Creme Caramel Recipe

This is one of my all-time favorite recipes, but it seems particularly appropriate at Christmas. It lends a lovely light dessert after a heavy meal. I love it and your guests will love you for it!!

This recipe is adapted from Susan Branch.


Creme Caramel

3 eggs
w egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups hot milk
1 cup hot cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cups sugar
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Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat eggs and yolks together, just enough to blend. Heat milk and cream together. Stir 1/2 cup sugar into eggs. Slowly add hot milk mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly. Add vanilla extract.

To make caramel:

Put 3/4 cup sugar into dry skillet over medium heat. Swirl pan, but don't stir. Cook until deep caramel in color. (The sugar dries out quickly as it cools, so work quickly.) Divide the caramel among 8 buttered ramekins, swirling each dish to distribute caramel.

Line a roasting pan with a towel and set the ramekins onto the towel. Pull out the middle rack of the oven and place roasting pan on the rack. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan about 1" deep. Pour the custard into the ramekins, filling about 3/4" full.

Bake for about 45 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes our clean.

Cool, then chill, covered in the refrigerator.

To serve, cut tightly around ramekin.

Invert a small bowl over the ramekin. Turn both upside down. The caramel will slide out on top of the pudding, creating a pool of deliciousness.

Carnival Holiday Cruise

We recently returned from 2 cruises on the Carnival Holiday. We heard 2 stories: that the Holiday has been decommissioned and the it has been taken to Italy to specialize in Mediterranean cruises.

We had cruised with Carnival before and swore we'd never do it again. The price for these back to back cruises was just too good to pass up, so off we went. The Holiday was a lovely ship and the line has shown great improvement.

We were told that our tips would be included in our final bill - which they were. But unlike other ships that have tips included, the waiters, stewards, etc. were standing in our way with their hands out. There were many people that I would like to have tipped extra, but didn't, because I think it is poor policy to require that tips be paid and then ask for more.

Another complaint is that the ship used the docks that were farthest from town or any central attraction, so there was no way to get off the boat and just stroll around without paying the ship to take you somewhere or hiring a cab. (We chose to take cabs.)

As a whole the cruise was very nice, but I'm back to my original feelings regarding Carnival Cruise Line - I will not sail with them again.

Ruth Ann
r2swanger.etsy.com
beadkits.etsy.com

Orientation to Beads

I just found a fabulous site for learning about beads, threads, wires, metals, etc. Be sure and click on:

http://www.blog.landofodds.com/orientation-to-beads/

to read all the details. Fabulous!

Ruth Ann
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com
http://www.beadkits.etsy.com

As Ek Sing

This is the most beautiful song I've ever heard. It is sung in South Africa, so I don't know what it means, but I love it anyway!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw2s1Ymn5iA

Enjoy
Ruth Ann
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com
http://www.beadkits.etsy.com
http://www.raggbaggs.blogspot.com

Greaat People and Great Things

October Events

10 - In 1881, the Shootout at the O.K. Corral took place, spawning over 200 Western movies starring everyone from The Marx Brothers to Kevin Costner. Groucho Marx as Wyatt Earp? Hmmm.....

9 - Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicks over a lantern, starting the 1871 Great Fire of Chicago, and coincidentally, also marks the invention of the barbequed steak.

8 - John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England in 1940.

7 - In 54 A.D., Roman Emperor Claudius died after eating poisonous mushrooms prepared for him by his wife, the Empress Agrippina.

6 - 1871, Thomas Edison successfully tested the world's first electric incandescent light bulb.

5 - Ninety members of the Donner party departed Illinois in 1846, headed for California. Amazingly, there were 48 survivors of the horrific sinter in the Sierras.

4 - The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886. A gift from the people of France to commemorate the French-American alliance during the revolutionry War.

3 - In 1938 Orson Wells radio broadcast of 'The War of the Worlds' panicked millions of Americans who believed the Martain invasion was real.

2 - Queen Marie Antoinette was beheaded following the French Revolution. The wife of King Louis XVI had become the symbol of everything in the French Monarchy.

1 - An ancient traditional celebration combining the Christian festival of All Saints with the Pagan autumn festivals becomes the most fun October day of all - Halloween!

Happy Haunting!

Ruth Ann

http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com

http://www.beadkits.etsy.com

http://www.raggbaggs.blogspot.com

October

OCTOBER:

October Flower of the Month: The Calendula & Cosmos.

Zodiac Signs: Libra / The Scales, Sept. 23 - Oct. 23.

Scorpio / The Scorpion, Oct. 24 - Nov. 21.
The Name for the Moon: for October is Hunter's Moon

The Full Moon is: October 4, 2009/ 06:11 / Sunday

October Birthstone: Opal, Tourmaline, Pink Sapphire

Meaning: Hope

About the month of October

October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name (from the Latin "octo" meaning "eight") when January and February were added. October's birthstone is the opal or tourmaline, and its birth flower is the calendula (pot marigold) or Camellia.

October is commonly associated with the season of autumn in the Northern hemisphere and spring in the Southern hemisphere, where it is the seasonal equivalent to April in the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa. October starts on the same day of the week as January in common years.

Have a great, spooky month!
Ruth Ann
http://www.r2swanger.etsy.com
http://www.beadkits.etsy.com
http://www.raggbaggs.blogspot.com