To Welcome a Baby Boy

The great thing about being involved in a community theater is that you get to meet really fantastic people.  I was lucky enough to meet a terrific couple, who just happened to be starting a new family, and I asked Daddy if it was ok to throw a shower.  The only real 'theme' for the party was a tie-in to their nursery décor, which happened to be Winnie the Pooh.

So, for the goodie bags, I put some honey (fresh from a friend's farm in California) in baby bottles and also included these Honeycomb Candies, which were very quick and easy to make.

Honeycomb Candy

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water
3 Tbs honey
1/3 cup light corn syrup
4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
 
Line a cookie sheet with a silpat or non-stick aluminum foil.  Measure baking soda onto a piece wax paper or other surface and make sure there are no lumps in it.
 
Add sugar, water, honey and corn syrup to a large saucepan (if the pan is too small, you will be sorry later).  Gently stir and then heat mixture over medium heat, swirling the pan gently on occasion (once you start heating it, keep your spoon out of it).  Allow mixture to come to a boil and continue heating and swirling until it becomes a golden amber color.  Remove from heat and add the vanilla and then the baking soda.  The mixture will start foaming up... a LOT (thus the large pan).  Continue mixing until mixture is of the same consistency throughout and then pour onto lined baking sheet.  It will continue to expand on the pan.
 
Allow the mixture to cool completely and then break into pieces.
 
We also had chocolate fudge cupcakes, which I filled with an Oreo cookie cream mixture and topped with vanilla buttercream frosting and edible shimmer dust.  I poked lollipop sticks with gumdrop ends into them to make them resemble baby rattles.