StubleUpon and Caramel Macchiato

My blog is relatively new so I tend to obsessively check my stats most days.  And I'm doing REALLY good if I get near 100- usually it's 60-70 hits per day, which I'm happy with.  Yesterday I checked it late morning and it was 43 (not bad!) and I checked it less than an hour later (obsessive- I know!) and it was 278!!  I was sure something was wrong so I looked around the stats and I saw StumbleUpon as the referring site.  I  had never heard of it before so I googled it a bit and came to the conclusion that it was a very good thing!  Very short-lived, but good none the less.  I think the frenzy was over in 15 minutes but my grand total of hits yesterday was 334.  There seems  to be no rhyme or reason to having StumbleUpon show your blog- and it's probably just a fluke that this newbie blogger had my few minutes of fame, but I'll take it!!

Now on to coffee- more specifically Caramel Macchiato's.  I bought the creamer from the store this summer and loved it!  Its sweet, slightly burnt taste was so delicious.  I heard about coffee syrups like they use at Starbucks and was googling to buy some.  I came across a few recipes- and my motto is "If it can be made I will do it!"  I found one from the joy of cooking that the reviews said tasted like caramel macchiato!  It was easy and I had all the ingredients so I decided at 9:30 that night to make it.

Caramel Macchiato Syrup

1 Cup sugar
3/4 C water, divided
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

1.  Mix 1/4 cup water and all sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat til sugar is dissolved. DO NOT BOIL UNTIL SUGAR IS DISSOLVED COMPLETELY.

2.  Turn heat to high, cover and let boil for two minutes.

3.  Uncover and stir gently while it continues to boil until it turns a nice deep amber color (it's pretty neat to watch it go from clear so brown). Remove from heat.

4.  CAUTION: READ CAREFULLY: Stand back to avoid scalding yourself as mixture will begin to bubble rapidly when you do the next step. (I meant to get a picture of this step, but it scared the crap out of me when it bubbled up so I got distracted!!)

 5.Add the rest of the water and then when the bubbles settle a bit the vanilla and salt and stir gently to mix. Let cool and it will keep in the fridge for up to six months.