Moms are like this salted caramel sauce:
My mom is anyways: Very sweet. Beautiful. Perfect for when I’m bored or am having a bad day and need a boost. May be a tad overwhelming at times. I can get a little sick of it in extra-large doses.
Moms really are the best. I don’t know how they do it. I really don’t. I can’t even keep a plant alive, much less a human child.
And I know everyone supposedly has “the best” mom, but I really do. I could write pages and pages and pages (and pages!) worth of factual evidence to back up this statement, but I won’t. Instead I’ll just keep it to 10 bullet points:
- She is able to put up with my father and his antics. Some of his favorite things to yell to her are “Ma, the meatloaf!”, “Feed me woman!”, and “Watch out, old lady Duesterhoeft!” All of them are from movies or shows and are said quite lovingly. They will celebrate their 32nd wedding anniversary in August.
- She managed to raise four kids, who all have J names (Jon, Jenna, Jaci, Jordan) and grew up into phenomenal and neat people.
- She is hilarious and says funny things like, “I like Candy Crush. It keeps my brain probably good.” and “When I was little I used to wish that Liberace was my dad.” She has an awesome habit of flipping her hair while saying “Seriously.” And she doesn’t mind being the butt of a lot of our jokes. She knows that the more we tease, the more we love. That’s just how our family works.
- She supports me in all my endeavors and helps me make all my dreams and ideas become a reality. (Example: this blog)
- She is probably one of the coolest teachers at Hutchinson High School. Students love “Ms. D” and her classes. She makes talking about teen issues and learning to sew really interesting. A lot of my friends still use the quilts they made in her class.
- She always planned the best birthday parties when I was growing up, like scavenger hunts around the farm and jewelry making parties. Most of these were executed after only getting a few hours of sleep because she stayed up late the night before to make perfectly delicious homemade cakes in various shapes like Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck. She is still great at party planning and threw my sister-in-law the most beautiful bridal shower last summer.
- She never embarrasses me. She may embarrass herself (see #3), but I’ve never been even remotely ashamed to call her my mother.
- She is my role model. She helped me understand the importance of chocolate, a positive attitude, creativity, a wrinkle-free shirt, and cleaning the house before leaving for vacation. She taught me how to bake cookies, sew a quilt, separate my laundry, be involved in too many things, procrastinate, raise a family, and enjoy life. She helped make me into the person I am today.
- She forced me to try (and stick with) things that I didn’t particularly enjoy at the time and claimed “you’ll thank me when you’re older.” Things like being in 4-H, piano lessons, and marching band. Now, of course, I do thank her for those things.
- She is one of my best friends. I can’t imagine keeping secrets from her. I can’t imagine not talking to her multiple times a week. I love hanging out with her and being around her and planning fun things to do with her.
Those 10 bullet points were probably even too much information, but she is just an amazing human being. Plain and simple. She is perfect. Just like this salted caramel sauce.
Some sugar, butter, cream, and sea salt is all it takes.
This caramel is great for drizzling on ice cream and/or eating straight from the jar. However, it is also delicious in frosting, which I will talk about later this week.
- 2 cups sugar
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- Place the sugar into a 2 or 3-quart sauce pan. Heat on a medium-high heat and whisk until the sugar is melted. While the sugar is melting it will turn a little bit clumpy, but it is ok – just keep whisking.
- After all the sugar has melted stop whisking, swirl the pan, and continue to cook until it reaches 350 degrees. It will be a dark amber color and will smell delicious. This process can escalate quickly, so be careful and closely watch the temperature so that the sugar doesn’t burn.
- Add the butter and stir until melted. The mixture will bubble up during this time.
- Remove the pan from the heat and slowly add in the cream. The mixture will bubble up again. Continue to whisk until everything is combined.
- Stir in the sea salt.
- Let the caramel cool for 10-15 minutes before pouring into a jar.
- It will yield about 2 cups. Store in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.
I was able to make this alone, but an extra set of hands would have been helpful and appreciated.
Inspired by this recipe from Brown Eyed Baker.
I know this ode-to-mothers post is a day late, but I was hanging out with my mom (along with my dad and brother) yesterday. We baked, brunched, laughed, and had a grand time. Therefore, there was no time to post this until right now.
Here are my favorite mother/daughter pictures from the last year:
Happy (late) Mother’s Day to my mom and to all the other fabulous mom’s out there!! You are all so amazing. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO <3
What a beautiful tribute to Dori….who also was the cutest flower girl in our wedding 47 years ago.
Donna ❤