One of the things Malia cannot eat is fancy chocolates. Ingredient wise there isn’t always anything that makes them dangerous for her, it’s the cross contact. There are certain things that always have cross contact with peanuts and fancy chocolates are one of those things.
Now this is going to seem like a squirrel moment but stick with me. It all works.
Years and years ago, I used to make caramels every year at Christmas. I love caramels and the homemade ones were far, far better than those square cubes of Kraft caramels that I ate as a kid. But after Matthew was diagnosed with his plethora of allergies, I stopped making the caramels. It just seemed too mean to make such a tasty treat and tell my little guy that he couldn’t have any. And all those years ago, I was not as experienced where cooking without all his allergens was concerned, so I didn’t know how to make a version that worked for him.
With Matthew away from home right now, I have been taking advantage of being able to cook with a bit more freedom. We have discovered that there are some things that we simply prefer in the Matthew friendly versions, but other things have been a delight. And for the first time in many years, those annual Christmas caramels came to mind. And I knew I would be making some. But the cool thing is that with eighteen years’ worth of experience cooking for Matthew, I made some delightful coconut milk caramels last month and sent them off to Arkansas last week. Matthew said they were delightful. Anyway, back to the normal dairy version.
A few weeks ago, Malia happened to spot a box of chocolate-covered caramels that didn’t have anything on the label that would seem detrimental to her health. Now let me educate you just a bit. There is a law in place about labeling for food allergens that are actually in foods, but there is no law regarding labeling for cross contact. Many brands include a “may contain…” or a “manufactured on the same line…” statement on their packages, but they are not required to do so. As such, when I find a product that doesn’t contain any kind of statement, I always treat it as a possibly dangerous item. Especially when it falls into a category that is generally unsafe. Like fancy chocolates. So, we bought the chocolates, with the caveat that I would contact the company and if they were unsafe, we could send them home with the older kids. I did contact the company and unsurprisingly, the caramels had cross contact with just about everything. So, Daniel, Tawni, and Nathan got some fancy chocolates, and I promised Malia that when I made caramels, I would dip some in chocolate so she could experience the wonder.
This week was caramel week and today was dipping day. For years I’ve just used normal spoons and forks for dipping chocolates, but I recently picked up a cheap set of chocolate dipping tools, and they made the whole dipping process much faster and easier. And some simple chocolate drizzling spoons gave me the opportunity to dress the chocolates up just a bit. They turned out pretty, which makes me ridiculously happy. Because tasting good is fantastic, but looking delightful and tasting good is even better! Malia sampled some as soon as she walked in the door after school, and they have earned her stamp of approval. Even the early ones that aren’t as pretty as the others. 😂 As for me, I’m enjoying the undipped caramels. And with a good Matthew friendly version in my cookbook, they just might be back on our yearly Christmas menu.
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