your next book club meeting. There are wonderful note cards, puzzles, mugs, and the cutest Christmas ornaments—all with book themes of course.

Another one of my favorite sellers of silly gifts is Archie McPhee. You can find everything from Edgar Allan Poe candy to Shakespeare gum. They even sell mac-n-cheese flavored candy canes. Yep, mac-in-cheese. They have coal flavored and clam favored, if you prefer. Bacon and dill pickle too.
These make hilarious “gag” gifts and put the “merry” in Merry Christmas. My grandkids now look forward to whatever off-the-wall presents they might receive from me.

Do you have a favorite catalog you enjoy shopping from? C’mon, tell me!

The Candy Cane's Story

The simple little candy cane

Has a wonderful story to tell.

The story of our Savior’s love___

Perhaps you know it well.

Long ago on a wintry night

A star shone in the sky.

And angels came to sing the song

Of praise to God on high.

They sang their song where shepherds

Guarded flocks near a babbling brook.

And you can see in the candy cane,

The sign of the shepherd’s crook.

The red stripes stand for the Savior’s blood

Which was shed for you and me,

As He paid the price for all our sin

When He died on Calvary.

The white part of the candy cane

Shows the purity God imparts

To each new believer when he invites

The Lord Jesus into his heart.

Now turn your candy cane upside-down,

It forms the letter “J”,

Which stands for the name of Jesus Christ

Who was born on Christmas Day.

Ó Copyright 2001, Norma Gail Thurston Holtman, December 1998

About the author:

Norma Gail’s debut contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams, won the 2016 Bookvana Religious Fiction Award. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Historical Writers of America, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 41 years. They have two adult children. If you’re interested in connecting with her, you’re to follow her blog, or join her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Goodreads, or Amazon. 

Homemade Albino Candy Canes

Good morning, friends! I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season and you're looking forward to a blessed Christmas. One of my favorite Christmas treats is Candy Canes. The problem is, I have a sensitivity to Red 40, the red coloring used in almost every Christmasy candy, that makes my skin break out in a rash. I searched the world over, but I had a very hard time finding good candy canes without the Red 40. So I decided to be brave and try to make some homemade.

I looked up several different recipes online, (Since I never go by a single recipe...too risky.) and gathered my ingredients and tools. Turns out, it's pretty simple to do. The most complicated thing was a candy thermometer, and I found one of those even in our tiny town of 2200 people.

The trick was, I wanted to use my essential oils instead of artificial flavoring. It took a little experimentation, but I finally got it down, so I thought I'd share. Homemade candy is very yummy. Especially when it's still warm. Needless to say, this may become a tradition!

Homemade Albino Candy Canes

Ingredients:
1 c. Sugar
1 c. Corn Syrup
1 c. water
12-14 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil (Make sure it is a quality brand that is safe to eat. I use Young Living. They have a Vitality line that is especially for cooking and eating.) You can also use Peppermint extract. But you'll have to look up the measurement for that. :)
Powdered Sugar

Tools to have handy:
Candy Thermometer
Kitchen Shears
Parchment Paper
Food grade disposable gloves or thermal gloves

First, prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper and sprinkling with a little powdered sugar. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees.

Mix water, sugar and syrup in a saucepan. Heat on Med. high stirring constantly until it really starts to boil. Put in a candy thermometer and wait for it to reach 285 degrees f. Grab a Christmas book and read a few pages because this will probably take 15 to 20 minutes. But stay close by to make sure it doesn't burn.

Once it reaches the soft Crack temp of 285, remove from heat. When the bubbles die down, add peppermint oil and mix well.

Pour the hot liquid out into the prepared cookie sheet. Spray a metal spatula with oil and spread, turn, fold, etc until it cools enough to handle with food grade plastic gloves. (I didn't have thermal ones, so I used several pairs of disposable ones.) pull and twist the candy until it starts getting hard to pull. Roll and stretch it in your hands to make a rope. I recommend you twist them. It makes them look more like candy canes.Then use kitchen shears to cut to desired length and form into canes. Set them on parchment paper to cool. Once they're hard, store in airtight containers or wrap in plastic wrap.

What's your favorite homemade treat for Christmas?

*****

Amber's Christmas book The Swaddling Clothes is on sale for only $0.99 until Christmas! Be sure to snag your copy now.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B018BBQVCA

Or check it out in Audiobook form!

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/narrationbygeorge5