Grandma Shelley made a comment on my post about making licorice with grandchildren.  She mentioned that she had been contacted by the LA Times to write about the grandma camps that she does for her grandchildren.  She has some great ideas that I think my readers ought to be aware of.  You can click here to read what she has to say.

Grandma Shelley has good advice about doing lots of pre-planning and preparation for her grandma camp.  So, if you have the mid-winter blahs like I do, now is the perfect time to start thinking and planning what you would like to do for your very own Grandma Camp. (Or, you can start planning and preparing for a trip to Fiji like I am!)

If I put the rule down that the grandchildren have to be potty trained before they can come to a grandma camp, it’s going to be a long time before I can do a camp!  Sheesh!  Since Simon is only 2 1/2 months old and Natalie is only six months old, they really can’t do much anyway . . . I tried to get Simon to play Twister with me when he came over two days ago.  He just looked up at me from my arms and grinned . . .

Isn’t Simon cute??

You might also want to read about the heart attack that Grandma Shelley gave her grandchildren.  I know that Valentine’s Day is over.  But — you can start collecting ideas and preparing for next year, huh? Great ideas, Grandma Shelley.

Do any of you have activities that you have done with your grandchildren?  Please feel free to post a comment and share them here.

Thanks a bunch!

I mentioned in my posting about Lewis Day (creating your own family holiday) that our son and his wife left pieces of homemade licorice around the house.  I finally got the recipe and finally made it.

I had to exert TONS of self-control with the candy they left us and eat only one or two pieces at a time because it was so yummy.

As I wrapped up the candy that I made, I didn’t have any self-control.  At the end, I almost felt like I was sugared out.  I’ve decided I have lots of self-control when there isn’t any tempting thing to eat in the house.  When it’s right in front of me and I’m working with it (wrapping the pieces of licorice in pieces of wax paper), I’m a goner.  I ought to join Licorice Anonymous . . .

Here’s the recipe.

Licorice Caramels

2 cubes butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon black paste food coloring
1 teaspoon anise flavoring oil

Line a 9×13 inch pan with foil.  Butter the foil and set aside.

Slowly melt butter in a large, heavy pan.  Use a fork to swirl butter up the sides of the pan to prevent sugar crystals.  When melted, add the rest of the ingredients — except the black paste food coloring and the flavoring.

Turn heat to medium-high and cook stirring constantly with a flat bottom wooden spoon.  Do not cook on high heat.  It will scortch!)

Cook to 234 degreed on candy thermometer (soft ball stage).  Remove from heat and add coloring and flavoring.  Mix well so there are no light colored streaks in the caramel.

Pour into prepared pan and let sit in a cool place overnight.  Turn out on a cutting board and remove foil.  Cut into squares and wrap in waxed paper.

Now that you’ve read the recipe, let me give you a couple of hints — based on my experience.  First, about the coloring.  When I went to the store, the clerk told me about a powdered coloring.  “It will last 30 years and won’t go bad,” she said.  I thought that sounded like a great deal.  The food coloring from my cake decorating days that sat in my cupboard was 30 years old.  That’s why I went to get new coloring. . .

However, the coloring wasn’t a dark black.  It was more a greenish steel gray.  The candy tastes yummy but looks rather odd.  I recommend that you try the gel coloring instead.

Second.  My daughter-in-law said that her sister just sprayed a cake pan with Pam instead of lining the pan with foil.  (At least that is what my memory told me.)  Even though I sprayed the pan it was rather hard to get the licorice out.  (And then there was the flavoring from the spray.  I had to wipe the oil off so it wouldn’t over power the yummy licorice flavoring.)  So, next time, I’m going to use buttered foil in the pan.

Third.  When the recipe said to put in a cool place overnight, I thought, “Put it in the fridge.”  The fridge is a cool place, right?  Well, I think it is almost too cool.  The licorice was really hard to cut.  And that leads me to my fourth suggestion.

Fourth.  Test out your candy thermometer BEFORE you make the candy.  It had been a long time since I used my thermometer.  Heck, I don’t even know if I really even used it at all!  As I was cooking the candy, it started looking like candy at the hard ball stage instead of the soft ball stage.  But the thermometer didn’t say 234 degrees.  So, I’m thinking that part of the reason the candy was so hard to cut was because it was cooked too long.

You might want to make a practice batch before you invite your grandchildren over to make it with you.  That way, you’ll work out the kinks beforehand.  Then, you’ll have a much happier time with your grandchildren!

Candy making is a great skill to add to your grandchildren’s culinary repertoire.  Happy cooking!

The other day, I watched a video by a young mother who was quite incensed about the condition that her children came home in after spending time with grandma.  She was vehemently angry.

I was rather taken back by her anger.

