Candy Clay, Take Two

The second recipe is based on candy melting disks and is very simple.  But, despite the simplicity there were some variations among the recipes I found.  All of them used the candy melting disks combined with corn syrup.  The weight of the disks used varied from 10 oz. to 16 oz.,  but oddly the amount of corn syrup always remained at 1/3 cup.  The other difference was the amount of cooling time, this varied from 3 hours to overnight.  For my version I decided to use 14 ounces of disks (1/3 cup corn syrup) and cool for 3 hours.  

Here is how things went for me.

I slowly melted 14 oz. of candy disks, and then stirred in 1/3 cup corn syrup.  The disk were initially very smooth and creamy with a matte surface after melting.  I noticed a change in the quality of the disks as soon as I added the syrup.  It became gooier  and much more shinny.  At first I thought this was the effect of the cool syrup lowering the temperature but the texture change persisted even after the syrup was fully incorporated and warmed.

 

Candy Clay Cooling on Silicone Mat

I then poured the mixture out onto a silicone mat to cool.  Waxed paper would also be suitable.  You can see the clay is very shiny.  There seemed to be a layer of oil on the surface of the clay.  Most of the oil was pulled back into the clay as it cooled.  I then covered the clay with waxed paper to avoid cat prints from my very curious pets.

Candy Clay Bear Made With Melting Disk Recipe

After three hours of cooling, I made bear in the picture above.  

Here is how the clay rated against my criterion.

• Stickiness:  A little less sticky than the first recipe I tried.  The stickiness here was due to oil from the melting disks and not a sugar stickiness.  B-
• Color Fast: OOPS!  I forgot to color this clay, so I don’t know the answer here.
• Consistency: As you can see in the photo above, this clay held the shape much better than the first recipe.   A-
• Taste: Like white chocolate.  B+  But, I’m sure that the quality of the melting disks used could vary a great deal.  It will pretty much taste like what ever disks you purchase.

Red: "Frosting" Clay, White: Melting Disk Clay

Over all I think I liked the melting disk clay better.  A disadvantage of this clay is that you need to use the stove to melt the disks; clearly this can’t just be handed to young kids for an “on their own” project.  Since I will prep this clay in advance, the use of the stove is not an issue, and the active prep time for this clay was less than the frosting clay.  The white clay seemed to handle much better, and held shapes much better.  As you can see in the photo above, the frosting like clay continued to slump even more after I took the first photo.  I am also considering just leaving the melting disk clay white and letting the kids color their creations with food coloring markers.  I will probably chill them in the fridge for a while before coloring.  I know some kids will love sculpting with the clay, some will just eat it and some will head straight for the sand box.  But everyone will be busy.

Plans for our party are going well and I’m really looking forward to the day.  I will post some photos of the kid’s sculptures (and maybe mine) after the party next month.

BTW, I finished the invites yesterday.  I think they will be a hit!

Candy Birthday Party Invites. The invitation is printed on the reverse of the wrapper.

 

 

 

Candy Clay

Birthday parties are a big deal at our house.  We get a little crazy and always try to do something out of the ordinary.  Last year we had a Pokemon party.  Since the characters in Pokemon frequently are on the road and camp out a lot, we did too.  I borrowed a digital projector and we showed Pokemon movies on the back of the house while the kids roasted marshmallows.  Later they all retired to tents.  You can see the cake I made on the Photos page.

This year S has requested a “candy” party.  As an activity, I thought we should make some sort of edible candy craft.  Candy clay seems the perfect thing.  Many of the guests bring younger siblings and pleasing them all is sometimes problematic.  If they are not interested in sculpting with it, they can still eat it.

I started hunting around the net looking for recipes and found lots of variations of one that used candy melting disks and one other that was frosting like.  I decided it might be a good idea to test the recipes first.  The potential for disaster seems pretty high.  (Our party will be outside and I can just see 8 children covered in sticky goo that leaves brightly covered stains on everything after we turn the hose on them!)  I would like a candy clay is not too sticky, is relatively color fast, has a consistency similar to playdoh, and would taste good.  I decided to try the frosting like recipe first. Here it is: 

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• food coloring

1. Combine powdered sugar, corn syrup, salt, margarine, and vanilla extract in a large bowl.  

2. Mix until the dough doesn’t feel sticky.  You may add more powdered sugar to make it less sticky 1/4 to 1/3 cup.  be sure to add it slowly and stop when the dough feels dry.

3. Divide the dough into smaller balls and put each ball into a separate bowl.

4. Add a few drops of food coloring to each bowl.  Make the dough in each bowl a different color.

5. Mix the food coloring into the dough with a spoon so you don’t stain your hands.  Once the food coloring starts ti blend in, use your hands to knead it in.

6. Sculpt a creation.  Eat them soon as they will become rock hard over time.

THE RESULTS:

I made a 1/2 recipe all in the same color to keep things simple.  The clay took a lot of mixing to get it to come together.  I did have to add the extra 1/3 cup of powdered sugar, ABOUT THREE TIMES!  The clay was very sticky for a long time.  I added about 1 teaspoon of red paste color.  When I got to the point of kneading the clay, I added MORE powdered sugar, maybe a cup.  I stopped when the surface of the clay would crack a little when I pushed down on it.  Despite all the extra sugar this clay still gets sticky when your hands get warm.  It is sugar after all.  So, here is how it rates on my criterion.

