Alphabet Soup

Let's take a moment to look at the calendar, shall we?  Let's see, yep, it's still September.  I tried buying some Halloween baking products today, but the stores were already sold out and replacing them with Christmas items.  And I complained about that on Facebook.  Yet, here I am, talking about Christmas treats.  According to the countdown on my phone, there are 89 days left until Christmas day.  So, in that spirit, I've joined Brenda of Meal Planning Magic again on her Twelve Weeks of Christmas Treats blog hop.  That's right, me, the Queen of Procrastinationland.  ;) This week, I made a pretty easy treat:  Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bites.  I found the recipe through Pinterest (where else these days, right?) and thought they would be a great treat to make! Instead of using the individual caramels, I decided to try the caramel apple wraps found near the apples in the produce section of the grocery store.  They made...

Starting back in the 60's (not that I was around then) the home economics department of a local electric company would put on cooking demonstrations near Christmas, and would hand out booklets with the recipes.  I can remember attending many of these with my mom and grandmother when I was in junior high and high school.  In 1993, they published a 30th anniversary cookbook with all the recipes from the past demonstrations.  It was a go-to cookbook of mine for many years, and I still use some of the recipes.  One of those is the recipe for Peanut Butter Crunch that I am sharing today.  I have actually adapted it over the years, so I'm writing out my adaptation for you.  Unfortunately, that electric company was bought out by another and they don't do the demonstrations any more.  I always thought they were fun! I know that intro was kind of boring, but I wanted to give you the history on this recipe!  I make it almost every year to hand out...

Can you believe that in one week, it will be Christmas?  Yeah, me either.  So not ready.  :) The other thing I can't believe is that it's the last week for the 12 Weeks of Christmas cookies.  It has been a lot of fun.  I'm very glad to have participated, and would like to thank April for putting this all together. My contribution this week is to put the spotlight on a post from last year about peanut brittle.  It's just not Christmas without peanut brittle, in my opinion, and it's perfect for sharing!  Click here for the link. Enjoy, and I hope everyone has a great weekend, and a wonderful holiday!  :)

I have a confession to make. I've never made peanut brittle the traditional way. For the last few years, I've made it in the microwave. There. I'm a slacker candy maker. :) Anyway, I managed to buy more peanuts than I really needed at the store yesterday, so after making a batch of microwave brittle, I thought why not try something new and make a batch on the stove. I wanted to see if I could actually pull it off, and I thought it would be fun to have a little taste test! We are iced and snowed in today (nothing like the blizzard some people are expecting, but bad weather for us!!), so I figured why not spend the day cooking (and blogging!). I can remember being at my grandmother's house and "helping" her make the peanut brittle every year. She may have had a recipe, but I'm not entirely sure about that. I do know that she never used a candy thermometer. She tried to teach me how to tell what stage it was at, but I didn't trust myself, so I pull...