Peanut Brittle

Peanut brittle is by far the thing Papa loved about Christmas. He is a peanut brittle man. There is a little store on McKellips Road called the Orange Patch Too. He stops in at this store when he gets a craving for ice cream, as they have a small ice cream counter there. At the ice cream counter are also the fudge, turtles, various chocolates and yep, peanut brittle. Actually, different kinds of brittles are there and it's all tempting. Often Pop would come home from visiting Falcon Field with a small bag of peanut brittle. Nana would make several batches of peanut brittle just to keep on the counter for anyone who might be by, and of course for Papa to snack on.

Butter a 12"x18" (half sheet cake) pan and set aside. A silipat can also be used with great results. A large pizza pan works well also.
In a small mixing bowl combine:

• 1/2 t. Salt
• 2 t. Baking Soda
• 2 t. Vanilla
• Set aside

In a heavy 4 qt. sauce pan combine:

• 3 C. Sugar
• 1 1/4 C. Corn Syrup (light)
• 1 1/4 C. Water

Put on medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until mixture comes to a full boil. (about 20-30 minutes). Remove from heat and add:

• 1/2 C. Butter (1 stick) Cut into chunks

Clip on candy thermometer and return to burner. Continue cooking and stirring until mixture reaches 280º or soft crack stage. Add:

• 3 C. raw peanuts

Stirring constantly, bring mixture up to 300º or hard-crack stage. (about 12-14 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in baking soda mixture. Be careful as this will cause steam and you could burn your hand. Pour into prepared pan and cool for 1-2 minutes. Working quickly, begin stretching the brittle from the edges with buttered hands or two forks. As it stretches beyond the pan, allow those pieces to break off and place them on the counter, or onto another silipat. If you turn them upside down, this will cause the peanuts to stay in the middle rather than sink to the bottom of the candy. Continue stretching and pulling off pieces until all the candy has been stretched. Allow to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

Panocha (Penuche)

The "blond fudge" Nana would make every year that everyone loves. This and her chocolate fudge were the neighborhood hits every Christmas. Everyone looked forward to her gifts from the kitchen especially when they came in round take-out containers with a bow on the lid.

• 2 C. Whipping Cream
• 1 T. Corn Syrup (light)
• 2 C. Sugar
• 1 C. Brown Sugar (firmly packed)
• 3 T. Butter
• 1/2 C. White Compound Coating* (or white chocolate chips)
• 1 1/2 C. Nuts (usually pecans or walnuts, but up to you)

Butter an 8"x8" pan and set aside. In a heavy 4 qt. sauce pan combine cream, corn syrup and sugars. Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring with a wooden spoon. Wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush if sugar crystals on present. Clip on candy thermometer and cook stirring occasionally to 238º, or soft-ball stage. Remove from heat. Without stirring add butter. Set aside until it cools to 210º. Without stirring add white chocolate chips. Let stand 1 minute. Add nuts and stir with wooden spoon until smooth. Candy should be thick and creamy. Scrape into prepared, buttered pan. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Cut into squares. Store in a cool dry place. Can be refrigerated.

*Compound coating is a vegetable oil base rather than a cocoa butter base.

Caramels

I'm into Nana's files for Christmas candies she has made and found some good caramel recipes. She taught me to make them too, long ago. It's been awhile. A long while. I did put the nuts in my batch, but next time I make them I won't. I don't like the texture as well, and I really just like the caramel part anyway. Again, personal preference. I didn't have the right size pan, so put them in this dish. Some of my caramels have curved edges, but they still taste just the same.

• 2 C. Light Corn Syrup
• 1 (12-14 oz. can) Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 1/2 C. Milk
• 1 C. Whipping Cream
• 1 C. (two sticks) Butter
• 4 C. Sugar
• 2 t. Vanilla
• 2 C. Nuts (optional)

Butter a 9" x 13" baking pan. Glass is best, or maybe a non-stick kind. Set aside.
In a heavy 6 quart pan, combine first six ingredients. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula until mixture comes to a boil. If you have sugar crystals on the side, brush the sides down with a wet pastry brush.

Clip on a candy thermometer. Cook, stirring constantly now to 240º, or a soft-ball stage. If you don't stir it now, it will stick to the bottom and burn. The stirring is important. Kind of a lazy stir that keeps the bottom in motion. Once it has reached 240º, remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and nuts (if you are using nuts). Pour into prepared pan without scraping sides. Allow to stand at room temperature overnight. 24 hours is good. Turn out onto cutting board and cut into 1" squares or rectangles. Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap and put into air-tight container. Can also be dipped into dipping chocolate for an even more decadent treat. Makes about 110 pieces.



I made a mistake and got regular evaporated milk instead of the sweetened condensed. Duh, I know, right? The recipe still worked, but took a long time to reach the soft-ball stage. The texture is a little different too. I'm sure if I do it again with the right ingredients they will be fabulous! They still taste good, they just aren't the ones I remember. You live, you learn. The people I give them to this Christmas will like them just the same.

Golden Good Caramels

This recipe is like the one Nana made long ago when we lived on Allen Circle. Our neighbors, the Sherwoods in the next circle over had milk cows and we would get our milk from them. We would go through the rosebushes in the back yard, over to their carport where they had two refrigerators. We would sign the clip-board on top of one of the fridges as to how many gallons we were taking, reach inside for a glass, gallon jar of milk. I loved that milk. No hormones, no crazy processes, just milk from the cow. Nana would sometimes skim the cream off the top and save it to make various goodies. Ice cream in the summer and candies in the fall. Caramels were one of my favorites. Another neighbor, Theresa Robinson had a great recipe for the most delicious caramels and that is the one Nana used. I have looked in her file for a reference to that recipe, but none of them say Theresa's caramels. This recipe is the most like that one of long ago.

