Salted Caramel Apples

Happy Halloween!

Making caramel apples is a tradition at our house for Halloween. We find real sticks, cut off the prickly points and smooth them out, then wash the really well. Instead of popsicle sticks we use real ones along with small lady apples to give it a better presentation.

Now a lot of people use those caramel wrapped pieces to melt down and dunk the apples, but I just love homemade caramel. I've added some Himalayan Pink Salt to bring out the flavor and you will love the combination with apples. I usually sprinkle a little pink salt on my fruit to a hint of flavor.

Make up a batch of this caramel and you will find several uses for it and you can omit the salt if you prefer, but i think it makes it more special.

Salted Caramel Apples

2 Cups Brown Sugar
2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups Corn Syrup
1/2 lb Butter
32 oz Heavy Cream
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 teaspoons Himalayan Pink Salt, Fine Ground
12 Lady Apples
12 Sticks

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, add both sugars, syrup, butter and 2 cups of the heavy cream.

Stir and bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Once it comes to a rolling boil, add the other 2 cups of heavy cream but do it very slowly. Once you pour some cream and it stop boiling, stop and wait until it comes to a boil again, then add more cream, repeating this process until all of the cream is added.

Cook and stir constantly and keep the bottom moving so it doesn't burn. Bring to 235 degrees using a candy thermometer. Once it reaches 235 degrees, remove from heat and add the vanilla and Himalayan pink salt. Stir to combine and allow it to cool down.

Prepare apples by washing well, drying and adding the stick by skewering it from the top where the core was.

Once the caramel has cooled down, dunk the apples, one by one, by starting with one side slanted and then move it around until you get all the sides covered, then sit the caramel apples on a parchment lined baking sheet to cool completely.

Enjoy my little pretties....

Chocolate Cake Shots!

As I've said before, October is my favorite month. It's the beginning of cool weather after a hot summer, the air is crisp and of course, my birthday. I remember in my earlier years I would celebrate my birthday for a week. It was always a running joke with my friends. But these days I just usually have a few people over, cook some dinner and enjoy some cocktails.

Either I make a strawberry cake or my friend Jodi one year made this killer tres leches chocolate cake. But I thought this year, I just don't need that cake. So....we decided to do shots instead! Now my friend Jodi isn't one for drinking much more than beer, but I knew that if I told her these shots would taste like chocolate cake, she was game!

My sister Debbie told me about these shots after she went to Florida this summer. She was raving about it and I knew this would be the perfect thing to serve for my birthday this year.

The crazy thing is that the combination of these ingredients don't sound anything like how a chocolate cake would taste. But when you put them together, its sublime. The look on Jodi's face when she did this shot was priceless. I wish I would have gotten a photo.

These things will knock you on your feet if your not careful. I think we did about 5 of these and by the end of the night I was drinking straight whiskey. (or so they say) Needless to say, by about 2 am, I was thirsty, with a headache and was wishing I had eaten just regular cake!

Don't let my mistake keep you from enjoying this cake and don't over do it. You will love these, I promise. Here's what you will need...

Chocolate Cake Shots

1 Part Vodka (I prefer Kettle One)
1 Part Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur
1 Lime Wedge dipped in Sugar

Mix the vodka and Frangelico together, pour into a shot glass. Then shoot it and then bite into the lime wedge dipped in sugar.

When you bite into the lime wedge is when the flavor of chocolate cake comes through. These are addicting.

Thanks for stopping by...Stormy

Renew Your Spirit!

Well...it's all coming to fruition. Finally after 10 years of planting the seed in my creative mind, the business I have been dreaming of is finally coming together. 10 years ago, I went through some incredible changes in my life, my spirit was broken and my world was turned upside down. During the time of healing, I have had an idea to create a website where others can share their creative talents, learn about ways to renew their spirit, shop for wonderful items to create an oasis or handcraft incredible food.

I've recently been working on a custom fragrance that will soon be called Body Rituals by Sacred Mood. Above is the new logo that I've created and I can't more excited. The part is that I have been able to share this experience with my birth mother who I have recently reconnected with and it has been another way that my spirit has been renewed.

I've gone over 40 years without the relationship with my mother. The craziest thing is we are more like twins than mother and daughter. We think the same, we have the same creative mind, we share so many talents that is really bazaar. Over the years I have been pulled back and forth into creative ways to fulfill my life, as a make up artist, interior design school and always finding ways to turn trash into treasures. My mother is an artist, she was a make up artist, muralist, painter, and jewelry maker. Our lives paralleled so much we were drawn together just like twins. There are times we are both thinking the same thing that we call each other and just laugh. It's the most bizarre thing I have ever experienced.

Just recently we spent a couple of weeks together bonding, creating and developing the Sacred Mood brand. I'm so excited to get this process started and get this website up to share with you soon.

Keep coming back for more updates and remember, it's never too late to renew your spirit!

Thanks for stopping by....Stormy

The Power of 3

It's an exciting time for me. First of all I LOVE October - it brings cooler air, another birthday and my life always seems to make a change in this month. For the past 10 years I've had a vision of having a website that brings a variety of art, home decor, faith, healing, herbs, body rituals and anything mystical together. This past year has brought me closer to my birth mother, and my sister that I missed out on 40 years of my life. Now we are bringing the power of our abilities to bring to you a new site that will encompass all those things.

I always knew I had creative abilities and was left to act on those abilities alone. I never related to my family growing up in that way. I was loved and have a wonderful family it just seemed they didn't get me at times. I always felt as if I was suppressing my creative thoughts, expressions and talents. Through the years I dabbled in more creative jobs and seemed to excel in at anything I set my mind to do. Thank goodness for the strength of the business positions I held in various companies as it allowed me to build a strength of good business skills that will be essential for our new venture.

We are working on building a new site that will be a place where others will be able to share their creative energy, learn from others and find wonderful products made by artisan people. We will feature artists, learn their stories, how they get inspired and view tutorials. If it's jewelry you love, this will be the place, if you are wanting to plant a fairy garden, come here to see some tips and tricks to make your space a sanctuary. Need healing? Learn about the healing power of food and other earth elements.

I will keep you posted on the progress. Not sure exactly the timeline but I will update soon with more information.

Thanks for stopping by....Stormy