Treats – Page 3 – An Unorthodox Halloween

Day 1: Peanut Brittle

The Kristmas Kitchen of Kooking Kraziness has begun.

And, hey, look, it’s SNOWING!

Talia is fascinated, while Indy is trying to attack the snow through the glass.

Meanwhile, I’m working. And, began with another experiment from the Treasure Trove. Peanut Brittle.

This Recipe was at least complete…not that I had all the tools (no candy thermometer).

Peanut Brittle:
1 1/2 Lbs Sugar (3 cups)
1 1/4 Cups Corn Syrup
1 Cup Water
1 oz Butter (1/4 cube)
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp baking Soda
1 tsl Vanilla
1 lb Peanuts (2 3/4 cups)

Put first 3 ingredients into kettle, stir until sugar has dissolved, Cook to 240 degrees. (for those of us lacking a thermometer, this is SOFTBALL) Add Peanuts, constantly stirring to keep peanuts from burning. After it starts boiling, cook to 320 degrees. (this would be HARDBALL) Remove from heat and add butter, and a paste of salt, soda, and vanilla. Pour on slab and spread thin to cool.

Simple enough…

I made a double recipe. And got a little worried when the boiling mass was right on the brim of the pan. But, it all went as smoothly as one can expect from a first time trial.

ONE WORD OF ADVICE: KEEP YOUR HEAD AWAY FROM THE PAN WHEN YOU ADD THAT SODA!!!

I got a nice face full of some nasty fumes. Otherwise, the stuff turned out great. It’s a different texture than any I’ve ever had before, but it’s also QUITE good.

From Christmas

Adventures in Toffee

As mentioned before, the great cooking calamity that is Christmas bakery is coming this weekend.

And, while I enjoy making Nuts and Bolts as it is quick and easy, the cookies have become something to dread.

Thinking of scaling it back some, but still wanting something to give out, coupled with a craving, I dug out the treasure trove a few days ago.

An interesting story on this treasure. I was visiting my Grandmother, and as I was leaving, I went to the trash compactor to toss something away. There, pirched on top of the garbage was a PILE of recipes. I was told they were too hard to make, incomplete, and some even listed ingredients you can’t find anymore. Shocked, I rescued them from their fate, and took the bundle of them home.

It was mostly filled with desserts. Cakes, cookies, candies, glazes, frostings, you name it. And, just by READING the things, it put new ideas in my head, and has contributed to my knack for just tossing things into a pan and coming off with a good tasting dish. (Though, I’m still wary of that bizarro hamburger recipe that is unlike anything I’ve ever even HEARD of doing to hamburgers…one of these days…)

Every now and then, I get these out and try one. The other day, I went searching for Peanut Brittle. While that was in there, the English Toffee caught my eye as well.

THIS is the kind of recipe this treasure trove contains:

English Toffee
1 cup sugar
1/2 lb butter
3 Tbls Water
1 tsp Vanilla
3 small Hershey bars
3/4 Cup chopped nuts

Place first 4 ingrediants in a skillet and cook until done. About 10 minutes. Pour onto buttered cookie sheet. Place chocolate on top and spread, press nuts into top. Cool and break into pieces.

Scrawled by a hand that bears some resemblance to what few samples I have of my Grandfather. (Mom, I might want you to confirm that) It is certainly his kind of “recipe” from what I’ve come to understand. What’s “done”? How hot do you cook it? What constitutes a “small hershey bar”?

Ah well. Last night, I decided to give it a try, to see if we like it before I go making a bunch.

Choosing to err on the safe side, we cooked this on medium. And, sure enough, about 8 minutes in, it started to thicken a bit, looking quite a bit like my dad’s caramel. By the 10 minute mark, I no longer had a liquid so much as I had a bubbling mass of goo. A quick test told me we were between medium and hard ball. Getting concerned that I would burn it as it didn’t stir so much as it sorta spun around in the pan now, I guessed that it was “done”.

A minute later, all that was left was the cooling, which the freezer took care of in 30 minutes.

This stuff is certainly good. The flavor just literally comes gushing out into your mouth as you chew.

It is a touch on the chewy side, could have been cooked a bit more. And, I think I’ll substitute semi-sweet chips in place of the hersheys bars just on personal preference. There’s also an idea or two I’m thinking of giving a go. We’ll have a complete recipe up once I get all the particulars of that worked out.

Coca Cola.

Huh?

What’s this got to do with Halloween OR Christmas, you ask?

I was in Costco last night, picking up some bread, as per my orders. There, I saw a magnificent sight. Coca Cola. REAL Coca Cola. The kind I had not witnessed since way back to my childhood.

