Caramel Sauce (Alternately Titled: How I almost got my head stuck in a pan)

Oh man...how I've gone 30 years without learning to make caramel is beyond me.  This stuff is SO stinkin' easy to make.  And, btw, it's crazy delicious.  WAAAAAY better than the store bought kind.  Even Braum's.  And we all know I heart me some Braum's.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know you wanna see some pics.  Apparently blogs without pics suck.  Noted.

Let's try the virtual equivalent to a flip book.  As Hayden (the soon to be king of peer-pressure) loves to say, "Ahh, come on, it'll be fun!"

1. Place your right hand on the mouse...
2. Place your finger on the scroll-button-roller-thingy...
3. Now roll your finger down really fast...

 SWEEET!  That my friends is how you turn sugar and water to fabulous [lick-the-scalding-pan] delicious caramel!  Did you like that?  Fun, huh!  {Bonnie - if you're dizzy, I'm sorry!}   

Since I love you, and my plan for world domination doesn't involve this recipe, I'll share it.

Caramel Sauce
1 1/2 c. Sugar
1/3 c. Water
1 1/4 c. Heavy Cream
1 t. Vanilla
1/2 t. Salt

Whisk water & sugar together in medium sauce pan.  Heat on low, WITHOUT (holy crap this is hard...) stirring, until sugar is dissolved.  Once dissolved, increase heat to medium/high and allow to come to a boil.  Allow to boil (now you can "swirl" the pan if it's killing you not to...I know I was having a VERY hard time not stirring...it's just not natural!) until it turns a golden amber color.  This took me about 10 minutes.  Once it's "amber", turn off the heat and add the cream, vanilla & salt.  Warning: It will bubble - do not freak.  Turn the heat back on low and stir until the mixture is smooth.  Remove from heat and let sit 2-4 hours to thicken.

All I can say is, MAKE THIS.  Right.  This.  Second.  It's life changing.  It's the stuff legendary desserts are made of.  It's also maybe what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow, but whatever.

Half of my sauce went on top of my very first FROM SCRATCH German chocolate cake (Thanks for the recipe Aunt Karen!) along with some other fabulous things like Heath bar, and Eagle Brand.  But, I'm not making traditional German chocolate cake, I'm making Fat Man cake.  It's Kendall's favorite, so I'm taking it to our church dinner tonight.  Man I'm a good sister.