Words of wonder

So...the title probably has you thinking I wonder what words....okay bad joke.  So yeah, words of wonder.  Words are powerful, used in the correct form, for both good, and evil.  You can tell someone to go fly a kite, and depending on how you say it, there will be 1 of 2 outcomes.  You will either get an " Hey that sounds like a great idea " OR you will get punched in the nose.  Now, keeping the above in mind....saying the right things in E-mail...that can just be all bad.  E-mail, like words, can be your bestest freind, or your worstest enemy. 

For instance...today first E-mail of the day...I got one that started out " JellyMan, I EXPECT you to ".  My first response was " Oh no you didn't ".  Then, before I got a chance to breath and calm down...It started with an angry instant messaging session.  Now, normally this kind of stuff doesn't phase me.  But today it did.  This guy probably didn't think that it would affect me that much, or did he?  Yeah, now that I think of it he meant to start something.  You know, sometimes it is hard working in the corporate environment.  Years of being a Waiter have given me the skills to smile and nod, and beg for more.  But then years of working on a loading dock has taught me payback.  SO your going to bring your truck back filled with trash...Fine so I will load your stuff on the floor and give you a broken hand truck.  I digress.

So someone might want to ask...Did your day start off bad?  Umm Yeah..hello Captain Obvious!  I mean come one...is the Pope Catholic?  Does a bear poop in the woods?  Does Howdy Doody have wooden balls?

AHA!  Howdy Doody does have wooden balls, and he is supported by strings.  Good thing my dad always taught me to carry a pocket knife....hmm those strings could get cut real quick, then Howdy Doody cant move.  Hah!  Awesome.

SO...yeah about the above rant...I'm sorry.  Had to do it.  It couldn't be helped.  I was going after a target audience with that one.  So on to bigger and better subjects.  Canning!

JellyManKelly products have been in short supply lately.  Long work schedules, birthdays, school starting, yeah.  No good.  So we will be starting canning season off early this year.  And to start it off, we will be going to Apple Hill, to buy a couple of boxes of apples!  That means I can replenish my Zombie stash of dehydrated apples, and give some to Mrs JellyMan.  Apple Butter will be back in stock, and hopefully a couple of quarts of sliced apples for apple pie filling. 

I think this will be a good thing for the Ole JellyMan.  All work and no play makes JellyManKelly a dull boy.  I have lacked that spark that I had going for me.  I had big plans to get into a kitchen, start selling online...but we may have to wait on that.  I know I am not irreplaceable.  That's a known fact.  Anyone who thinks there is not someone out there leaner, meaner, and willing to take less money for their job is a darned fool.  Just look at auto workers.  " HAH!  A robot that can do my job?  What have you been smoking? " No need to say more.  SO back to my point, I can't take the time off to get into a kitchen to get this ball rolling because that means when something goes wrong, and it will, someone else will have to pick up my slack.  That's not okay with me.  So, JellyManKelly will need to wait.  I promise, after the holidays are over and done with, and a new vacation calendar rolls around, You will see me pedalling my wares on the net.  PROMISE!!  Then maybe I will be a zen master of my life, and I would be able to blog about Cheesecakes, Chipotle Raspberry Jam, Muscatto Wine Jelly...you know the good stuff!  Well folks, until next time!

It Is what it is

I am so far behind on the times...its kinda sad.  So last weekend when we were in Tahoe, we went to Harrah's to blow some scratch, and on the way out I wanted my yearly treat.  I very very rarely go to Starbucks, but when I do it is around this time of year.  I go and get my Spiced Pumpkin Latte, then in a couple of weeks I will go and get my Peppermint Latte. then end it with an Eggnog Latte. 

SO....The nice little girl behind the counter asked me if I would like a Salted Carmel Latte...I said no thank you, and she looked at me like I had horns, and I had asked her if her soul was for sale.  WTH??  Two weeks ago, my mom gave me a Salted Carmel candy, ( Mrs JellyMan found it before I remembered it and devoured it )....what the heck is up with Salted Carmel?  I asked Mrs. JellyMan and she just got this vacant look on her face and was like mmmmmmm Salted Carmel.  So...I went to work.  I need to get down to the bottom of this phenomenon.  I have searched the all mighty search engine Google, and it seems that I am way far behind.  So I decided to make Salted Carmel Cheesecake today, along with all of the other things that I am cooking.

Mrs JellyMan has made a Pinterest page just for cheesecakes.  I started there.  I found what i thought was a good Salted Carmel Cheesecake recipe....then I printed it out, and took the midgets to the store.   In looking at the directions....alot was desired.  It Kinda sorta didn't make sense, so I winged it.  I used their Carmel recipe, but that was just about it. 

The problem that i have, is when I make something, its hard to take it to work, and send it with Mrs. JellyMan.  So....I got creative.

Oh Yeah, We're rolling cup cake style!  ( Notice that they are PINK!! and have PINK ribbon? )

I wanted to go simple with the crust.  I was trying to come up with something that would not mess with the Salted Carmel flavor, so we went with Vanilla Wafers.  ( The recipe actually called for it, but I was unable to figure out if it needed 32 2 ounce wafers, or 32/2 ounces of wafers, or 3 1/2 ounces of wafers.  So...I winged it and dumped in half a box, with a stick melted butter. 
I processed them in the food processor till all of the big chunks were gone, then pulsed in the melted butter.

Cheesecake was fairly straight forward.

YUM!!

Since we are going to cover them, I did not do the water bath method, I just baked them as they were.  They came out a bit cracked!

I let these cool, and moved off to Carmel.  I have never made my own Carmel.  Grandma made it every year for Christmas, and could probably do it with one hand tied behind her back.  Actually...if she would have tried it today it would probably have gotten ruined.  It was a close 49er game....very few things would ever mess with her coolness....a close 49er game is pretty much the only thing!

SO...Off to Carmel!

Pretty Straight forward.  Except....Castor Sugar?  I was like wow...wth?  So...Out came great almighty Google.  WHEW!!  Ultra fine sugar!  I so was not looking forward to towing the midgets around looking for something weird!

Carmel was Ultra fine sugar, water, and heavy cream.

I really do not like working with sugar like this.  Its like liquid Napalm!  So I made my Carmel, and something dawned on me.  How can you tell if it is amber, in a BLACK pan.  Note To Self: I need so get some silver Non Non Stick pans.  So after much sweat, fear of burning sugar into my pans, and the potty dance, I was done.  Let it cool a bit, and topped the cheesecakes!

Okay..so I can only see a half picture.  Lets just say the camera phone I was using leaves alot to be desired!

So in all, a very productive day.  Made cheesecakes, and a soup for the freezer.  Umm no, I am not telling you what it is now.  I have to have something to blog about later don't I?  Yes, you do have to wait!

Busy work week ended, and another busy week on tap starting tomorrow.  Onky a couple of weeks until my supposed good friend comes back from Maternity leave...and maybe my days will go back to normal, and I can actually cook during the week, and maybe have some energy to blog. 

Catch ya later!