Homemade Gumdrops

I can't believe it's another week gone by. Where is the time going all of the sudden?

I think someone has pushed the fast forward button on my life when I just want to hit the pause, just for a few minutes.

It was a crazy week, what with Online Blogcon, then the kids had me running every which way. Weekends are normally family time, relaxed, sometimes we don't even leave the house. Not this weekend.


Hubby decided we needed to have a date night Friday night. Don't get me wrong, I love date night. Just the two of us, out for dinner, or a movie, or shopping, nothing over the top, but it's just us. Hubby wanted to go to Joe's Stone Crab. No idea why that got in his head but oh yeah baby, I'm all about eating some crab. Joe's Stone Crab is 89 miles from our house, no biggie, we'll leave about 5 pm get there around 6:30 pm. perfect time for dinner.

Here's how my weekend went. Get up early on Friday. I have to bake 15 dozen cookies (3 different recipes,) 36 muffins, my Coffeehouse Coffee Cake Muffins, all for a big bake sale Grace is doing Saturday morning. Oven is preheating at 8 am. Butter's softening in the mixing bowl. As I'm making that first double batch of cookies I realize I'm going to run out of sugar before the day is done. Mom to the rescue, she's happy to run to the store for me. Chocolate Chip-Pecan Cookies all baked and cooling on racks on the table. Lemon Sugar Cookies dough made, first batch baking in the oven. Go to make Dark Chocolate Tiger Cookies, CRAP! This dough needs to refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours. I don't have 6 hours, we're leaving to go to dinner at 5 pm. Make dough, throw it in the freezer. Continue baking the Lemon cookies. Get ready to make the muffins. CRAP! I'm out of sour cream! Finish baking lemon cookies, change my shirt (no I haven't had a shower yet,) hop in the truck and run to the store for sour cream. Back home in 15 minutes flat. No I didn't break any speed records, the store is only 5 minutes away. Make up muffins, bake, bake, bake.

All the while washing dishes as I go. I can't stand dirty dishes in the sink. On the last tray of muffins, I hop in the shower, timer on the bathroom counter so I make sure they don't burn.

Back out to kitchen, towel on my head. Grab the chocolate dough out of the freezer, still a bit soft in the middle but I can work with it. It's now 2 pm. After each tray is placed in the oven, I'm putting the dough back in the freezer. Cassie walks in the door at 3:07, I bribe her (with money) to package up and add ribbon for all the cookies, while I try and get pictures done for these gumdrops (which I made the day before) and also take new photos of all the above cookies and muffins. Last tray of cookies out of the oven at 4:10 pm.

Decide I'd better try and get a jump on the laundry (very smart idea considering how my weekend went) Load one in washer. Hubby and I leave the driveway for dinner at 5:30 pm (not my fault, honest!) Traffic to Atlanta is HORRIBLE! We honestly thought traffic going into Atlanta wouldn't be too bad, silly us. By 7 pm, we're both talking about just pulling into the nearest McDonald's and grabbing some fries. You never saw me say I had lunch, did you? All I'd had to eat (besides the few samples of cookies dough) were 1 cookie and a few pieces of cheese. I was STARVING! Joe's was worth it though. Back home at 11 pm.

That was just Friday. Saturday, we spent all day doing a bake sale at an Antique Car Auction. Leave the house at 9 am and don't return until 4:30 pm. Let me tell you, the first few hours of the car auction were really cool, I'd never been to an auction before, those auctioneers can talk FAST! And some of the cars...I really need to win the lottery, there was one Thunderbird that was just calling to me. It was Grace and her BFF, doing the bake sale to raise money for their DC trip in February. The girls were great but they're in the 5th grade. After 4 hours, they're getting tired of behaving and looking cute. Now they're antsy and looking bored. It was worth it, they did really well and they've been invited back to the next auction.

Get home, hubby knows if he wants to eat something other than PB &J he'd better handle it. Out to the local pizza place for dinner we go. Try to catch up on a few things on the computer, FB, Blog and just talking with the hubby while watching tv together. Bed by 11 pm. Oh, I did some more laundry too.

Sunday morning. We have to go back to Atlanta, this time the north side, for the Blogcon meet up. I'll tell you more about that on Saturday. If we're going to Atlanta, I want to go to IKEA. I've never been and I've heard so much about it. Hubby's accommodating. Yes, he's a good man and drove me. I can't stand big city driving. Remember, we have 4 traffic lights in our town and that's it. Leave the driveway at 9:30 am, surprise,  NO TRAFFIC! We get there with an hour before the meet up. Not much is open so we just walk into Marshalls. Marshalls, if you read this, make our store in Warner Robins as nice as the one in Alpharetta, Georgia. I found a new cake stand and the cutest little red colander. Sever other treasures but I held myself in check, I still have IKEA in my future.

Wonderful lunch with 3 lovely ladies, time for IKEA. Having never been there, I had no idea how HUGE that store really is. I knew it was a warehouse but it's a warehouse the size of a football stadium! We walk in the store at 3 pm and believe it or not, we're out by 4:30 pm. Power shopping! Honestly, I was so overwhelmed, I didn't do the store justice. The prices were fantastic, I did get a few nick-knacks and the coolest bar to hold my coffee cups under the kitchen cabinets. I'll be going back there, next time, it will be the only reason we go to Atlanta. IKEA, I heart you.

Call kids on the way back home. Grace was still at a friends house till after dinner, CJ and Cassie are fine, CJ has church group at 6 pm so it'll just be 3 of us for dinner.  Hubby decides on more take out instead of the leftovers in the fridge. I'm ok with that. Sometimes weekends like this happen. I still have to finish up laundry, pick CJ up at 8 pm, get Grace back home, write up this post. Oh....and finish up the laundry.

WOW! Just reading back over this post is making me worn out again. Glad our weekends aren't always so packed. Do other families run crazy like this?

The kids loved these gumdrops. They're softer than a gumdrop you'd buy in the store, the flavor is whatever flavor Jello you choose. Loved the Cherry, Lemon and Lime, the BerryBlue was ok. Cassie suggested next time making some sour ones, so be on the look out for Sour Gumdrops in the future.

Homemade Gumdrops
Adapted from Taste of Home

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup apple juice
1 package Jello Gelatin, 4 serving size-color of your choice
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
extra sugar for rolling

Coat a Loaf pan with cooking spray. You can also use an 8x8 pan, gumdrops will be thinner.  Place pan in refrigerator until ready to use.

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan, let sit for 1 minute. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly  Once you reach a steady boil, continue to boil for 1 full minute. Pour into chilled pan and return to refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

Once gelatin is set, run knife around edges to loosen. Using a spatula, remove gumdrop slab to wax paper and cut into desired shapes using a sharp knife. If knife starts to get sticky, run under hot water. Transfer cut gumdrops to a tray lined with fresh wax paper to dry at room temperature for at least 10 hours, preferably overnight. I placed my tray in the cold oven to dry. Roll gumdrops in granulated sugar and store in airtight container.

Need a vegetarian version? Tickling Palates has you covered! And she made them Chocolate!
Looking for other ways to play with Jello? How about some Jello Popcorn, Jello Sugar Cookies or Jello Swirled Cupcakes?

I'm sharing at some of these great parties.