Life Lessons I Learned While Making Caramel

I love to bake, especially at Christmas time. So when I was invited to take part of a cookie bake I was all in. The plan was for all of us to make a different kind of cookie and then share, so we all got a good mix of cookies. I wanted to try something new so I decided to make caramels. Little did I know what I was getting into.

Since we were sharing cookies I decided to double the recipe. I wanted everyone to have many caramels to share. The directions were fairly simple stir constantly until boiling and then heat until it reaches 245 degrees on a candy thermometer. How bad could that be?

The others had moved on to frosting or making their second cookie and I was still stirring. I was beginning to regret the choice of making caramels. In fact, at one point I decided to never try to make caramels again! A solid hour and a half later I was on the verge of done!

So there I was minding my own business stirring those caramels when it hit me. There are some great life lessons to be learned from making caramel.

The first thing I realized was that sometimes there are no short cuts. Stirring those caramels to boiling and then to the proper temperature was the only way to get great tasting caramel. If I would have stopped early, the batter would have been runny and not at all a good caramel. It helped me to remember that sometimes in life no matter how much I want to find a shorter way to complete the task I have started. The only way is to see it through to the end.

The second thing was that good things are worth the wait. That particular phrase is a mixed bag for me because on the one hand being told the long wait and process towards our adoption will all be worth it, is not always comforting. On the other hand, not everything in baking or life for that matter can be obtained in a short amount of time.

The last thing I learned was that cooling and cutting the caramel into pieces was just as much a part of the processes as the cooking. At one point I thought I would be stirring all afternoon. That everyone else would finish her cookies; leave and I would still be stirring. Of course that did not happen. But, as I was in the midst of stirring and stirring and stirring some more, I forgot the best part. Cooling and cutting the caramel into pieces, which is of course the only way caramel can be eaten and enjoyed.

It is easy for me to forget that all this paper work will be done. Once that happens and it gets sent to Ethiopia, we wait for a referral. When we get a referral, we wait for a court date when we get to meet our children and legally become their parents. After that we come home and wait for an embassy appointment. When we have an embassy appointment we are then able to go back to Ethiopia and the kids will be able to become US citizens. At that time they will be able to travel home with us. All this to say, there is so much more exciting things to come in our process then waiting for papers and chasing papers. But like stirring the caramel, the task at hand becomes so tedious, so tiring, so like it is never going to end, that you can forget that it leads to something better yet to come.

All that stirring produced some good tasting caramel. If I had taken a short cut, or stopped early the caramel would have not turned out. Isn’t that just how things in life are? Just when you think you cannot possibly stir another minute. You are done. When that happens you begin to be able to enjoy the fruit of all the stirring. I look forward to when I can be done stirring.