Buffalo Sponge Candy

Sometimes, being a chemist comes in very handy in the kitchen. In my previous candy experiments you might have noticed the massive amount of molten sugar I’ve been working with. From the marshmallows to the taffy and the butterfinger bars, I’ve been going through pounds and pounds of sugar and my kitchen is getting pretty sticky. (I found some rogue purple sugar this morning while toasting a bagel!) This danger of the sugar is not what makes my PhD an asset, it is my familiarity with failure.

Failure Number 1

As a synthetic organic chemist, one gets pretty used to failure. You begin with a plan on paper and you set upon this path. A new project is exciting, you order your reagents and get everything in order.  At first things go well and your chemistry works!  Then you hit a wall. Perhaps a reaction that you expected to work one way does nothing at all, or worse, something unexpected. The reaction could even destroy all of the forward progress that you have already made, sending you months back.


Failure Number 2

Your original plan gets torn apart after a series of failures and you re-write your scheme. No matter how many failures you have there is still that end goal in sight, the completed molecule. You’ve got to finish the project! So, no matter how many failures you have and how many walls you hit you eventually find a way. Success comes to the persistent and persistence pays off (with candy).


At Last!  Sweet Success

This candy was a little tricky to make, only because I didn’t have the right recipe. Many people have sponge candy recipes, but they weren’t coming out like my sponge candy. So many recipes called for vinegar and baking soda, which turns out to be totally unnecessary for the desired reaction. This recipe was the first failure. The second failure involved a recipe that called for heating honey to 300, this causes honey to burn.

After a little research into how Buffalo sponge candy is made, I had worked out a recipe and right the method of how to put it together.  This final batch came out exactly like I remember it from Watsons and I’m sharing my recipe with you. Don’t worry, I’ve worked out all the kinks for you. These failures lead to candy gold.


Eat me

Ham & Cheese Risotto

All you have is ham? Go back two spaces. Get away scott free after breaking the gym lights. Go ahead three spaces. Dramatically break your ribs on the first day of your honeymoon. Go back one space. How many board games do you know of that contain these particular cards? How many games can only be played in the presence of one person?  Have you ever played a game that it doesn’t matter how well you do, you might never win?

These playing cards all tell stories; they are glimpses into my friends life. This past weekend was a walk down memory lane and it was one hilarious walk. Boyfriend and I journeyed to Buffalo, NY this weekend for a surprise birthday party. It was a long trip, six and a half hours in the car, and we spent barely more time in town than we did in the car. Thankfully, the party was all worth it.

We were there to celebrate the 30th birthday of a longtime friend, T-. Many of us had come from far away, travelling in from New Jersey, Ohio and Washington, DC. We had all gone to high school and college together and this is the year that we all turn 30. So, in a sense, it was a celebration for all of us! (Happy birthday class of 1999!)

The night was topped off with a present, the present to end all presents! A board game. This was not just any board game, it was the Game of T-! To celebrate T-'s birthday, several friends got together and created a board game of his life. Since we’ve all been friends for the past fifteen years, there are many, many stories we share. This game brought all the memories back and I have to give major props to the friends that brought this game to life. We were up into the late hours of the evening playing this game, laughing and reminiscing. Stories were retold for the benefit of those who came into our lives at later points and oh yes, did I mention the laughing?

To continue the celebration, I decided to make some ham and cheese risotto. An homage to D-, who was disappointed by what T-‘s fridge had to offer one late night. Perusing the fridge, D- professed “All you have is ham?” Then he decided to open a can of tuna.

Grape Salt Water Taffy

Am I the only one who woke up this morning and wondered why it was still dark out? It’s 6am and my alarm goes off. I’m at my most confused and vulnerable at this time of day and the sun has decided to desert me! Now, I’m pretty sure I slept past 6am on Sunday (being that I didn’t hit the sheets until 3am, but that’s another story) but I thought the sun had been peeking over the horizon by 5:45 these days.

It's a blob!  A blob of deliciousness!

It took me a full two hours to remember that we set the clocks ahead yesterday, then another two minutes to do the math and realize 5am was now 6am and the sun wouldn’t be making an appearance until I was just about the head to work. Like I said, my brain doesn’t start functioning properly until I’ve been awake for at least an hour. This is also why I like to get to work at 7am, no one is there. I don’t have to talk to anyone. Am I the only one that likes to be alone with myself this early in the morning?

This is not to say that I’m not a morning person. I most definitely am a morning person. I would much rather wake up at 5am than stay up until 2am. When the alarm sounds I reach for the off button and head to the shower. Even though the snooze button is about 1000% larger than the off button, I’ve never hit the snooze button. I don’t see the purpose of those extra fifteen minutes. Although, I will dive back under the covers if I happen to wake up two minutes BEFORE my alarm. I know, it’s weird.

So, the missing sun really threw off my routine this morning. Thankfully, the late-rising sun means a late-setting sun and a late-setting sun means spring is on its way. And it’s about time, I’m sick of dreary East Coast, winter-like weather. Bring on the sandals, sun dresses and bikinis, I’m ready to shed my Northface!