Homemade Pecan Turtles Clusters

I was looking for a candy to fill in my recycled glass jars to give as Christmas treats to friends and family this year. I try to different treat every year. Last year I made date balls. You all know my go-to idea place is Pinterest, so off I went. One of my favorite candies is pecan turtles. I have never made them before. I usually purchase them at the local Russell Stover store or at my favorite candy shop in Pigeon Forge. I can eat them until I green in the face.

So, I found a recipe that seemed easy enough, and thankfully, I did a dry run a few weeks before Christmas. The recipe had a few details that I tweaked to improve the outcome of my second batch. I'll explain as I go through the recipe.

My first tweak...the recipe called to put the pecans down and cover with caramel. After doing this, even after placing the clusters in the refrigerator, the caramel was too sticky. So my clusters stuck together, making them almost impossible to get them out of the jars. My solution. I melted some chocolate first, placing a nice dollop down, them pressing the pecans in the chocolate. Once the chocolate hardens, they pop right off. I made one row at a time to keep my chocolate from setting with out the pecans.

  

I love white chocolate too, so I made a batch with milk chocolate and one with white chocolate. Instead of using a double-boiler, I melted my chips in the microwave in 10 to 15 second increments. 

The next step in to make the caramel. This is where my second tweak is...even at the temperature the recipe recommends, my caramel spread all over. It warned that the caramel cooled down fast and was difficult to spread then. I let my caramel cool more. As you can see in the picture above, it still spread. After placing my caramel on top, I let it cool more then took a spoon and scooped it back on top.

Last, I melted more yummy chocolate to place on top. As you can see, that placing warm chocolate on top causes the caramel to run again. I just placed them in the refrigerator, the caramel was easier to handle, less sticky, and could be pressed to the sides of the clusters.

As you can see, they worked out very well. I love the combo of white and milk chocolates together. The full recipe is below. You can play with it yourself, adding or lessening the amounts of chocolate or caramel to your likening. For me, this recipe yielded approximately 40 clusters

Homemade Pecan Turtle Cluster Recipe

• 2 - 2 1/2 cup pecan halves (I used 2 halves per cluster)
• 1/2 cup butter 
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 can sweetened condensed milk (appx. 7 oz)
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla
• 2  12 oz. packages chocolate chips ( I used milk and white chocolate)
• 2 teaspoon Crisco (divided)

1. Cover 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Melt 1 bag of chips and 1 teaspoon of Crisco (in microwave melt at 10 to 15 second intervals). The Crisco helps with the drizzling of the chocolate. Place in dollops along paper, then press 2-3 pecans in chocolate.
3. To make caramel, place butter in medium saucepan. Melt over medium heat. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and condensed milk. Stir continually until well blended. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. It needs to be a thick consistency to stay on top of pecans, so play with it.
4. Carefully drizzle over pecans.
5. Melt the other bag of chocolate, adding 1 teaspoon of Crisco. Placing a nice drop on top of the caramel. With my left over chocolate, I decorated the tops with the other chocolate.
6. Allow turtles to set. They can be placed in the refrigerator to speed this process. Store in an air tight container.

Enjoy and share!

New Treasury: Midnight Snow

'Midnight Snow' by KingMtnTreasures

Looking forward sparkling snow against a midnight sky

11x14 illustration ... AlexWijnen $35.00	Custom Party Invita... seabornpress $80.00	Sabrina Cocktail Ri... BezalelsTree $22.00	Men's Tie - Nav... HandmadeByEmy $59.50
Midnight Romance So... EcoChicSoaps $6.00	Hand Painted Cerami... SylwiaGlassArt $30.00	Christmas Snowflake... CraftyKsCroche... $25.00	Vintage enamel broo... vintageboxofde... $11.00
XL Blue Button Earr... umehandmade $10.00	Navy Blue Necklace,... TheWhirlwind $24.65	Silent Night, Holy ... wheatleypaperw... $85.00	Paw prints bag set ... thedoghouse $12.00
Reversible Duvet Co... Lavishmart $89.99	Sample size BRIGHT ... kawaiigoodies $3.00	Bunny Cosmetic Bag,... NirvanaRoad $14.00	SALE Snowflake Holi... AmeliaKayPhoto... $3.60

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In His Word Wednesday: 1 Peter 5:6

1 Peter 5:6
Therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.

For the last two weeks I have been writing a series on seeking God's guidance. I wanted to share points that will help when you are at the point of making a decision. We all know when God is in the decision, it's always better for us and others. This is part two in seeking God's guidance. If you are just now joining us please go back and read part 1, part 2.

The second thing we need to do before we go before our Creator is surrendering. Submitting to the will of God is both a humbling and uplifting experience. I will also say it is essential. We have to give God control of our lives. In today's society this is not always easy. Not submitting to God and trying to control aspects of our lives is stemmed from good ole pride. When I thing of pride, I always think of the fallen Lucifer and his pride. It is the same for us. Our pride always causes us to fall.