Back when the local Coca Cola plant used REAL sugar, not that corn…whatever crap. Back when Coke came in those great glass bottles that we’ld save to make Root Beer.

Costco is carrying Coca Cola bottled in Mexico these days. Pure cane sugar Coca Cola. REAL Coca Cola. And, what’s even better, IT COMES IN THE GLASS BOTTLES!

Cracking open that bottle brought so many happy memories back…At Grandma’s drinking soda from glass bottles only to wash them and fill em with root beer.

And who knows…you just may be seeing those glass bottles being put to good use…

Now, if only someone would start carrying Dublin Dr Pepper…

Nuts and Bolts

There are several memories of making treats for Christmas from my childhood.

Namely, dipping pretzles and/or Oreos in chocolate, and making Nuts and Bolts.

Both were mildly annoying as a child. Seemed to take FOREVER. Eventually, we stopped with the dipping things. But, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without Nuts and Bolts.

And, given the state of the recipe at the time, it really DID take hours. Cutting up butter into little cubes and placing it around the mixture while baking it on a low setting, stirring and adding seasoning till all that butter was melted.

It’s no wonder I’ve never seen anything even resembling this mix in this day and age of toss in a bag and shake chex mixes. And, when mom stopped making it some years back, and I decided to start…I had to do SOME updating to the recipe, for my own sanity.

For purists out there, I have mangled the thing. For me, I’ve re-created the taste in about 1/6th the time. Able to whip up a batch in 30 minutes.

First thing you are going to need is a LARGE roasting pan. Mine is 18 qt, and is really too small for a full batch. Oh, I can make it work, but it makes a mess. Now, there are those aluminum disposables if you’re desperate, but you can buy a roaster oven around thanksgiving for $20 or less. And they offer a way to free up your oven whilst cooking that christmas ham or turkey anyway.

Now then, the original recipe is all but unintelligable with non-existant ingredients, so I’ll spare you that, and just post it as it exists today:

1 LARGE bag of Cheetos PUFFS (the crunchy wont work!)
2 bags of Bugles (If unable to find, Fritos work as an adequate substitute)
1 LARGE box of ORIGINAL Chex
2 pkg of Pretzles, I prefer the asthetics of sticks myself…
1 can of peanuts
1 can of cashew halves
1 can of mixed nuts **as long as we’re adding the peanuts and cashews, spend a bit more and get the mixed nuts that are not full of peanuts and cashews, eh?

3/4 lbs Butter

1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp Savory
1 TBL Beau Monde (THIS is only made by Spice Islands brand. If unable to find this, search “beautiful world spice” into google for alternatives. )
1 TBL Hickory Smoked Salt (This can be difficult to find outside of the BBQ season)

*An UnOrthOdOx special* I don’t find this is enough seasoning for my taste, so I have taken to using the highly scientific method of using heaping measuring spoons of the above instead of level when measuring my spices.

Mix all the seasoning together into a bowl.

Add the following, IN THIS ORDER to the pan.

1 bag pretzles, 1/2 the chex, 1 bag bugles, 1/2 the cheetos, repeat, place nuts on TOP.

In a seperate dish, toss that butter in the microwave and melt it.

Now drizzle a little butter over the top, be sure to get the nuts, then sprinkle the seasoning, stir and repeat until all butter and seasoning is gone. Toss in the oven at 200 degrees for 25-30 mins or until everything is nice and warm/hot but before burning the cheetos (they will burn first)

Presto! Best party mix out there.

And, as making it the other day, it struck me just how much it fits with the fall holidays, what with the wonderfull fall colors.

From Christmas

Alec.

From Halloween buildup '08

Alec is our middle child. And, much as me as a child, he is often in his own little world.

Project Nightfall is as much the result of Alec as of anything else.

Last year, walking the neighborhood, Alec asked me to make him some “halloween stones”. Meaning a graveyard. And, while I always kept it in the back of my mind, graveyards are really not my thing. Thus, when presented with a less than usual one with project Nightfall, I begun the graveyard as much for Alec as anything else.

Friday, Nightfall was set up. However, first, on Thursday night, I decided the boys and I would make monster cookies. Not having my recipe on hand, and with mom out of town, I grabbed this one off the net.

Now, part of the fun of monster cookies is mixing them by hand and making a royal mess. And, ever since Ratatouille came out, Alec has been wanting to be a chef, so I figured it was a great opportunity for him.

To say Alec is a picky eater is the understatement of the century. He just throws up if he don’t like it. However…something about touching peanut butter covered oatmeal triggered that response in him and he dashed for the bathroom.

Normally, this is the end of trying whatever. To my surprise, however, Alec wanted another go at the cookies. And, after washing up, I let him.

Uh oh…here it comes again…..