Old Man Winter

Winter is not for sissies.  We had a mini blizzard yesterday; just a dusting of snow, but I thought the wind would blow my roof off.  The snow was blowing sideways.  It is so cold outside this morning, I am not going to go out to take a picture of snow on this little Christmas decoration.

It got down to 3 degrees last night; it hasn't been that cold since 1983. The lake out back is frozen over.  When I raised the blinds this morning, the ducks came in for a landing and slid around like ice skaters.

 I stayed holed up in the house and there were many car wrecks on the highways.  I worry when it gets this cold - about the water lines freezing and bursting, the animals - everything.  Those brave souls that live up north must be made of stronger stuff than I am.

I made my first batch of peanut brittle yesterday for Christmas and guess what happened?  It pulled a tooth crown right off.  Now, I have to see if I can find a dentist to cement it back on as I'm not going back to the farm until after the holidays.  If I can't find a dentist in the city to do it, I guess I'll superglue it back on.  An expensive piece of candy. Aye yay yay! And, I'm not through shopping, wrapping and baking for Christmas.

HO HO HO!

The Food Prep Has Begun

This candy, peanut brittle, is a family favorite at Christmas.  It is good, and easy.  I use a microwave recipe.  No thermometer hanging in it and hard ball stage mess.  I even have a recipe now for pudding in the microwave.  I love it because I don't have to stand over the pot, stirring constantly, for what seems like an hour.

One batch down and two more to go.

Peanut Brittle

Here's a recipe I wanted to share with you for Christmas. It is the crunchiest and best peanut brittle I've had - and it is made in the microwave. No gummy brittle here. This stays crisp to the last morsel. You use raw peanuts with this, but I have even used salted cashews and it was wonderful. So imagine it made with almonds, macadamia nuts...

Peanut Brittle

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light Karo syrup

1 1/2 cup raw peanuts

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. soda

Combine sugar, Karo, salt and peanuts in a microwaveable bowl. Stir well. Put in microwave for 5 minutes (this is in a more powerful microwave; in a less powerful one cook it for 8 minutes), with waxed paper loosely covering it. Remove. Mixture will be bubbly. Add butter and vanilla and stir. Cover and cook 2 more minutes. Remove, add soda. Stir; mixture will be foamy. Pour on lightly buttered cookie sheet and spread around. Let cool and store in an airtight container.