Peanut Brittle FAIL!

Keeping it real, folks-- some recipes just don't work out. Fail, if you will. But lessons can be learned through the unfortunate outcome of a recipe. In this case, it's to check your recipe source.  Copy down these notes, if you wish, in a spiral, college-ruled notebook for today's lesson in Recipe Reviewing 101. 

Rule #1: Check to see if your recipe source is credible.

For instance, the recipe I dug up for peanut brittle came from my freshman year high school history teacher.  This was the teacher that let us watch taped The Simpson's episodes, throw erasers at him for extra credit, and had the class copy down the anatomy of a perfect Thanksgiving plate. Gory war movies were his favorite, and I almost fainted in delight when Saving Private Ryan broke during the opening credits. Apparently, making candy was part of some assignment for class, probably for no reason other than he wanted free candy. 

Rule #2: Just because the recipe name includes "Granny's," that doesn't mean it will be good. 

My former teacher's "Granny's Peanut Brittle" was okay, but certainly not the best I've ever eaten. It called for 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup corn syrup, which produced peanut clumps rather than brittle. The food genius, Mark Bittman, has a recipe for PB that's 2 cups sugar and no syrup. Sorry, Mr. Teacher's Granny, I'm going with Bittman next time.

Rule #3: Check the recipe steps before beginning.

Vague language used for instructions in recipes is especially difficult when making finicky candies. For example, "cook sugar for a few minutes" tells me nothing. Does the sugar turn color? Do I need to stir it? When are the peanuts added? My personal favorite was "add peanuts and cook until they stop popping." What? There was definitely no peanut poppin' going on. 

Or lockin'. Or droppin'. But that's a different matter.

The end result was still edible, but it was far too thick and "peanut-y." (As you can see in the picture.) 

ps- I followed the recipe exactly. Call my Mom. I have her as witness.