Original post, Eating Local in the Lou, FEBRUARY 7, 2013
Valentine’s Day is in a few days and although there are some great valentine options for purchase, it's way too much fun to make our own. Over the years, my kids and I have enjoyed choosing which valentines to make and give to friends. Last year, we made iPod touch’s out of boxes of conversation candy with string and peanut butter cups for the ear buds. The year before foam fortune cookies, and the year before that, cell phones out of candy buttons. Sadly, I have no photos of any of them.
This year the decision was to make ‘Staches and Smooches Suckers. These suckers are really simple to make and only take about 10 minutes to prepare. You do need a candy thermometer to get the hot candy mixture to a “soft crack”, or 275 degrees.
I followed this recipe, except instead of cherry flavored gelatin I added strawberry per my son’s request. It would be a ton of fun to try more unusual varieties (like apricot…or what about margarita flavor?...well, maybe not for kids)! You definitely have to work quickly as the hot candy mixture starts to harden in just a few minutes.
Once the suckers were cooled, we covered each with tiny cellophane bags that I purchased from Michael’s. We traced ‘staches and smooches onto brown and red foam, cut them out, popped a hole using a tiny hole punch and thread each onto the sucker sticks.
Valentine’s Day is in a few days and although there are some great valentine options for purchase, it's way too much fun to make our own. Over the years, my kids and I have enjoyed choosing which valentines to make and give to friends. Last year, we made iPod touch’s out of boxes of conversation candy with string and peanut butter cups for the ear buds. The year before foam fortune cookies, and the year before that, cell phones out of candy buttons. Sadly, I have no photos of any of them.
This year the decision was to make ‘Staches and Smooches Suckers. These suckers are really simple to make and only take about 10 minutes to prepare. You do need a candy thermometer to get the hot candy mixture to a “soft crack”, or 275 degrees.
I followed this recipe, except instead of cherry flavored gelatin I added strawberry per my son’s request. It would be a ton of fun to try more unusual varieties (like apricot…or what about margarita flavor?...well, maybe not for kids)! You definitely have to work quickly as the hot candy mixture starts to harden in just a few minutes.
Once the suckers were cooled, we covered each with tiny cellophane bags that I purchased from Michael’s. We traced ‘staches and smooches onto brown and red foam, cut them out, popped a hole using a tiny hole punch and thread each onto the sucker sticks.
