Christmas Carollers

I spent yesterday making caramel corn and peanut brittle because I knew the carollers would pay me a visit last night. They started coming the year my husband passed away, and have been coming ever since - six years.

Last night there were eight youths ranging in age from nine to seventeen, and two adults.

Christmas just wouldn't be the same without my yearly visit from them. They tell me it is the same for them - their Christmas wouldn't be the same without the little bags of caramel corn and peanut brittle they get to take home.

Most of my "food gifts" at Christmas are made up of these two items. It keeps well at a time when there is so much food around - people enjoy eating it - and, most important of all, it is one of the few treat foods I am not tempted to overindulge in.

Past experience has taught me NOT to do a lot of baking at Christmas. There is already so much food around. My sister is able to do all that fancy baking without eating half of it, so she brings a tray to be shared on Christmas Eve when we get together with some of our "family of origin" and Mom.

My husband's favorite thing at Christmas was hard candy and Christmas nuts; so I always put those out for him at the beginning of December. He also liked homemade fruitcake and pie. I didn't always get a fruitcake made - one year it was Easter before I got it made - that's okay, we enjoyed it just the same.

I did always make sure I made the pies, though - mincemeat for Christmas Day and Apple for New Year's Day.

I thought I would share my recipes for the caramel corn and peanut brittle for anyone who is interested in giving them a try:

Caramel Corn

1 cup popcorn, unpopped 1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup white corn syrup

Pop the popcorn directly into a large roasting pan. (It pops better if you do it 1/3 cup at a time.) Boil butter, sugar, corn syrup and salt together for 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat. Add soda and vanilla. Stir thoroughly. Pour over the popcorn. Stir gently to coat evenly. Bake at 200F for 1 hr. Stir two or three times while baking. Pour onto sheets of wax paper and separate so will not harden in large clumps. (This makes a whole roasting pan full).


Microwave Peanut Brittle

1 cup sugar 1 tsp butter
1-1/2 cups salted peanuts 1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup white corn syrup 1 tsp baking soda

Microwave peanuts, sugar and corn syrup on high for 3 minutes. Stir and then cook for 3 more minutes. Stir in butter and vanilla. Nuke for 2 more minutes. Add soda. Stir quickly but thoroughly to evenly distribute soda. Pour onto greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Cool. Break into pieces. Makes 1 pound.

Note: Every microwave is different so the time may have to be adjusted . The first batch will be sort of trial and error timewise; but once you figure out the correct cooking time for your microwave, it's great because it is so easy to do and turns out the same every time.