In preparation for a cookie exchange I attended today, I started my holiday baking by making two batches of toffee. You can find the recipe on my recipe page. Despite the rain, the candy turned out well - my mother always told me not to make candy in wet weather because it won't get hard like it should. This stuff set up without issue, though if left uncovered, which is was for the afternoon prior to swapping cookies, it will start to get a little sticky.

Don't be deterred from making this because it calls for a candy thermometer. It really isn't that difficult. My best advice regarding the candy making process is to be conservative with the heat under your pot while cooking. Start out with it at medium low and when you notice that the temperature is no longer rising, turn it up a little, and keep stirring, until you get to the right temp. I also found that the right temp is between 275 and 300, so there is a window, rather than a specific point.

The latest issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine has some recipes in it for toffees (more the stretchy kind I think, not the Heath Bar kind that my recipe is for) and nut brittles. Some of them sound quite good, a few are on the website.

I also finally made the lotion bar today as a hostess gift. I did a variation on those listed at Get Crafty based on the ingredients that I had on hand. I combined two tablespoons of beeswax pellets, two tablespoons of cocoa butter and two tablespoons of Queen Helene cocoa butter oil moisturizer. I felt that I didn't need to use the vitamin E capsule since the Queen Helene oil contained vitamin E already. If you are going to make this recipe with another oil, and you certainly can use something else - almond oil would be nice, I would urge you to add the contents of a vitamin E capsule to take advantage of it's preservative qualities.

I just combined the three ingredients in a glass jar, microwaved for a minute, stirred, and microwaved for another few seconds until everything was melted. Be careful, the glass jar gets hot! I didn't feel the need to add any essential oils or fragrance oil since the cocoa butter made everything smell yummy and a little chocolatey. Once it's all melted, pour into molds and let set. I put them in the freezer to set, since I was running late and they firmed up in no time. They work great too, my hands stayed quite soft, even after I washed them, but they weren't sticky. These will make nice Christmas gifts, though you need to be sure to put a little note with them explaining that these are lotion bars so people don't try to use them like soap with water, etc...