Mimo's Famous Carmels

Mimo's Famous Carmels
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2 Cups Sugar
1 square (8Tbs) Butter (DON'T USE fake stuff, use the real deal)
1 Cup Karo Syrup
1 Can evaporated Vitamin D milk (makes the cooking faster!)
1 tsp. vanilla
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Mix together and bring to boil 1st 3 ingredients. Add milk slowly and keeping it at a boil until firm ball stage.Firm Ball Stage: Have a couple of small cups of cold water handy. When the carmel starts thickening up and the boiling changes to instead of looking watery it looks thicker and more like bubbling lava, take a spoonful of carmel and drop it into one of the cups of cold water. Put your fingers in and play with the carmel. If it falls apart, it's not at the firm ball stage. You want to be able to make a ball with it, that is firm, but not hard. Hard ball stage, you've cooked it too long. DON'T over cook!Take off heat, add vanilla and pour into greased 8x8 pan and cool before serving. I've also added black gel food coloring and a couple of teaspoons of Anise (both found at cake and candy making stores), to make licorice flavored carmel, my dh LOVES it!