She was upset because her mother and father fed her two daughters candy and soda pop when the granddaughters came for a visit.  The grandparents didn’t put the granddaughters down for a nap.  Nor did they put them down at their regular bed time.

The mother complained how she had to ‘detox’ her daughters every time they came home from grandma’s house.

The video cut away to show a little girl about two-years-old wallowing on the floor, whining.  The mother said this was how her daughter acted after spending time at grandma’s house.

Then it showed another girl about four-years-old.  The mother asked the little girl what she ate at grandma’s house.  The little girl replied, “Candy.”  Then, the mother said, “And what about soda pop?  Does grandma let you drink that?”  To which the little girl replied, “Yes.”  Somehow, it came off as if the mother had prepped the little girl in what to say.

The video ended with the mother weakly saying that she did appreciate that her parents spent time with her children.  Really, she did.  And that it was so nice that the grandparents and grandchildren were developing a relationship.  But after all of the strong venting at the beginning, the I-really-appreciate-my-parents at the end came off extremely week.  Extremely.

I’ve been pondering this video for a couple of days now and have decided to write about it here.  I’d like to give advice to all my grandmother readers so that their grandchildren won’t have to be detoxed when they go home.

Advice #1:  Limit the amount of sugary treats and foods that you give to your grandchildren.  You probably didn’t give tons to your children.  Follow the same common sense with your grandchildren!

I know that grandmas often feel compelled to give grandchildren cookies, candy, cakes, and other sugar-laden edibles.  Just keep in mind: moderation in all things.  A little bit of sugar goes a long way.  I’m not against treats.  Just gobs and gobs and gobs and gobs and gobs of it.  (Well for grandchildren, anyway.  Tons for me are just fine . . . )

Advice #2:  When at all possible, make sure that grandchildren get their naps.  Put them to bed at their regular bedtimes.  Children who don’t get enough sleep are cranky.  Grandmas who don’t get enough sleep are cranky.

Advice #3:  YOU are the one who is in control.  YOU are the adult.  Don’t be buffaloed by your innocently smiling grandson who says that ‘mommy lets me smear peanut butter all over the brand new carpet in the living room.’  Come on.   Use common sense.

If you didn’t let your children swing from the chandelier, I’m sure you don’t want your grandchildren doing it either.  While you don’t want to be such a stick in the mud that grandchildren can’t do anything in your home, you don’t have to let them wreck it either.  They need to learn things such as running is an outside activity — and not in your home; wiping the mud off their feet on the outdoor mat is what they do  — and not tracking it in mindlessly all over the place.  Things like that.

Advice #4:  Talk to your children and their spouses.  Find out their feelings on different issues.  (Hopefully it can be a calm, adult conversation.)  That way, you can come to an agreement on issues such as these.  And hopefully that will negate your child from posting an angry video about you for the whole world to see.

You know, I wondered just why that daughter felt so compelled to rant so very publicly about her feelings.  I wondered why she just didn’t talk to her mother . . .

When you have the discussion, do it with gentleness and love and without any criticism on anybody’s part.  After all, parents and grandparents love those little rug rats.  And they both want what’s best for them.

Grandparents just need to use common sense . . .

I know snow still lurks in my yard.

I know that just days ago, Washington D.C. got hammered with a record breaking snowstorm.

I know it is still considered winter — even though stores are starting to sell swimsuits.

But that doesn’t stop me from writing about my latest find — glow-in-the-dark Frisbees!  Wait, these are called light-up flying discs.  Frisbee is a registered trademark that others can’t use.

Actually, the real name is ‘Flashflight L.E.D. Light-Up Disc.’  It’s made by Nite Ize.  The flying disc is great for daytime use.  But a simple flick of a switch turns this flying disc into a glowing orb floating through the air (or rolling on the ground  . . . that’s how my disc throwing abilities go . . .)

The ad claims you get up to 100,000 hours of light.  Which to me is a life-time full of light — who in the world will every have the time to play with this toy for 100,000 hours, I ask you?

It come in green, red, blue and Disc-O (whatever color that is!)  They sell for $24.99.  They sell a Junior size which is smaller and cheaper and also the mini disc which is even cheaper and smaller yet.  I’ve just got to get several of each size!

When I saw this, my grandma ideas mind started chuggin’ away.  These would be great as a birthday present — especially for teen-aged grandchildren.  Or, for a unique Valentine’s present, Easter Basket stuffer, or Christmas present (if you as so organized that you are already thinking about Christmas 2010!).

It would be great to have a few of these on hand when your grandchildren come to play.  I can just imagine the fun night games you could play with these things.  Wouldn’t they be a hit at a family reunion, on the Fourth of July, or at a Halloween party?  Never a dull moment with these babies.