So today while cleaning up the breakfast mess, I looked up and saw an overripe banana that would be perfect for banana bread.  I grabbed the cookbook that I thought had the banana bread recipe but when I opened the cookbook I saw the recipe for Carmels! (There is a red line under the word, so it may be spelled incorrectly, but this is exactly how it was spelled in the cookbook). Dictionary.com states this:

caramel 

1725, from Fr. caramel "burnt sugar," ult. from M.L. cannamellis,traditionally from L. canna (see cane) + mellis "honey;" thoughsome give the M.L. word an Arabic origin.

either this is what they meant, or I'm making something completely different named after Mount Carmel 

Carmel  (ˈkɑːməl)
— n
	Mount Carmel  a mountain ridge in NW Israel, extending fromthe Samarian Hills to the Mediterranean. either way, it sounds delicious!

Sadie and Aubree, ready to help!

Here's what we need: 2 cups white Sugar
1 1/2 cups white Karo
1 stick of butter
1 can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of chopped nuts (we didn't have, so we didn't add)

Mix sugar, Karo, butter and 1/4 of the milk.

Cook to soft ball (235 degrees).  Since I no longer have a clip on my thermometer, this was a tricky process, we were stirring, holding the thermometer and holding the pan still.  

Meanwhile: Sadie was buttering the cookie sheet.

I'm not an expert when it comes to soft ball (...except..."Doves are #1"...Summer softball, age 5-9) , so this is what it looked like when we decided it was ready for the next step:

Keep mixture boiling while adding the remaining milk.

Remove from heat, add vanilla (and nuts if you have them)

looks very caramel-like!

Pour in a greased shallow pan.

When cool, cut in squares:

I put it in the freezer for a few hours, because it was real sticky.  It was so much easier to cut after being in the freezer! Next, wrap the squares in wax paper.

Mountain Caramel :)

They didn't get hard, like I thought they should, but I also omitted the nuts.  They taste delicious and hopefully I can master this recipe before Fall, if not I will be using it for apple dip!