Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Yippee... Conference this Weekend!

I absolutely love Conference Weekend- a chance to relax, hang out as a fam, and totally refocus on what's most important in life. The messages are always so uplifting and inspiring and I love the opportunity to revamp my life on the very "best" things and improve my spirituality. Here is a link to the Conference Packets... They have different ones from Nursery all the way to Adult!
http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8010

Then I loved this girls idea- you can get this totes at Hobby Lobby or the Target $1 section and fill them with fun things. She said she has found that it is better to give the kids packets a few pages at a time so they all get used. I love that idea because so many pages get wasted when the kids are overwhelmed with a huge packet!
http://brandyscrafts.blogspot.com/2011/09/general-conference-kits.html

And traditions make everything funner! Ger's family always made Caramel Apples for Fall Conference growing up so we have done that the last few years... The kids are already excited to do it this weekend. :-)

Caramel Apple How To's:
1- Take wrappers off carmels from 1 bag of caramels. (Little carmel balls are no good for apples!)
2- Wash apples, dry well, and stick a popsicle stick in each one. (If apples are waxy, you can dip them in boiling water quickly with a slotted spoon to remove that wax. Wipe dry and allow to cool completely.)
3-Cook caramels in saucepan on medium heat with 2 TBS of water, stirring constantly until melted.
4- Line cookie sheet (or each plate for kiddos) with wax paper and butter it or spray PAM! (KEY STEP! They will stick to the wax paper unless you add a little butter or PAM)
5- Dip apples well in carmel, shake off excess carmel, scrap bottom, and set on wax paper.
6- Refrigerate until carmel hardens... about 15 minutes.
7- Melt chocolate or chocolate melts. (Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between. Or a double broiler is an easy way to go and keeps chocolate at a nice temperature if you are dipping a lot)
8. Dip apples in the chocolate and shake off excess. (Note: for harder chocolate that sets a little better you can add 1 TBS shortening per cup of chocolate)
8- At this point you can dip in nuts, sprinkle mini M&M's, drizzle chocolate or whatever topping you want! The kids love making some for Halloween- pumpkins, ghosts, etc.
9- Place finished apples on wax paper and put in refrigerator to cool. Best enjoyed when cut with a knife into slices.

(Here's a fun pic from a few years ago! The kids have grown up so fast!)
Do you have any fun conference traditions?

1 comment:

Lena said...

those look delish! For a couple of seconds I was seriously considering making them...and then I remembered...oh yeah, my food never looks pretty! ha! I will leave the "pretty food" to you and maybe just go for apples and caramel dip : )