PECAN PRALINES AND SOME RANDOM SILLINESS....

Please be forwarned.....this post is not for the faint of heart. It is also, quite possibly, THE most un-professional, unsuccessful post about food EVER published in blog-land.

You think I'm kidding? Well, this first photo is for my MOM, Carol, after she insisted that Little Miss Thing is going to go all hippie-dippie on us, during her semester abroad in France. Like grow her armpit-leg hair hippie dippie. To this, we reply......

Look, MOM--check out that armpit hair, and she hasn't even left the country yet!

(That photo is really a joke--Abbie had an unfortunate hole in her sleeping T-shirt, and decided to freak her Grandma out a little bit......Abbie is really just about the most well-groomed young lady you'd ever want to meet!)

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Cookie-Palooza 2011 is coming up, this Friday, so Abbie and I have been baking up a storm--today, it's sugar cookies, which could be pretty terrifying, knowing Abbie's "artistic" decorating "style". Yesterday, we decided to make Pecan Pralines from a recipe I have used for years and years, with 100% success. UNTIL yesterday, that is, because we got a little too silly in the kitchen.....here's Little Miss Thing, pretending to cook....

And here she is, shaking her booty for the camera--talk about an action shot!.....

See, I TOLD you not to go any further!

Anyways, Pecan Pralines are SO easy to make, and a little candy always breaks up the monotony of a cookie platter, don't you think? So, the first thing you'll want to do is toast your pecans....I usually keep them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees, until they are slightly browned and fragrant.....The rest of the photos in this post are taken by Little Miss Thing, so that's why I'm in them...I really really LOATHE photos of myself!......

In a heavy-bottomed pot, add granulated sugar, butter, brown sugar, milk and corn syrup.....

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until candy thermometer reads 234 degrees (soft ball stage).

Please note : There are no photos the actual "soft ball stage", because this is where Little Miss Thing DROPPED the candy thermometer into the hot, bubbling caramel, which resulting in a lot of shrieking and throwing of said broken candy thermometer into the sink.  Which resulted in candy that never made it to the soft-ball stage...more on this in a moment.

Lay out some waxed paper on a flat surface. Place about 5-6 pecans in a little cluster, then ladle hot candy syrup over pecans, like so.......

When the candies cool, they should easily lift off of the waxed paper. Unless you are the Willard girls, that is.....our candy just turned to caramel, which was STILL delicious, but NOT how proper pralines should be. Sigh. Oh yes, here's what a praline photo would look like, if taken from the camera belonging to, say, an ANT (more Abbie Macro-photography)....

In the end, Little Miss Thing ran to her room in tears (not really), and I just broke the caramelized, wanna be Pecan Pralines into small chunks. The kids coming over for Cookie-Palooza won't give a hoot.

So here's the actual recipe, in case you want to make these fabulous candies, the CORRECT way--I promise you these will become a favorite in your family! Just don't drop your candy thermometer.....

PECAN PRALINES

Makes about 24, 2" candies

1 and 1 / 2 cups granulated sugar

3 / 4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 / 2 cup butter

1 / 2 cup milk

2 tblsp. corn syrup

5 cups toasted pecan halves

Stir together first 5 ingredients in a heavy 3 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 7-8 minutes, stirring constantly, until candy thermometer reads 234 degrees. Remove from heat. Place about 6 pecans, in clusters, onto waxed paper. Ladle hot candy mixture over pecans. Let stand 20 minutes or until firm. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week, or freeze in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

TODAY I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR.....

***My daughter, who makes me laugh every single day.

***My daughter's darling friend Chelsea, who just graduated from college this week, and will be heading off to Alaska to teach school! We are so proud of her.

***The fun we had, as a family, at my husband's staff Holiday party last night.