Debated with myself long and hard about posting this, because it's really off-topic, but i figured....what the heck....Baseball season is just around the corner, and you need something to stave off starvation while waiting on those prints to finish up, and it would be the epitome of sexist for me to assume that you fellas don't cook unless it's over a campfire or grill.
Besides, I like to share good finds with my friends...not fair to deny you something spectacular simply because you're mostly guys here. And every guy who's ever tried this stuff literally begs for it every year. (I have to make half a dozen huge batches every Christmas....I think the only way I could get away with not handing it out was if I was hospitalized, and then I'd worry they'd start showing up at New Year's with sad puppy-dog faces!)
The quality of the commercial stuff has degraded so much over the last decade. (Two peanuts? Really? For 2 bucks a box?) Grrrrrr.
And this stuff......heaven in your mouth. (Not an exaggeration.) Buttery instead of tasting slightly burnt (like the commercial stuff). Not too sweet. Boatloads of peanuts.
Anyway, you'll either thank me or curse me if you try it out, because you'll never go back to that boxed crap. It's easy, easy, easy to make, you can pump out a couple of gallons in only about an hour (and for most of that it's in the oven, so you don't even have to watch it constantly.) You can make a gallon of it for the cost of one measly box of the commercial stuff.
Just a couple of notes of warning:
1. Don't use a wet spoon to stir it - the sugar will crystalize if it hits water.
2. Use a tall-sided-pot if you've never cooked sugar before....it will climb up the sides as it boils. Stir once in a while to knock it back down. (It only cooks for 5 minutes on the stove.) Don't cook it in a skillet like the gal does at the blog site, she's flirting with real disaster.
3. Do NOT under any circumstance touch the boiling sugar or splash it on yourself. It will remove flesh and muscle to the bone, because it will stick and not let go. (This is not something young kids can help you with, and no doggies or kitties in the kitchen underfoot.) I'd rather clutch a nozzle at Polycarb temps than hit myself (again) with boiled sugar. It would heal faster.
Posting this now, cause I just knocked out a batch (yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!) and thought you (or your gal pals) might want to make some this weekend, if you got nothing else going on. Happy President's Day!
http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/09/oh-c ... l-popcorn/
Not trying to turn this forum into a coffee-klatsch either, so fret not. This one is good enough to bend the rules for, just a little.
(Don't fuss at me until you try it, insta! Remember, I'm incorrigible , and man does not live by PLA alone.)
Very Off-Topic.....Cracker Jacks Anyone?
Very Off-Topic.....Cracker Jacks Anyone?
Last edited by Jules on Mon Feb 15, 2016 11:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Very Off-Topic.....Cracker Jacks Anyone?
The only fussing, Jules, is because YOU have some and I do not.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org
Re: Very Off-Topic.....Cracker Jacks Anyone?
Make some this weekend dude! You'll thank me for it!
Re: Very Off-Topic.....Cracker Jacks Anyone?
Now go design and post a 3d printable Cracker Jack box, and it will all be properly on-topic. . .
Re: Very Off-Topic.....Cracker Jacks Anyone?
Not a bad plan.Tim wrote:Now go design and post a 3d printable Cracker Jack box, and it will all be properly on-topic. . .
(The little printed paper ones in the photo are a design that I created for the cutter a few years ago.....i take little cups of "jack" to Christmas parties sometimes.)
If only it didn't take so long to print them out of plastic, I'd have probably done one by now. (I'd need several dozen, at a minimum. )
Re: Very Off-Topic.....Cracker Jacks Anyone?
no, lol. mail me some.Jules wrote:Make some this weekend dude! You'll thank me for it!
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org
Re: Very Off-Topic.....Cracker Jacks Anyone?
Reminds me of a funny story about the first time I did that....Few years ago I thought I'd be a nice gal and send a little treat to my co-moderators on the WB and Gazelle forums. So I whipped up a few batches of peanut brittle. (And if the cracker jack is heavenly, the peanut brittle is deadly!....Super thin, crisp, perfectly balanced, and instantly addictive. Pounds will jump aboard before you can even blink.)insta wrote:no, lol. mail me some.Jules wrote:Make some this weekend dude! You'll thank me for it!
Packaged them up and sent them anonymously - the gals like to do this Secret Santa thing. I figured when they saw where it came from they would know it was me who sent it, but I guess not... the comments on the board were filled with apprehension and dread, they had no idea who had sent it, and they were all kinds of worried about it. (Wicked me....I was kind of tickled watching them try to figure it out.)
But this is the part that still makes me chuckle.....they ate it anyway! One of them was actually eating it as she typed up her concerns! I just about choked i was laughing so hard.
To this day, they're still mad at me because I don't just send them a batch every third day....but they'd be furious if I did, probably diabetic by now, and about 40 pounds heavier to boot. (Caught between a rock and a hard place. )