Caramel Sauce

I am back from the TKGA convention in Greensboro, SC. It was at a beautiful venue with a lovely hotel (Sheraton). My classes, as always, were full of fun and wonderful people, and the market was just the right size. Getting there was a nightmare, as the regular flights should have taken no more than 3 hours. I was unlucky enough to get cancellations and delays that equaled 12 hours. Basically, I could have walked on my hands faster! Coming home was slightly less traumatic, although the DC airport was shut-down for almost an hour, so we spent that hour sitting on the runway in Greensboro. I love what I do, but hate the air commuting.

We are experiencing a beautiful Indian summer here in CT, and today was downright hot and humid, but I am loving every minute of it because I know how cold I am going to be in 2 months.

We spent a lovely 10 minutes picking apples at the local orchard. The trees are so loaded that you don't even have to move around to pick 20 lbs worth! I made an incredible caramel sauce to go with an apple crisp that we will make in a few days. Here is the recipe:

1 c granulated white sugar
6 T unsalted butter
1/2 c heavy cream (be careful lifting it; you don't want to throw your back out)
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Put the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat; let it start to melt, then stir until totally melted.
Add the butter, cut up in tablespoon sized pieces. and let it melt into the sugar.
Add the heavy cream, the vanilla, and the salt. Stir everything together and cook a few minutes, stirring. Let cool. Be careful licking the spoon and the pot, as melted sugar is super-hot!!

We like to put it over apple crisp and/or ice cream. We eat it other ways too, but you can use your imagination.

Tomorrow we will shoot a video for the blog. Good-night; it is more than wonderful to be sleeping in my own bed with the real (not hotel AC) air coming through an open window.