• Stickiness:  Not too bad, although doing this on a sunny deck may be problematic.  C
• Color Fast: Also, not bad a after all the mixing was done and it rested for a minute or two. B
• Consistency: As you can see in the photo below, there is a lot of slump.  C-
• Taste: Like frosting.  S thought we should have something that tasted more like candy, or that we flavor each color differently.  That would be easily accomplished by substituting various extracts for the vanilla.

Candy Clay Bear made with the "Frosting" Recipe

So, I think I will test the other recipe sometime next week.  Look for Candy Clay Take 2.

The Perils of Penelope . . . pineapple, that is.

When I wrote in my last post :

 Stay tuned to find out the fate of Penelope Pineapple.  Will it be the grill, the blender, or something more sinister?! 

I didn’t actually intend to blog about the pineapple in my refrigerator.  BUT, dinner tonight was so good that I just have to share!  Not only was it really good, I didn’t ruin my calorie count eating it.  Sorry, it was not the grilled desert (but here is the link to my favorite gilled pineapple/desert), not the blender, it was the chopping block!  (Insert evil laughter here.)  

Grilled Tuna with Pineapple and Rice

This recipe fed my family of three with a lot of left-overs.  (Yum, I can’t wait for lunch tomorrow!)

First the tuna (2-6 oz. Steaks).  I marinated it for about 30 min. in the following ingredients.  A zip bag with the excess air pushed out works really well.  With the bag you don’t need to make a huge amount of marinade to cover the steaks.

• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 1 TBS Soy Sauce
• 2 TBS Lemon Juice
• 2 Cloves Garlic smashed
• 2 Tsp Grated Ginger Root

While the tuna marinated in the fridge, I started the rice cooking.  (Mini Rant:  DO NOT USE INSTANT RICE!  If you are bothering to cook real food, cook some real rice while you are at it!)  I used 2 cups (rice cooker size) of Jasmine rice (my fav!) and used a can of low sodium/fat chicken stock and added water for the rest of the liquid.  (Using low sodium/fat stock lets you control the amount of these ingredients in your food.  You can always add more if you want it.  It is not a diet thing, just a good cooking habit thing.)  I also tossed some minced onion (1/2 small), and ginger root (1 TBS) in with the rice.

While the rice was cooking and the tuna marinated, I chopped up the following:

• 1/4 Pineapple in 1″ chunks
• 1 Orange in 1/2 ” chunks
• 2 TBS Fresh Cilantro 
• 2 TBS Fresh Parsley
• 2 TBS Fresh Chives

(Some red pepper would’ve been nice, but I didn’t have any.)

By now your rice is well under way and you can grill the Tuna.  4 min. each side over high heat.  (The grill must be preheated.)  When rice and tuna are done, chop the tuna into bite size chunks.  Toss tuna, rice, fruit, and herbs together and add:

• Juice of 1/2 Lime
• 2 Tsp Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

And toss again.

Serve with Soy Sauce or Nuoc Mam on the side.  I prefer Nuoc Mam myself, nothing like the salty sweetness to go with the ginger and pineapple!  What is Nuoc Mam?  Vietnam’s all purpose condiment made from anchovy extract, salt and sugar.  One of those things that is WAY better than the sum of it’s ingredients.

And now the Mom’s are out there saying, “Grilled Tuna!  My kids/husband will never eat that!”  But they will. Really.  My son has remarked that last two times I have served tuna “Mom, how come tuna tastes like chicken?”  I don’t know the answer to that (in part because it doesn’t taste like chicken to me), but I do know he eats the tuna with less complaint than chicken!

So, there it is; the first post about the pineapple in my fridge.  Tune in tomorrow when our villain will say, “Smoothies anyone?”

Wet Rub for Roasts

 I’m not sure if “wet rub” is a real term, but it does seem to describe the technique I have been using for several years.  I first heard about this idea when watching a Jamie Oliver cooking show on the the Food Network.  It suits the way I cook because it is unfussy and uses fresh ingredients. Pork, beef, chicken seem to work equally well.  

Here is a description of a pork roast I made for dinner a few days ago.

First, a trip to the garden for me, for you, maybe the market.  I gather fresh herbs that suit my fancy that day.  Today it was marjoram, thyme, and rosemary.  On other days I can include by season or mood, sage, parsley, cilantro, dill, chives, or oregano.  This is one of the wonderful things about cooking your own food, you get to adjust everything to your mood and preference.

I load the herbs into my mortar  along with, kosher salt, pepper corns, and olive oil and grind it with the pestle until it is a wet green paste.

From here it is easy.  Just rub the paste onto your meat.  If you are roasting chicken be sure to rub it under the skin as well as on the outside.

And then just roast!  I have found that a digital meat thermometer is the real trick to perfect roasts.  After you learn proper placement you will not only be able to know when the roast is done, but also be able to hit your doneness of choice without fail.  The other trick is finding days that I can both be home for the two hours prior to dinner AND not have a specific time to be somewhere after dinner.  Finding those days has rewards, not only do we have a marvelous dinner that day but we will also have lovely roasted meat for sandwiches or even a second dinner with very little work.

 

Easy Salmon Glaze

I made the world’s easiest glaze for our grilled salmon tonight!  So yummy too!  I just combined equal parts of orange marmalade and *hoisin sauce.  I heated it about 10 seconds in the microwave to make mixing easier.  I brushed it on the salmon when it was about half-way done, any sooner and the sugars would pass by the caramelized stage and burn.

*Hoisin can be found in the international or asian section of a larger supermarket.  I think of it as asian BBQ sauce.