Dulce de Leche is literally translated as 'sweet from milk'. For those who aren't familiar, dulce de leche is a a smooth, creamy, caramelly gooey instance of pure heaven! I could eat the stuff with a spoon. Oh, who am I kidding: I HAVE eaten the stuff with a spoon!

When I was in Argentina last year, the stuff was EVERYWHERE. Not that I minded, but it was exceptionally noticeable. Take my trip to the WalMart just outside of Cordoba.

PAUSE: This was before I started boycotting Walmart, but even if it wasn't I would have to have gone. It's like a car wreck: I couldn't help but look!

So, in the Cordoban WalMart the signage looks pretty much the same but is in Spanish. It was a bit surreal, as a lot of the signs here have Spanish on them too, so it was like WalMart from home got dropped off on the other side of the world!

First thing you come across is a small appliance and electronics section. After currency conversion a coffee pot was about $50, a microwave close to $300. To put it in perspective, the call center reps I was training were making about $300 per month...

The back of the store is one giant wall of wine, beer, and liquor. Cannisters were sold in sets of three: 'cafe', 'te', 'yerba'. Coffee, tea, and herb. No, not that kind of herb! Yerba is slang for mate, a tea-like drink that is popular in Argentina & Uraguay. 'Bitter is Better' they say... And while I was tempted to have a cannister set with a specific place for 'herb', I had visions of customs not quite seeing the humor.

Anyways, mayonnaise and peanut butter were in the tiny 5 shelf 'import' section of the store, because nobody buys them. Dulce de leche, however, has an entire aisle to itself. Think of the bread/PB/jelly/condiment aisle at your WalMart, and that is how much space was alloted to dulce de leche.

Creamy, caramelly goodness as far as the eyes could see. Talk about some folks who like their dulce de leche!

Anywho, this rambling preface is simply my way of introducing the easiest way I know to make dulce de leche at home. I believe this to be a fairly authentic method since several Argentine friends confirmed this is how their grandma did it. The result is something that tastes like a cross between caramel and a Sugar Daddy lollipop.

1. Get a can of sweetened condensed milk. DO NOT OPEN, but take the label off.

2. Place a pot on the stove, put the unopened can in the pot (probably don't want to use non-stick otherwise it'll get scratched). Add enough water into the pot to cover the can.

3. Bring the water to a boil.

4. Boil the can for 90 minutes on one end. Turn over with tongs, boil for another 90 minutes on the other end. NOTE: you might want to add water periodically during all 3 hours of the boiling process.

FYI, when and if you attempt this you'll probably want to make a couple of cans up at once, as it'll use the same amount of energy as making 1 can. I just opened a can I made last Christmas and it was good, so it'll keep a while.

So, after you've boiled your can/s for 3 hours (1.5 on each end), you have 2 choices. Open a can now when it's molten, or let the can cool on the counter for a few hours. If you open the can when it's hot the dulce de leche is easier to work with but hot enough to burn. If you wait till the can is cooled, the opposite is true. Your choice here.

If you open the can when it's hot, use a mechanical can opener you can submerge in water for cleanup! When opening a hot can, the 'carmel' will spurt up about 6 inches or so out of the can when the pressure is released, so be ready!

If you open the can when it's cool, you'll need to spoon the 'carmel' out, or use a knife to loosen the sides like you would tomato paste.

So, what does one do with homemade dulce de leche?

My sister and I make carmel pie, for one. Take 1 graham cracker crust, fill with 1 can of 'carmel', allow to set in the freezer, top with whipped topping. YUUUUUMMMMMMMMMM!!! She mixes apple pie fillig in her carmel, I mix toffee bits into mine. Get creative and use chocolate, PG, different kinds of crusts, or poor man's mouse (pudding mixed with whipped topping).

I drizzle warm carmel on cookies and sprinkle toasted coconut on top. I make homemade turtles by mixing nuts with the carmel, dropping spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet to set in the freezer, and then toping with chocolate.

Heat it up and drizzle it on ice cream and/or pie.

And my favorite: eat it straight with a spoon!