As I write this entry, I’m nibbling on some homemade chicken soup, which is quite tasty, but seriously flawed. While making the matzah balls, one half of my brain said, “Add an egg.”

The other half of my brain said, “Save the eggs for cooking baking.” In the end, I didn’t add an egg and most of the matzah balls dissolved into gruel. My soup is akin to a bowl of hot cereal with carrots, onions, parsnip, and failed kreplach.

Kreplah are small dumplings filled with chopped meat. I used wonton skins along with some of the chicken from the soup to make my kreplah. Because I only make a dozen or so for a soup, I freeze the wonton skins until I need them. On Sunday morning, my brain said, “Take out the wontons and let them defrost on the countertop.”

Sunday afternoon, the wonton skins were still in the freezer. When I needed to use them, I hacked away at the stack of wontons, breaking most of them. I tossed the broken pieces into the soup, further turning the soup into a gluttonous mass. I did manage to separate a few skins; however, I liberally peppered the chopped chicken that I tucked inside… my kreplah is very over seasoned. If I was on Top Chef, the judges would deliberate ten second before telling me to “pack my knives.”

Last night, I attempted to make another candy… coffee caramels. The execution was flawless. I patiently waited until the mixture reached “firm-ball” then poured in the nuts, grated orange peel, and vanilla. “Success,” I thought until it was time to cut the caramels.

“Cut” took on a new meaning. In the end, Rich resorted to heating a never-used drywall taping knife, coating it with butter then exerting pressure to “slice” through the caramel. I then “squared” up each piece of caramel and placed it in a dainty paper cup.

The caramels taste wonderful… they’re just a tad chewy.