Simple Gifts for Black Friday

Black Friday sales are an abomination! All I want to do on the day after Thanksgiving is eat pie and whip cream, and think about Advent. I make most of my holiday gifts, and usually spend this free day at home, with my family, working on projects.

Agenda:
1. Compile a family wish list
2. Make gifts
3. Make peanut brittle
1. Compile a family wish list:
It's a family tradition that we make a list on the day after Thanksgiving of what we want for Christmas. (Why is it so hard to get men to tell you what they want?)

2. Make gifts:
I'm working on several projects for gifts, which I can't post because it would spoil the surprise!

3. Make peanut brittle:

Peanut brittle is a good make-ahead project, because it can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month (if you hide it!).

Ingredients:

• 2 c. white sugar
• 1 c. light corn syrup
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 c. raw peanuts
• 2 tsp. baking soda

1- Grease 2 large cookie sheets and set aside.

2- Combine sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt, and 1/2 c. water in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted.

3- Set a candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking, stirring frequently. The sugar syrup must be cooked to the hard-crack stage, between 305° and 310°F on a candy thermometer. 

4- If you have raw peanuts add them early. Raw nuts will cook with the syrup and flavor it, giving the brittle a nuttier taste. 

If you have roasted nuts add them at the end of the cooking time, at around 275°F, or they could burn and give the candy a bitter taste. You might want to warm the roasted nuts first in a 250°F oven so they don't cause the candy to seize up. 

5- When the candy is done, remove it from the heat and immediately stir in the baking soda; it will foam up and give the candy a porous, delicate texture.

6- Quickly pour the candy out onto the prepared cookie sheets. Oil a large spoon and use the back to spread the brittle into a thin, even layer.

7- Cool, then snap candy into pieces and store in an air-tight container.