Dine and Dish

I can be an impulsive person. I come by it honestly because my parents are very impulsive. They would go out shopping to buy a gallon of milk and would come back with a new car. When I was a teenager, it wasn't a surprise to me to wake up on a winter Saturday morning to find a note on the table that would read "We went to find the sunshine!". We live in Kansas... usually finding the sunshine in the dead of winter would mean at least an 8-10 hour drive to Texas. When an impulse would hit, they would follow it.

Last night I was a bit impulsive. No... I didn't buy a new car or take a jaunt to someplace sunnier. I did not even buy that iPhone that I have been so tempted to buy. Nope... at 11pm last night, I had a sudden urge to give caramel making a try. I have been wanting to make caramel for a long time. What made that want suddenly a must last night, I have no idea... but when the urge hit I went with it.

Browsing the web a bit, I stumbled upon the blog of Chez Pim (who incidentally is the one hosting Menu for Hope...have you seen all the great prize donations??). Chez Pim has a recipe for Salted Butter caramels that tempted my taste buds the very first time I read the recipe. I decided that this recipe would be the one I use for my first attempt at caramel making.

Of course, sometimes when you are impulsive, you run into obstacles.  One... I had only a half cup of honey. Two... my cream had gone bad. If you remember from any of my previous posts, one area I am not impulsive in is cooking. I am most definitely a recipe follower.  Every once in awhile I will shake things up, but NEVER on my first time of trying something out. Last night, with the strong desire to taste a salty, buttery caramel, I got crazy and became an impulsive cook. I had Bailey's Irish Cream in the fridge... it couldn't hurt to try that instead of heavy whipping cream. I changed the sugar amounts as well to make up for the lack of enough honey. My attitude was if it didn't work out, no loss. I just wouldn't get to taste a yummy caramel, but I could always try again a different day.

The result of my impulsive, crazy night? Probably one of the best tasting caramels I have ever had. I know... I am not being modest right now, but I can't contain myself. These little chewy morsels were soooo good. My only problem was that they did not firm up very well. I think next time I make them (which very well might be today), I may read through a few more caramel recipes to see what the problem might have been.

For this wonderful recipe, head over to the blog of Chez Pim and give it a try for yourself. To give my version a try, follow the recipe exactly but substitute the Heavy Whipping Cream for Irish Cream and use 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup of honey. If this is what being impulsive brings, I'll take it!