01 July 2011

Sweet, sweet day off


Coming St., Charleston, S.C.

Sweet, sweet extra day off, I love you!

It is Crepe Myrtle season in Charleston, we are finally getting some rain and everything looks lush and colorful. Today was the day my brother painted the dangerously high peak of the house. It made me queasy to watch him high up that shaky ladder but he survived. Sheesh. I could never do it. I got a hiking harness and he roped himself to a beam through the attic window - just in case. I had an ear out for thuds on the sidewalk as I did yard work.

Happy Canada Day everyone! I meant to bake butter tarts but Harris Teeter didn't have enough of my favorite tart shells so I thought I'd make my brother something we both enjoy but doesn't have anything to do with Canada. It was a special occasion tradition when we were kids to boil a can of condensed milk under water for three hour to make Dulce de Leche. I'd been reading about a shortcut method in the microwave and thought I'd give it a try.

What a sticky mess! Mine boiled over immediately each time I turned the microwave on. Wow. I kept trying to scoop it back in the bowl so I would lose all the liquid gold but I ended up with about a third of the amount. I need to hose down the kitchen. Heheh. Still yummy though and you can picture me licking a spoonful as I type. Now I will need to wipe down the keyboard.

Anyone else going to the Stephen Colbert in Charleston show?

7 comments:

Sarah said...

Totally saw you at the farmers market today. I would've said "hi" if I hadn't been starstruck! Haha.

Charlestonjoan said...

That is too funny! I stopped by at the end of my walk from Harris Teeter and got some fresh tomatoes. You should have said hi!

Suzie said...

I LOVE sweetened condensed milk and can eat it out of the can. In Mexico when we lived there, we would see people spread it on bread or toast. I have never tried that but I bet it is good! I can't think of any way it would not be good including off the bottom of the microwave!

Anonymous said...

The filling for my caramel slice was a can of condensed milk boiled until this and golden.

Charlestonjoan said...

Susie - my sister! Isn't it yummy? I love it on toast. I think I needed a huge bowl for the microwave method so it couldn't boil over. This was crazy.

maggsworld - love it. Ours is gone already although I admit I lost quite a bit of it in the sticky chaos.

Marcheline said...

Your house looks AMAZING - tell your brother he is being admired across the entire blogiverse!

I've only ever had "dulce de leche" ice cream... but it was delicious!

Charlestonjoan said...

Marcheline - I loooooove the Dulce de Leche ice cream. Love it.

Jim is almost finished. He is taking today off.