Just Desserts: Peanut Brittle

Holidays or not, there always seemed to be a tin of peanut brittle around -- you could call it the Methodist version of pralines.

2 cups sugar
1 cup white syrup (Karo)
1/2 cup water
2 cups raw spanish peanuts
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook the sugar, syrup and water to soft ball stage. (See below)

Add peanuts and cook to 300° F. Set off stove, add butter & soda. Add vanilla and stir well.

Pour onto two well-greased cookie sheets -- stretching as soon as it cools slightly. When cooled, break into pieces and serve.

Candy-making Stages:

Thread - begins at 230°
The syrup will make a 2" thread when dropped from a spoon.
Soft Ball - begins at 234°
A small amount of syrup dropped into chilled water forms a ball, but flattens when picked up with fingers.
Firm Ball - begins at 244°
The ball will hold its shape and flatten only when pressed.
Hard Ball - begins at 250°
The ball is more rigid but still pliable.
Soft Crack - begins at 270°
When a small amount of syrup is dropped into chilled water it will separate into threads which will bend when picked up.
Hard Crack - begins at 300°
The syrup separates into threads that are hard and brittle.
Caramelized Sugar - 310° to 338°
Between these temperatures the syrup will turn dark golden, but will turn black at 350°.

Comments

Just Desserts: Double Peanut Butter Bars

This recipe takes the simple peanut butter cookie and "raises the bar"... with three layers: Peanut Butter Cookie on the bottom Rich peanut butter icing in the middle Topped with a chocolate shell Delicious and decadent! For the cookie base: Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13 glass baking dish. 1 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon dark molasses 1/2 cup creamy peanut buter 1/4 cup shortening 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 egg 1 1/4 cups flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt Prepare peanut butter cookie dough (per normal recipe) but do not refrigerate. Instead, spread dough evenly on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Bake for about 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. For the middle layer: 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 1 tablespoon milk 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups powdered sugar In a small bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, milk, vanilla and powdered

60 Minutes & Chevron

I don't normally post stuff about work, but after watching the drivel on 60 Minutes last night about the "Ecuadorian" lawsuit against Chevron, I had to relay this: Images are of Petroecuador sites and are not Texaco-remediated sites: The images of oil pits, and oil operations in general, that “60 Minutes” used are of locations that are the sole responsibility of Petroecuador, Texaco Petroleum’s partner from the days of the consortium. “60 Minutes” knew this fact, but chose to ignore it in its reporting. No responsibility was placed on Petroecuador: Petroecuador has been the sole operator of oil fields in Ecuador since 1992 and has compiled a well-documented record of environmental mismanagement. In addition, Petroecuador has repeatedly stated that it is responsible for the remaining cleanup work that is required in the Ecuadorian Amazon and it readily admits that it has not cleaned up the sites allocated to them under the remediation action plan 15 years ago. Again, “60 M

Promise? What Promise?

from the NYT " The Caucus " blog... "A gaggle of sign-waving protestors milled around outside The Beverly Hilton, the sprawling hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. They must have caught the president’s eye when he arrived at the hotel from an earlier stop in Las Vegas because he relayed one of their messages to the crowd. 'One of them said, “Obama keep your promise,’ the president said. 'I thought that’s fair. I don’t know which promise he was talking about.' The people in the audience – who paid $30,400 per couple to attend – laughed as they ate a dinner of roasted tenderloin, grilled organic chicken and sun choke rosemary mashed potatoes." Feel free to take this image and put it on your blog -- or even on a poster or t-shirt. Just do me the favor of linking back here and/or putting a link to your blog (or a picture of the graphic in action) in the comments. Thanks!

Administrativia

Search This Blog