#1 Son and Santa - 1992

Word of the Day

Eiffelite - A gangly person sitting in front of you at the movies who, no matter what direction you lean in, follows suit.

I can't believe that I'm opening Christmas Door #16 already! I never got around to making my sugarfree brownies yesterday so I tacked that task onto today's list of things to do. I made the white filling for the pecan rolls yesterday because that had to sit in the freezer overnight before I could continue. So...this morning, I made pecan rolls AND peanut rolls. They taste great! As the cook, I get to taste. The recipe is a keeper. Messy...but a keeper. I wish I could figure out an easier way of dipping the frozen nugget into the melted caramel before rolling them in the nuts. I ran out of pecans so I ended up making six peanut rolls with the remaining nugget centers. Delicious! Oh...and I ended up making 16 rolls from this recipe, 1/2-inch diameter. I suppose this might be why I also needed more caramel. I'd say about double the amount called for in the recipe. I used dry roasted peanuts for the peanut rolls. Taste lots better than Pearson's Nut Rolls that you can buy in the store. Also, the pecan rolls taste better than any I've bought in the store. I used half the amount of cream because I melted the caramels in my microwave (2 1/2 minutes in the microwave, stirring after each minute).

Easy Pecan Logs

Makes 8 rolls

From the kitchen of Russell Smithson

2 cups marshmallow creme
3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon butter flavoring
1 14 ounce package caramels
2 tablespoons heavy cream
chopped pecans


Combine marshmallow creme, confectioner's sugar, vanilla, and butter flavoring. Knead until all sugar is thoroughly blended. Shape into 8 rolls. Wrap each in plastic and freeze. Melt caramels and heavy cream in the top of a double boiler. Dip frozen candy rolls in melted caramel and roll in chopped pecans. Store covered in a cool, dry place.

*****

After that mess was cleaned up...I made 7 batches of peanut brittle. Easy microwave recipe. The invention of the sil-pat makes candy making really easy these days. That and the invention of the heat-resistant scrapers that are made of the same material. Timing can be interesting. Every year the microwave cooking time varies a bit. I think a lot depends upon the nuts. Anyway, this year, the cooking times were : 3 minutes, 3 minutes, and 1 minute.

Microwave Peanut Brittle

Ingredients:

1/2 c. light corn syrup
1 c. white sugar
1 c. dry-roasted peanuts, cashews or almonds
1 tsp. butter or margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda

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DIRECTIONS:

Combine corn syrup and sugar in 1-1/2 quart round microwave baking dish. Stir well until evenly blended. Microwave on high 3-4 minutes. Stir in nuts. Microwave on high for 3-5 minutes or until light brown. Stir in butter and vanilla, blending well. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes. Add soda and stir gently until light and foamy. Quickly pour onto lightly greased baking sheet. Cool. Break into small pieces and store in airtight container. Makes about 1 pound.
Note: For clear type brittle, omit baking soda.

*****

Then...I've got one batch of my sugarfree brownies in the oven. HTP talked me out of making more than one batch right now. I'll make another couple batches next week. In the meantime, I've used up all of my pecans, I'm out of butter, I need more eggs, and I've done enough for one day. Except for cleaning up the kitchen. I need to at least clean up the kitchen and store away the last two batches of peanut brittle....and the brownies as soon as I take them out of the oven and they're cool enough to store.

I'm afraid that Gypsy thinks I'm a bit crazy. I was singing along with the Christmas music and she got this really odd look in her eyes and then she ran into our bedroom to sit in the basket under my computer desk. She's still there...here. I guess I may just have the sound on the stereo cranked a bit loud.

Murphyism of the Day

Gourd's Axiom

A meeting is an event at which the minutes are kept and the hours are lost.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

A waist is a terrible thing to mind.

- Jane Caminos