I spent Saturday afternoon with a few friends over at A.C.’s mother-in-law’s house baking cookies. Amy made Spritz, I made Caramels and A.C.’s mother-in-law, Carole, made Mocha Logs (I forgot to get the recipe—sorry). Never one to be satisfied with ordinary cookies, A.C. chose to make Rosettes and Krumkake.

I make caramels every year. It’s gotten to the point where people count on them. It's a tradition. They’re not difficult to make, but cutting and rolling each caramel is extremely time-consuming, considering one batch makes well over 100 candies (I always forget to count). In the past, I've made my own wrappers by cutting wax paper into squares. Last year I discovered these which revolutionized the process. Now I’m a caramel-wrapping machine. (I wrapped two whole pans on Saturday.) Once wrapped, I put two dozen or so caramels in little holiday-themed cellophane bags, tie the bags with a festive ribbon and hand them out as gifts.

	I'm going  to be honest with you—I don't use the Betty Crocker recipe for Caramels, I use my mom's. Don't get me wrong, it's not that Betty's recipe isn't good, it's just that mine is better. Besides, I wouldn't want to mess with tradition.     (Photos by Amy)