Lollipop, Lollipop, Oh Lolli, Lollipop

I made lollipops! 

I made more lollipops.

I am tired of making lollipops...

I was invited to a cookie exchange. We are each to bring packages containing a half-dozen treats. There will be 16 people at the exchange, so I need to put together 15 packages. When the topic came up I thought about the lollipop mold that I have. My mom gave it to me about 15 years ago. It is great fun. After creating the sugar candy solution you simply pour it into the molds, put in some lollipop sticks, wait a few minutes, separate the molds and voila... you have lollipops.

Well..... there is the batch that I didn't cook long enough, and the lollipops stuck to the molds and wanted to be made into taffy. There is the batch that I cooked too quickly, and the sugar burnt. There are countless lollipops where the candy solution solidified too quickly, and the mold didn't fill completely. Then, there are the little shards of candy that I have to chip off the bottom of the candy if I overfilled the mold... and those shards always seem to find the floor.

Oh, yes, that is a bottle of whine(sic) in the picture!

I like cooking with wine,

Sometimes I even put it in the food!
(But not in lollipops!)

It takes 30 minutes to cook the sugar solution. It takes at least another 15 minutes to pour the solution into the molds, put in lollipop sticks, put the pan into the sink to soak, separate the molds and take out the lollipops. During that time I can put the ingredients for another batch into a clean pan. Once I have the lollipops out, I can then begin cooking the next batch, stirring all of the time until the sugar has dissolved. Once that happens, I can leave the solution to cook while I put the lollipops in little bags and clean the pan, often checking the candy thermometer, which does not accurately read the real temperature of the solution, but gives me a ball-park figure to go by. Then, I have to test to see if it has gotten to the "hard ball" stage.

OK, so here is a math problem for you:

With the time frame listed above, how long will it take to make 90 lollipops to give 6 to each of 15 guests? The molds can make 8 lollipops with each batch, but half the time only 6 candies are acceptable. Oh, and I dropped and broke some lollipops. Some are red and green and some have no coloring at all. Dreaming never wants to stir another batch of sugar for candies!

... until next year!

The answer to the math question? It takes too darn long! That's how long it takes!