So go to an altar, your living room, bedroom, where ever you feel comfortable, and kneel or lie prostrate (although this is not required, it is very humbling), freely give you life to God. Submitting your life in every area; the future of your job, your marriage, your finances, your health, etc. Trusting God that no matter where life takes you, whether easy or tough, God's will will be done in your life. I have to say to the mothers, this includes our child's lives too. We tend to try to emit motherly control over our children. This can be relevant in young children, but as they get older we have to submit their lives to the Lord. Remember, even as much as you love your child, God loves him/her more, and He has a plan for their life too. I do not want to be the one who gets in the way of that plan.

Submitting to God can be easy when life is going our way, but what happens when the road gets rocky? Trusting God, and not jumping in trying to control and twist things to work out the way we want is not easy (especially for us control freaks). How you deal with these trials will either cause you break down, or it will cause you to mature as a Christian. When we submit and seek God's will in these situations, we are being molded to be more like Jesus.

 

Blessings and Happy Crafting!

The New Store: Mountain Attic

Yes, I did it. I opened another Etsy store. I know several people that have multiple stores, and I always wondered why. I mean, I sometimes find it hard to keep up with one store. I have read that if what you sell varies greatly, it is better to open another store catering to that niche.

 

So, what changed my mind? Well it was my husband, and... a little me. Let me explain. My husband loves those reality shows like American Pickers, Pawn Stars, and Storage Wars. He has always loved going to auctions and yard sales too. So he has decided in his spare time, he was going to purchase storage units and sell the goods out of a local building. He is doing pretty good at it, but the main thing is he loves it. I'm not really an auction person, but I love to yard sale. To find that one piece that fits is always exciting. That is what has happened here. He buys a unit and I rummage through the stuff, looking for that perfect piece. Well, I have found several nice vintage pieces.

 

These pieces are why I opened another store. We are a husband-wife team in this adventure. He travels and brings in the goods, and I take the pictures and list. Our stash is growing on a steady basis. In fact, I don't know how much more we can store here in our home. I recently went to an estate and came home with my Ford Expedition full. In that lot was a very large bag of very nice vintage fabric. It has taken me a while to sort through, measure, and photograph each piece. There is about 50 pieces ranging from 1/2 yard to 3 yards. The biggest challenge has been not to hoard the fabric all to myself.

 

Mountain Attic is what we decided to call it. Our love for these beautiful mountains seems to find its way into all aspects of our life. But I think it has a catchy ring to it. The shop is slowly being filled with lovely vintage and primitive treasures.

 

Take a few minutes to check us out...Mountain Attic.

We also have started a Facebook page.

 

Latest Treasury: Smoky Mountain Mist

'Smoky Mountain Mist' by KingMtnTreasures

Beautiful mist mountains is often the view from my front porch. Enjoy these inspirations.

Smoky Mountain Art ... JimGrayGallery $10.00	Pink and Gray Hair ... BellaMiaDesign $18.00	Handcrafted Pink an... elitewomen $41.90	Pink and Dark Grey ... KarlaWheelerDe... $195.00
Czech glass leaves ... MayaHoney $1.70	Enamel earrings - S... aforfebre $30.00	Catiz Fabric Dual B... BagDoRi $70.00	Pink Grey Floral Pr... graciespawprin... $4.95
Pink grey and black... CreazioniMANIA $13.00	Checkbook Cover wit... tenderroni $13.00	Baby Bedding Crib S... LinenBaby $263.00	Pink Crystal Earrin... mftjewelry $4.75
Gray Infinity Scarf... mojospastyle $65.00	VOGUE GOOSE NAGOIRE... KIMONOSFeather... $3.95	Very soft merino wo... evarica $69.00	Pink And Grey Zippe... handcraftusa $14.50

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In His Word Wednesday: Psalm 56:3

Psalm 56:3
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.

Fear is a natural human reaction to danger. We have many things that causes fear to raise its ugly head: lack of money, deteriating health, lack of security in many aspects of life, etc. The list could go on and on. When fear is squeezing you into despair, trust the Lord. God does not tell us to ignore our fears, but to bring them to Him.
Through the Fire by the Crabb Family

Favorite 5 Friday: Summer Feet

One of my favorite pastimes is browsing Etsy. It's not only a wonderful way to find a fabulous gift or to get inspiration, but also to mingle with like-minded individuals.I will be promoting (blog, Etsy, Twitter) my "Favorite 5" every Friday, so contact me if you would like me to check out your items. Tell me what you think about these items or share some of your favorites...Find something you want, just click on the name. Please take time to visit these shops to see all their awesome items.


It's that time of year where we like to go barefoot and wear cute sandals, so this weeks picks are for the feet.


Walking around barefoot can cause ruff, dry skin. Foot repair for cracked heals.
Twin Toes Foot Repair

I love add a little bling to my feet with a cute toe ring.
Toe Ring

After all those summer activities it's nice to relax with a foot soak.
Peppermint Therapy Foot Soak

We've go to have some lovely polish for our toes.
Nail Polish

Walking around without shoes, out feed not only get rough but dirty. The perfect solution is this loofa with build in soap for scrubbing away the roughness and dirt.
Loofa Soap