Advent Day 21 :: Help mom make candy (some to give and some to eat), originally uploaded by earthchick.

Every year I make the simplest Christmas candy in the world (Peppermint Bark). This year I let the boys help me, which gave me many opportunities to make them wash their hands.

They kept forgetting the rules:
1 – If you touch your hair, wash your hands.
2 – If you touch your nose, wash your hands.
3 – If you touch your mouth, wash your hands.
4 – If you touch the floor, wash your hands.
5 – And yes, by “wash your hands” I mean WITH SOAP.
6 – When you wash your hands – WITH SOAP – you also need to dry them. With a towel.
7 – Do not lick the spoon until you are all done.
8 – Do not breathe directly over the bowl.

You tell me – am I too finicky? I think not! I wash my hands obsessively while cooking and baking (especially if it’s to be ingested by other people). And I also avoid touching my hair, my nose, my mouth while cooking and baking. It never even occurred to me to touch the floor while baking, but it did occur to Tiny Dancer

At any rate, the boys spent more of our candy-making time washing their hands than doing anything else. But they did help me smash candy canes (in a ziploc bag, with the bottom of a measuring cup – I don’t trust them with my mallet!). And I let them each stir each kind of chocolate for five stirs. That seemed like quite enough help to me!

I also made salted caramel (without their help), and though it tastes delicious, I couldn’t really gift it because I failed to let it get all the way to the firm ball stage. So yeah, I’ve been eating lots of salted caramel by the spoonful.