So Sweet!

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I'm so sweet, I'd give you cavity!  ha ha

Actually all the treats I'm making this holiday will give you a cavity!

Today I'm making Peanut Brittle!

Click for the recipe I used.  By the way if you use this recipe, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla, use plain  unsalted peanuts and have a large bowl of ice water nearby to put your utensils in to make clean up a snap!

~ Here are my candy tips ~

When I first learned to make candy, I "heard" you shouldn't make it if it's raining/snowing however I had a great teacher who told me if it's raining just adjust for any humidity and/or air pressure.  My response was.... I didn't do well in Chemistry class Ma'am!  And because I used to live high up in the mountains, I was also taught to adjust recipes based on the altitude. We were at 3,000 feet above sea level (did you know all recipes are written at sea level altitude - yep, I didn't know that at the time either).

For example, water boils at 212 degrees at sea level.  Now because we were at 3,000 feet ABOVE sea level, our thermometer would DECREASE about 2 degrees for every 1,000 feet.  This is due to the difference in air pressure because air is thinner the higher you go up the mountain, hence the term "light headed".  So our water would boil at 206-207 degrees ~ crazy huh!  Then, when we would make our candy and the recipe would say cook to the hard crack stage or soft ball stage, we'd make our adjustments on paper before beginning to know when OUR right temp was reached which was always considerably lower than the recipe would say due to our altitude.  IF we had cooked it to the temps on the recipes, we'd have burned everything! ha ha

Give it a try!  Before you get started, put your themometer in a pot of water and bring it up to a good boil - remember normal sea level says it will boil at 212 degrees. See what your particular "normal" is.

But don't worry, even if it taks a couple of tries to get the consistency right, it will still TASTE yummy!

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