When life gives you... crystals?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m trying to work out some of my candy recipes. Since I have lots of rum left over from making rum truffles, I decided to try one of my older recipes - buttered rum caramels.

This recipe was very “hit or miss” when I was originally working with it. It was a recipe I found on the internet somewhere. When it worked, it was amazing. When it didn’t, it was weird, crystallized, fudge-like stuff. I was hoping that with my years of practice with caramel, I might be more consistently successful now.    

Definite nope.

Mmmm. Crunchy.

This was a different version of “didn’t work” than any of the previous ones. There were small puddles of caramel interspersed with crystallized pieces. It tasted pretty danged good, but that texture. Ugh. At first, it seemed like a complete waste. But then, I had an idea. I scraped the mess into a saucepan, mixed in some heavy cream, and simmered it until it was a smooth, thick caramel sauce. It is AMAZING over vanilla ice cream.

Mmmm. Creamy.

It feels like this could be some deep symbolic moment, you know? Sort of a reflection of how things are going in my life right now. Currently, life feels like a frustrating wreck, but I’m trying to create something good out of it anyway. “When life crystallizes your caramel, you make caramel sauce.” It doesn’t have the same ring as the old lemons/lemonade adage, but it’s probably more appropriate for a chocolatier.

(By the way, I trashed that recipe and tried another one that worked much better for the actual candy. My testers should be receiving their boxes shortly. Yay!)

Mmmm. Creamy AND crunchy!

Oh hai!

Long time, no write...

I've been thinking I should dust off my poor old blog and add a post. Then one of my very favorite bloggers linked to this post. Go ahead and take a look - I can wait.

I originally began this blog because I felt alone and unheard. Not that I have lots of followers (hi, Mom!), but the simple act of expressing my thoughts was enough. Then I got a new job with coworkers who were fun and supportive, so I didn't feel "unheard" any longer. Over time, things have changed at that job and once again my voice feels useless. 

In light of these changes, I've started thinking seriously about trying to start my own business. I'm hoping I can start small and work it as a side gig, then when the world falls in love with my chocolates, I can jump to full time. It's not easy because the depression is still there, which makes it difficult to think clearly. It's also tough to get back into the swing of a 2nd job. I try to do a little something every day and that should become a habit.

One of the first things is to get my recipes together. Some of my older confections don't even have a recipe because I just added flavors and chocolate until it tasted right. Oh, past Sarah... (shaking head)  Taste tester volunteers are easy to find, although careful testers are a little trickier to track down. Some of my testers are family members, which means I can also work out some shipping kinks in the process.

 If you have any tips for starting a side gig, PLEASE pass them along. I'm almost afraid to start making a task list because the sheer volume of stuff to be done is overwhelming.