Joan’s Country Kitchen

My husband loves peanut brittle so I decided to make this recipe for him at Christmas. This peanut

Christmas Peanut Brittle

Peanut Brittle Recipe

Ingredients for peanut brittle

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 cup peanuts
2 tbs butter, softened
1 tsp baking soda

Directions for Cooking

Grease a large cookie sheet and then set it aside for later.

Using a heavy saucepan, bring sugar, corn syrup, salt and water to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

Add peanuts to mixture and stir in.

Continue cooking, stirring frequently until candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a hard ball forms when a little brittle is dropped into very cold water.

Remove peanut brittle from heat and immediately stir in butter or margarine and baking soda.

Pour candy onto greased cookie sheet at once.

Using 2 forks, lift and pull peanut mixture into rectangle about 14×12 inches and allow to cool.

Gifts from the Kitchen

More Gifts from the Kitchen

I love historic recipes and when my mom gave me an old Iowa Farm Bureau Cookbook, published in the 1920’s, I was in heaven. Since I now have the cookbook my own mother and grandmother used to make many of our family dishes, my dad asked me to find a piccalilli recipe for him.

There was one very funny story involving piccalilli relish in a book I was just reading, All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot about a British country vet, set in the 1930’s. Many on the farms in England, and here in the US on country farms, loved piccalilli relish.

Here are two piccalillli relish recipes from my historic Iowa Farm Bureau cookbook. Some directions in historic recipe books seem very vague to us these days, but most farm wives back then already knew all the basics and took the directions for granted.

Ingredients for Piccalilli Relish

1 package green tomatoes
6 medium onions
1 medium head cabbage
1 1/4 c salt
6 green peppers
1 red pepper
2 cups sugar
1 tsp cloves, cinnamon and mixed spices

Directions

Put vegetables through a food chopper, then add salt. Let misture stand over night and then drain off liquid.

Add vinegar and spices and cook “gently” for one-half hour.

Put into sterilized jars and seal while hot.

Recipe 2 for Piccalilli Relish

This version will be spicier and makes more than recipe one.

Ingredients

1 package green tomatoes
8 large onions
1 cup salt
2 quarts water
1 quart vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 quarts vinegar
1 tablespoon white mustard seed
2 tbs ginger

1-2 tbs cayenne pepper
2 tbs cinnamon
1 tbs cloves and allspice

Directions

Chop fine tomatoes and onions, stir in salt and let it stand over night.

In the morning, drain off liquid.

Boil 2 qts water and 1 qt vinegar with tomatoes for 20 minutes.

Drain, put in kettle.

Put spices into cheesecloth and form a bag. Add this to the kettle, along with 2 quarts vinegar. Boil these together for another 20 minutes.

Add sugar if more sweetness is desired.

Makes 7 pints.

his holiday season, many are looking for money saving ideas. One easy way to save money on gift giving is

caramel corn makes a great gift from your kitchen

to make your own gifts in the kitchen. Homemade holiday treats are a wonderful way to say how much you care to everybody on your gift list. They’ll appreciate the gift even more, knowing you made it yourself.

Visit our cool Cookbook Store

This blueberry syrup recipe is super easy and delicious. It can be used over ice cream, pancakes or waffles or add it to ice tea for a great berry flavored drink. It also makes a delicious gift from your kitchen for the holidays.

Ingredients for Easy Blueberry Syrup

3 c blueberries fresh or frozen

2/3 c. light corn syrup

Dash of salt

Cooking Instructions

Place all three ingredients into your blender. Cover and blend on liquid setting until syrup is smooth.

Pour blueberry mixture into a medium saucepan.

Boil mixture for about 5 minutes. Stir constantly to avoid sticking.

This easy blueberry syrup is terrific served over waffles or pancakes or try it on ice cream. Can also be added to your ice tea to make blueberry iced tea. This syrup can also be chilled and reheated.

This easy recipes yields 3 1/2 cups of blueberry syrup.