Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Since my last post, I have done a lot of relaxing, eating, and catching up with friends and family. It's been fantastic.

My brother's favorite Christmas gift was having his parody of Beyonce's Single Ladies video featured on yahoo! entertainment news and as a result, getting over 230,000 hits and becoming the 39th most viewed video on you tube for one day! Quite the accomplishment, my little blog is oh so jealous. Inspired by his video, my sisters and I spent Christmas morning trying to learn the real Beyonce's dance moves in our pj's - three white girls in plaid, sexy! My new years resolution: learn this dace, perform at parties, become coolest girl at middle school.

Ruby's mama (mentioned two posts in a row) was kind enough to share her peanut brittle recipe with me and has given me permission to share it with you! I love this recipe because it does NOT involve a candy thermometer. If you don't cook the candy long enough, the texture will end up chewy and very hard to eat. But if you cook it too long, the sugar burns and the whole thing is ruined. This recipe is done in the microwave and gets it just right. My only caution is that if you make batch after batch consecutively, the microwave will heat up and the candy will burn using the same microwave times. Last year I made a hazelnut variation as well that turned out really nicely.

PEANUT BRITTLE

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon butter

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup roasted salted peanuts

1 teaspoon baking soda

In 1 1/2 quart casserole (8 x 8 square Pyrex is what I use) stir together sugar and syrup. Microwave at high 3 minutes. Stir in peanuts. Microwave at high for another 3 minutes. Add butter and vanilla to syrup, blending well. Microwave at high 2 minutes. Peanuts will be lightly browned and syrup very hot. Add baking soda and gently stir until light and foamy. Pour mixture onto lightly greased cookie sheet and spread out in thin layer. Let cool 1/2 to 1 hour. When cool, break into small pieces and store in air-tight container.

CC and I spent NYE in Columbus with two of my college roomies, Blaze and Snickerdoodle. It was so much fun! (Embarrassingly, too much fun. I don't think I will be invited back to Gresso's anytime soon...) Unfortunately, yesterday we diagnosed Snick's boyfriend Scooter with whooping cough, so Oregon Trail. Word on the street is that whooping cough is making a comeback. Look out!

Happy New Year to all reading this! May 2009 bring you health, happiness, and your best year yet!