When I updated my Party Lens, I was surprised to find out that Dec 7 was National Cotton Candy Day. After quite a bit of research, I found that this isn’t an actual national holiday. But I was determined to find out more about the day. Dec 7th seemed to be an odd day to celebrate cotton candy. Normally, cotton candy is associated with fairs and Circuses which would occur mostly in the summer and early fall. I did not find any information as to the origins of this day. But I did come across a lot of really interesting information about cotton candy:

Cotton candy was invented by Thomas Patton, Josef Delarose Lascaux, John C. Wharton, and William Morrison. In 1899 the cotton candy machine was patented by William Morrison  and John C. Wharton and made its debut in St. Louis at the 1904 World’s Fair. They called it Fairy Floss. They sold 68,655 boxes of their Fairy Floss which came to a grand total of $17,163.75. Wow! in 1904, that was a lot of money.

The cotton candy machine has changed somewhat since it was patented, however, today’s machines are not very different from the original design. The machine used to make cotton candy consists of a small bowl, into which sugar is poured and food coloring is added. The sugar reserve bowl is spun at high speed while heaters near the rim melt the sugar, which is squeezed out through tiny holes by centrifugal force.

The molten sugar then solidifies in the air and is caught in a large metal bowl surrounding the central sugar reservoir bowl. The operator of the machine twirls a stick, cone, or their hands around the rim of the large catching bowl, gathering the sugar strands into portions.

I think one of the reasons children love it so much (other than the fact that it is pure sugar) is that it melts in your mouth like a snowflake when you eat it. Cotton candy isn’t as bad for you as most people think. Even though it is made purely of sugar, it is so light that there is about the same amount of sugar in a can of soda.

Check out this funny video of Cotton Candy Disaster. Where will you get your cotton candy today?

Chia Pet Rescue

Getting ready for the big night

I am very excited about today. It is Saint Nicholas Day. Today marks one of the many milestones in the countdown to Christmas.

Saint Nicholas was a fourth century bishop who was renowned for his great kindness and his generous aid to those in distress. Some of his acts of kindness included saving three young girls from prostitution by secretly providing them with dowries, raising three murdered boys from the dead, and saving sailors caught in stormy seas.

Traditional celebrations of Saint Nicholas Day in Northern Europe included gifts left in children’s shoes, which is what our tradition of hanging stockings comes from.Children who were good received gifts of candies, cookies, and other goodies. Children who had misbehaved received lumps of coal. I remember my mother telling me to be good so that I didn’t get a lump of coal in my stocking. Now I know where this comes from.

December 6th is celebrated as his feast day. So, have a big feast today and celebrate Saint Nicholas!

Check out the other celebrations today on my celebrations lens.

Chia Pet Rescue

I just updated my lens on Creative Gift Giving for the holidays.

Chia Pet Rescue

I have been posting some of my favorite holiday treat recipes. My holiday festivities are not complete without toffee. This is a recipe that I have use for years and it is still my favorite toffee recipe.

1/2 C boiling water
1 C packed brown sugar
1 C sugar
1/3 C light corn syrup
1/8 t salt
1/3 C butter
1 C semisweet chocolate chips
1 C toasted almond slivers

• Add sugars, corn syrup, and salt to boiling water. Once it is dissolved cover the pan and cook over high heat for about 2 minutes. There shouldn’t be any sugar crystals left on the sides of the pan. Using a candy thermometer, cook without cover until temperature reaches 240 degrees. Do not stir. Add the butter and continue cooking until the temperature reaches 300 degrees. This is the hard crack stage.
• Pour into a buttered 13 X 9 inch baking dish. While this is cooling slightly, melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or microwave.
• Spread about 1/2 of the melted chocolate over the toffee and sprinkle with about 1/2 of the almonds. Invert the candy onto a wax paper lined baking sheet. Spread the remaining chocolate and almonds over the toffee.
• Once the mixture has hardened, break into chunks.

Check out my Creative Gift Giving Ideas lens for packaging ideas.

Note: I have added a blog category for my recipes. So you can filter my entries by Recipes! Have a happy Eat an Apple Day!

Chia Pet Rescue

Truffles for Santa

I used to shy away from making truffles as part of my holiday gift-giving candy because they tend to be difficult. However, a few years ago I was looking for something different to spice up my usual gift boxes. I found this recipe for Chocolate Raspberry Truffles that is really easy and is REALLY good. It has become another favorite of the recipients of my candy packages.

Chocolate Raspberry Truffles

1 C semisweet chocolate chips
1 8-oz pkg softened cream cheese
3/4 C crushed vanilla waffers
1/2 C raspberry jam (preferrably seedless)
Finely chopped almonds or walnuts

Melt the chocolate chips in a heavy saucepan or microwave. Stir until completely smooth. Allow to cool slightly.

Beat the cream cheese and chocolate until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the vanilla wafers and jam. The mixture should be fairly stiff. Refrigerate for several hours until the truffle mixture is firm.

Roll into small balls, about 1 or 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Roll the truffles in the finely chopped nuts. Store your truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerators. These can be kept in the refrigerator for several weeks so this is a good item to make ahead of time for gift-giving.

Tips: You can use any type of jam you prefer to flavor your truffles such as apricot or orange marmalade. I have even used a hot pepper jam (yummy and adds a bit of spice). But my favorite is still rasberry. You can also substitue cocoa or powdered sugar for the nuts. I use cocoa many times because some people are allergic to nuts.

Check out my Creative Gift Ideas lens for ideas on wrapping and other fun items to make.

Chia Pet Rescue