A day in the kitchen

Have you ever made peanut brittle? Did it turn out right? 

We've had a large bag of raw peanuts sitting on the kitchen counter since Christmas...a gift to Poppy from the manager of the deer processing plant.

Poppy wanted peanut brittle. If you will shell the peanuts, I'll make the candy. Friends, this turned into an all day job.

Here's what went wrong...Didn't cook the stuff quite long enough to begin with. When the baking soda was added, the boiling candy doubled in size, almost boiling over and had to be quickly poured onto the large buttered pan. Of course it did not become brittle, it cooled down to the texture of sticky taffy.

Nothing to do but to boil it again. It took Poppy's arm muscles to pry the sticky stuff from the pan and wedge it into a bigger pot. Pulling out three more pots, I rigged up a makeshift double boiler. Darned if I wanted to stand for an hour stirring this mess until it became liquid again. 

Poppy was so sure that too many peanuts kept the candy from becoming brittle. Recipe called for two cups. I argued that the peanuts had nothing to do with cooking the sugar, Karo syrup, and water to the right temperature. Nope, he still argued that the candy had too many peanuts.

So, while the sticky mess slowly melted, I went on line and found a simple recipe for brittle using just sugar, water, and a little salt for the base...at this point we were out of Karo syrup. (making another batch would spread the peanuts thinner) So, I measured and put the mixture on the stove to boil. When this had boiled for about three minutes, I added it to the almost melted candy...then stirred and cooked the whole shebang until it turned a rich golden caramel color...then pulled out a bigger bread pan, buttered it, and poured on the boiling candy.

Did it become brittle? Nope! But we have four bags of peanut brittle with the texture of pralines...very sugary, very sweet. I love it! Poppy doesn't like it. He says he can't understand why it didn't turn out right...IF I followed the recipe!  :[   Okay, I will shell the peanuts and YOU can make a GOOD batch of peanut brittle. How bout that?

Talk about a pile of sticky pots and pans, spoons and spatulas! Instead of using my little red dish pan, I filled the sink with hot soapy water and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. ..Finished up and out the front door I went, into the fresh air...and got myself busy doing something fun, like cleaning out the goat barn!

A friend once said to me, "a man has no business being inside the house". 

While out and about yesterday, I bought this...for Poppy.

and this...

for me...a new kitchen rug to stand on, if I ever decide to cook again. :)

Thanks for listening. I needed this! 

Love,
Henny 

Note to self: buy a candy thermometer