Attack of the Caramel Apples!!!

As most of you know I La-a-a-a-OVE Halloween! My favorite part . . . . the treats! My ewey-gooey Oreo-encrusted, chocolate-dripped caramel apples are now famous in at least 4 states ;-). But this year they turned on me--and they turned with a vengeance. For you out-of-Staters (who I KNOW miss these devilishly-delicious treats) might wind up with a sinister grin on your face after reading this horror story . . .

It all started like any other Halloween week . . . okay . . . so not exactly like any other Halloween week. The goblins were wreaking havoc on the intestinal tracks of our family and friends. Zoe came down with the stomach flu over the weekend; Mia got it yesterday morning; Craig was hit last night; and Ms. Mary this afternoon. I'm washing my hands like a medic and was considering even passing on the ritualistic apple caramelization process this year to spare any friends of potential cross-contamination. But, this evening, I figured I could at least turn-out a few for Mia's teachers, our neighbors, and Craig's office. Prepped and ready to go, Craig put the girls to bed (despite the devils in his belly) so I could get to work on my treats. With the caramel-a-melting, apples-on-sticks, cookies-crushed, chocolate out; my assembly line was in near-perfect form. Then, not since the "Coke-can incident", has there ever been an accident quite like this one . . .

. . . Oh. Yes, well. Most of you probably don't even know about the "Coke-can incident", so let me diverge for a moment. Little did you know, but pointing your big toe when you have kids and a swimming pool during the summer months is quite a common requirement. I found this out after being diagnosed with a pinched nerve and having to get cortisone shots in the top of my foot a few years ago. I, for the life of me, could not figure out how this could have happened. And then I remembered . . . the edge of that diet Coke can tumbling out of the pantry right onto the top of my foot many months earlier. Ouch. Very much a "Julie accident"; out-of-memory but with a strange side affect.

So. Similar in nature to the "Coke-can Incident", tonight is being coined "Attack of the Caramel Apples" (you can say/read it in a scary monster-voice for more of an effect). As my caramels were melting for the second time, I decided to get a glass of water (you know, a glass of water is an absolute requirement when creating sweets, since the components of the sweets must be taste-tested as you go along. This is crucial to the quality control process).

My microwave timer went off and I grabbed my perfectly super-bubbly caramels out of the microwave.

{Now this next part happened in slow-motion} . . . the caramel bowl tipped slightly with the bubbly-steamy caramel touching the palm of my left hand. Then it tipped the opposite way, slightly, and got the tip of my middle finger on my right hand.

{Now this part seemed to have happened in fast-motion} . . . . I grabbed my water glass from the frig before it overflowed and stuck my fingertip in it; set down the bowl; raced to the sink and put my hand under cold water; went back to the frig for ice for my hand; then realized there was severe pain involved with what is probably a third-degree burn on my hand (it bubbled slightly, so my diagnosis is a third-degree burn).

Blessed with a husband who did not laugh when I asked him not to (before I told him what happened), he helped me mummify my hand and offered to go out and get burn cream for me, even with his stomach flu--too sweet! (But, I went and got that myself. . . . . after I finished dipping the apples, of course. Can't let perfectly good melted-caramel go to waste!).

So now I'm sharing my spooky Halloween story with you, as I sip the "blud from the grape" {you can say/read that like a vampire, for effect}. And, I wish you all the HAPPIEST of HALLOWEENS, free from devilishly horrifying acts (or accidents ;-).

Tune-in next year to see who wins the caramel apples or this mummified mummy!