Caramel Pecan pie

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup of caramel ice cream topping

1/2 cup butter

two pie crust from freezer section

2 cups whole pecans

3 lightly beaten eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Dash of salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Combine corn syrup, caramel, sugar, and butter in saucepan, bring to gentle boil and continue to boil, uncovered, for additional 5 minutes.

3. Stirring often.

4. Allow mixture to cool slightly.

5. Put one cup of pecans into each pie shell (more if you prefer).

6. Combine eggs, vanilla and salt.

7. Add a small amount of syrup mixture to eggs and mix well. Add rest of mixture but do so very slowly.

8. Pour mixture over pecans, bake 30 to 35 mins or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cover crust with a slim collar of foil to keep crust from burning.

Orange Marmalade

8-10 peeled oranges (save the peels to make orange candy)

1 1/2 quarts orange juice (lots of pulp)

sugar

Put the oranges into a blender and and give them a good blend. Pour oranges and orange juice into a large heavy bottom sauce pan. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 mins. Turn off heat, cover, and let cool. Refrigerate for 8 hours or a whole day.

Freeze a plate. Uncover citrus mixture and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook for about 20 minutes. Turn off heat, measure mixture and then return to pan. For each cup of mixture, add 3/4 cup sugar.

Bring mixture to a boil, stirring often. Cook for roughly 20 mins (till mixture registers 220 to 222 degrees on a candy thermometer), To test doneness of marmalade: Drop a spoonful of on frozen plate. If marmalade has a slight film when pushed with a finger, it's done. If it spreads out and thins immediately, continue cooking, and test again after about five minutes. Transfer marmalade to airtight containers, cool to room temp and refrigerate overnight before serving. It can keep in the fridge for 1 month.

I ran my canning jars in the dishwasher while I cooked the marmalade mixture. Then transferred the hot liquid into the hot jars and quickly put on the lids. Then draped them in a towel to keep the warm. The heat sealed the jars for me.

Hot Chocolate Mix

This makes a lot of the mix. You can half or quarter the recipe if you like.

8 cups nonfat dry milk powder

3 cups sugar

2 cups unsweetened cocoa

2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups powdered nondairy creamer

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon of Mexican hot cinnamon (optional)

1. Measure all the ingredients into a very large mixing bowl and whisk them until they are evenly blended.

2. Store the mix in a tightly covered container at room temp until ready to package.

Don't forget to add a label onto your chosen packaging stating. "Spoon 3 or 4 generous tablespoons of cocoa mix into one cup of boiling water, and stir well"