![Vanilla caramels](http://www.dolcideleria.com/images/blogger/IMG_13174.jpg)
I always seem to go a bit off the grid in December. I'm a far cry from the 80 pounds of candy Grandpa made one year, but I do seem to get lost in the kitchen just the same.
![chopped almonds](http://www.dolcideleria.com/images/blogger/IMG_13156.jpg)
Nuts to chop, sugar to caramelize, chocolate to melt.
![naked English toffee](http://www.dolcideleria.com/images/blogger/IMG_13176.jpg)
![dipping English toffee](http://www.dolcideleria.com/images/blogger/IMG_13185.jpg)
![English toffee](http://www.dolcideleria.com/images/blogger/IMG_13121.jpg)
![tempering chocolate style=](http://www.dolcideleria.com/images/blogger/IMG_13193.jpg)
This was the year I learned to temper chocolate. Also, silicone molds are better for shaping ganache centers for truffles. Turtles should be made with two pecans instead of three, only 24 turtles fit on a tray and I probably should have made at least 30. Dipping is much easier with an actual dipping fork, and, yes, you really should clean the fork between dips.
![turtles](http://www.dolcideleria.com/images/blogger/IMG_13130.jpg)
Maybe some year, I'll keep a count of how many pounds of butter, pounds of chocolate, jars of corn syrup I use between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But probably not. It seems perhaps wiser not to know, exactly.
![drawstring bags](http://www.dolcideleria.com/images/blogger/IMG_13138.jpg)
Although, I think won't wait for November on the bag-making, as has been my habit in previous years. There's no good reason to put it off (other than sheer seasonality), and I might benefit from not adding more stress to my life. November was a rather full month, and I just kept not getting to the bags (Lined Drawstring Bags from In Color Order). They got done, eventually, but a bit closer to deadline than I would have liked.
It's time for a little post-Christmas cleanup around here. There are a couple unfinished bags to sew up, and several pounds of caramel. The bags I know what to do with. It's the caramels that might cause trouble.