• 2 C. Whipping Cream
• 1/2 C. Milk
• 1 1/4 C. Light Corn Syrup
• 2 C. Sugar
• 1/4 t. Salt
• 1/2 C. Evaporated Milk
• 1 t. Vanilla

Butter an 8" square baking pan. Set aside. In a 4 cup glass measure combine cream and milk. In a heavy 4 qt. sauce pan combine 1/3 of the cream/milk mixture, corn syrup, sugar and salt. Place over low heat and stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. When mixture comes to a boil, stir occasionally for about 30 minutes until it turns a light tan color. Clip cany thermometer on and increase the heat to medium. Without stopping the boiling action slowly pour in 1/2 of the remaining cream/milk. Stirring constantly now, cook for 15 minutes. Slowly pour in the rest of the cream/milk and the evaporated milk. When temperature reaches 245º, or firm ball stage remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla. Without scraping, pour mixture into prepared baking pan and allow to set at room temperature overnight. Turn out onto cutting board and cut into squares. Wrap in wax paper and store at room temperature. Makes about 50 pieces.

Nana's Fudge

Lacy is our resident fudge maker as far as I know. She spent some time with Nana learning her technique and getting pans of fudge made for her gift list. I wish I had pictures, but alas, I do not. I have had so many neighbors come up to me and say how much they miss this sweet treat Nana would make for them at Christmas. She and Papa would make a list of who needed fudge in the neighborhood and then she would set about cooking the batches. They would always do a chocolate batch and a blond batch for all of us in addition to their neighbors. Then a bow on the top and a maybe a tag and they would deliver their decadent dishes. This made memories for lots of people.

4 1/2 C. Sugar
1 15 oz. can Evaporated Milk
2 T. light cornsyrup (Karo)
2 sticks butter or margarine
1 pint jar Marshmallow Creme
2 t. vanilla
1 12oz pkg. chocolate chips
2 C. chopped nuts
walnuts, pecans, almonds, you decide.
Combine first three ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil while washing inside of sauce pan down with pastry brush and water. Boil over medium heat to a soft ball - 238º-240º on candy thermometer. Remove from heat. In a mixing bowl combine the rest of the ingredients except the nuts. Pour hot sugar mixture in mixing bowl and beat until smooth and cooled. Add nuts and pour into buttered pan. Cut when completely cooled and set.

Toffee

I made this recipe over and over last year to pack in Christmas tins for my kids and others. Nana used to make this toffee recipe every Christmas, and I so love toffee. I have Nana's recipe here. I remember long ago when we still lived in the house on Allen Circle her getting out her toffee making pan (the one with teflon coating) and stirring up a batch of toffee at Christmas. Now we have scilipats to make our lives easier. I've never had a hard time getting the toffee out of the pan when I use one. Nana gave me my first scilipat and she loved how easy they made candy and baking. After many years, she went to her famous fudge recipes. For my fellow toffee addict Taylor, and all of you, here is the recipe for Nana's wonderful toffee…

Butter a 12 x 18 (half sheet cake) baking sheet, cover with chopped pecans (or walnuts)
and set aside. You can also use a scilipat baking sheet (minus the butter) in your baking sheet for great results. They are the perfect size to fit a half sheet cake pan. (pictured above with the ingredients).

In a heavy bottomed 3 qt. saucepan…
2 C. Butter (1#) not margarine
1/2 C. Water
1/4 C. Light corn syrup (Karo)
2-1/2 C. Sugar
Combine above ingredients over medium high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture comes to a boil. Continue stirring until mixture begins to thicken. Reduce heat to low, remove wooden spoon and do not continue to stir.
Clip on candy thermometer and cook syrup to 290ºF (or 145ºC), a soft crack stage.



Remove from heat and pour over pecans in prepared baking sheet.



When just hardened, but still hot:
Sprinkle 1 pound (or so) chocolate chips on candy. Sprinkle densely. After just a few moments chips are soft so you can spread evenly to coat candy.



While chocolate is still warm, sprinkle finely chopped walnuts (2-4 cups) over top and gently press to set nuts into chocolate. After cooled completely you can turn entire block over, melt some more chocolate chips to spread over the back side and coat with nuts. Double coated is good, but a lot more work. I usually just do the one layer chocolate.
Any kind of nuts you like will work, and milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips - whatever your tastes are.

When completely cooled:
I use a clean white dishtowel to turn the toffee out on. I loosen the edges with a sharp knife and then lay the baking sheet upside down over the dishtowel. After the toffee is out of the sheet, peel off the scilipat and turn the whole block over so the chocolate and nuts are once again on top. Break into irregular pieces and store in an airtight container.
Makes 4-5 pounds (about 150 pieces).



Sometimes syrup mixture separates during cooking leaving a buttery looking layer on the surface and a thicker mixture underneath. To save the batch try and correct, add about 1/2 C. hot water and stir well. You may need to add additional hot water, but this should correct and save your batch. I've never had to do this, but got this tip from a candy book.

Taya sent me a pic of the toffee tin they got at Christmas. Thanks Taya.