In the Kitchen

The holidays are coming up and I have been scurrying around in the kitchen when I find the energy. I made two batches of fudge, one of which is sea salt fudge. OMG! Can you say crack? Wow. If you have never tried sea salt fudge, go get some right now....go on, I'll wait.....

.....got it? Good. Now if you eat it, you will be in fudge bliss for about two minutes until the sugar kicks in. It IS fudge, after all.

So, I made two batches of fudge. The first I shared at the twisted food party Grau and I held last week. I should post on that, I just haven't had the time or the memory.

The second batch, well, let's just say that I only cut up half and put into a container in the freezer. The second half? Not cut, but in the freezer. This way, I can't steal a piece. Am I smart or what?

Next I made Faux Toffee. If you have never made this? Again, it's sugar crack and so easy you're going to want to forget the recipe. Personally, I try not to have graham crackers in the house because I want to make Faux Toffee. (It consists of 1 cup butter & 1 cup brown sugar, boiled for 1 minute; pour over broken grahams, and bake for 15 mins at 400. That's it. If you want to add chocolate and nuts? Go for it...when you take the toffee out of the over, place broken chocolate on top, wait a minute then spread. While the chocolate is still warm, add nuts.)

Well, Grau took some Faux Toffee to work, because I messed up and boiled the sugar too long. His coworkers said they would be happy to 'dispose' of any more mistakes I make....too funny!

Over the weekend I cut, cooked, peeled and mashed pumpkins. I put them, spices included, into individual pie-ready measured bags and set them in the freezer. I need to make at least one for Thanksgiving. I have five.

Today I decided I want to try my hand at making candied orange peel. I've been researching recipes, and a few sound promising. Do any of you have a recipe you know works well and is not that difficult to prepare?

Do you have any specialties you prepare around this time of year? I'd be curious to know what they are (and the recipe!).