It's turning out to be a very merry Christmas :)

The warmth and joy of Christmas is truly healing for the heart and soul. The last several years have really been a struggle (to put it mildly) for me, personally, and at several points along the way, I believed that joy would forever be gone.  This Christmas season just might be the first I have really felt content/happy/hopeful since I was a teenager.

When I was little, my Gramma would make divinity and fudge, my other Gramma would make hartshorn sugar cookies (it's an incredibly yummy German cookie), Mom would make shortbread and other cookies, and I always made the no bake chocolate/peanut butter fudge cookies and cinnamon rolls - all of which are still highly requested.

But. . . having lost any semblance of hope, I stopped doing much cooking and baking altogether.  However, feeling that fire reigniting deep somewhere in the recesses of my heart where I thought Love had died, I found myself wanting to make Christmas goodies again, so Mom and I spent a couple days making cookies, and today I made some good, old fashioned Rock Candy. It has really been soul soothing. I never used to like rock candy, but I must say these are quite tasty.

For flavors we have Bubble Gum (Oh. My. Goodness!!!), Pineapple (these are sinfully addictive - I think they're my favorite), Cinnamon (very traditional), and Raspberry (because apparently other people like it).

These are the Raspberry flavored (in bags)
And the Bubble Gum flavored (not in bags).
Heads up - I now understand why blue is used to color raspberry flavored foods.
Believe it or not, I used two different dyes - one red, one pink.
Yeah - I can't tell the difference, either.
These were in molds, and about half the mixture was poured into a pan and broken into pieces, as is traditional.

Just package them in clear cellophane and tie with a shiny tie or ribbon. This is so easy it might be a new tradition!  On Tuesday I will be icing the rest of my snowflake cookies, and on Christmas Eve Mom and I will be making Divinity - woohoo! 

If you don't have much time, need some easy little gifties, or just want something homemade that is easy *and* tasty, then you NEED to try this Rock Candy recipe.  They're pretty, too!  I know, I know, corn syrup is the devil, BUT it can help with a cough, too ;).

For the recipe:

1 1/2 cups Karo syrup

1 cup water

3 3/4 cups sugar

1 pinch of salt (just trust me)

1 dram of flavor oil

Food coloring, optional

(For fruity flavors, you can add a teaspoon of citric acid with the flavoring)

Combine syrup, water, sugar, and salt. Over medium high heat, stir until sugar is dissolved. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan (make sure the bottom is in the syrup but not touching the bottom of the pan)). Stop stirring and let the mixture boil until it reaches the hard crack stage on the thermometer (300° - 310°F, around 25 minutes). While you're waiting, line a large jelly-roll pan (or whatever pan you have) with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray.  Set aside.

Once the syrup has reached the hard crack stage, remove from heat.  Let sit for about a minute. Add flavor oil and food coloring.

When it's cool, lift out foil and break candy into pieces (or unmold).

Some people like to coat them with powdered sugar. In our dry, winter climate, I find it completely unnecessary. In my opinion, the powdered sugar makes them sticky and takes away from the natural beauty of the candy.

Eat, share, and enjoy, and if I don't see you before - Merry Christmas!

--Sarah