Recipes from Ollie J -- Pauline's Brittle

Pauline is my recently turned 90-years-old cousin on my mother's father's side. She was related to Ollie's husband Jack, through Jack's mother Mary Ann. My great-grandmother had two boys, half brothers. Jack was my grandfather, Pauline's father, Ira was the other boy. (Got that?!) G-grandma's family genetic legacy is quite strong. There's a resemblance that was passed down to Grandpa Jack and Pauline, my mother, me and my brother J, and now to Amber. It's fairly obvious, even with the passage of time and the branching of the family tree. I was speaking with another cousin from that line at Ollie's funeral and people approached us saying that we must be "kin" somehow, since we looked alike -- although there had to be a good 40-50 year difference our ages. That cousin had to do the convoluted genealogical explanations back up the family tree to where the lines divided, but she could do so with ease!

I'm glad that Pauline and Grandpa Jack can make an appearance here on the blog, even if it's a brittle one.

Pauline's Brittle

2 cup - R. Peanuts (Mom says this means raw. I couldn't find them. Used shelled/roasted)
1 cup - Sugar (white)
1/2 cup - White Karo syrup
1/4 cup - water
1 tsp - Soda (baking)

Combine all ingredients except soda in a pot - Cook on high heat & mix constantly until mixture begins to turn brown* - Remove from heat. Add soda and stir quickly - Instantly spread on greased cookie or candy sheet. (I used my Silpat.)

Spread the mixture very thin. Let cool for hours before cracking.

*Bring to rolling boil over heat. Takes about 8-10 minutes after this point for it to turn brown. It's a subtle change. The syrup gets thicker and there a slight change in the smell. Be careful not to scorch the sugar mixture.

Do not touch the hot sugar! Use a LONG spoon/stirrer, maybe not metal.

I used shelled and roasted peanuts because I couldn't find any raw ones. Everything I found was roasted already. The shelled and roasted peanuts gave it a very smokey peanuty taste. I may use lightly roasted (non-salted) ones for the next batch, and, based on the suggestions of my colleagues, try updating the recipe to "fancy" by sprinkling fleur de sel (aka sea salt) over the cooling brittle.

SOOOOOO good. Ridiculously good.