Halloween 2015!

Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
Why is it so cloudy? When we make brittle/toffee, it's much more translucent.

--Patrick
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Where I'm from, it's traditional to add a bit of baking soda (.25tsp), which adds a lot of tiny bubbles to the brittle, making it more...brittle ;) But also, like the foamy head on a beer, makes it a lot less transluscent.

The basic recipe is to cook sugar and water (and some salt if you're using raw peanuts) and peanuts to the hard-crack stage, which is essentially the same stage that you cook to make transluscent hard candies. Stir in a bit of butter and baking soda, pour onto a sheet and let cool.

My phone is notorious for taking potato quality photos..the color is just all wrong. My brittle looks a lot like the brittle on the right in this professional photo:



But if you look close enough, both brittles have a ton of tiny bubbles in them, indicative of the addition of baking soda.
 
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PatrThom

PatrThom

We usually leave out the water entirely, just cooking together butter and sugar, and then leave out the baking soda as well so it stays tangy. That's probably also why it's not as cloudy.

--Patrick
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
We usually leave out the water entirely, just cooking together butter and sugar, and then leave out the baking soda as well so it stays tangy. That's probably also why it's not as cloudy.

--Patrick
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Water makes it much easier to get to the hard-crack stage (where only 1% of the mixture is water anyway) without lumps. Keeps thing from getting too hot, too fast, also, so makes it easy to get to that 300 degree milestone without going over too quickly.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Here's the halloween album I had when I was a kid. I used to listen to it all the time, even when it wasn't october!

 
fade

fade

Staff member
Yeah we had that record. The water torture track would probably be considered juuuuuuust a little ethnocentric to say the least these days.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
fade said:
Yeah we had that record. The water torture track would probably be considered juuuuuuust a little ethnocentric to say the least these days.
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Ha ha ha ha... YES.

Just for the rest of you, the part he's talking about is at 12:34.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

These were ours.

(we also had #1 "The Headless Horseman")


(we actually had not this one, but #3 "Sounds of the Unknown")

--Patrick
 
Dei

Dei

I was told I look like I belong in a 90s grunge band when I'm not wearing the costume with my makeup. [emoji14]

 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Dei said:
I was told I look like I belong in a 90s grunge band when I'm not wearing the costume with my makeup. [emoji14]

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More like Fred Gwynne's granddaughter.
1350921914_herman_munster_001.jpg

Might be an idea for going as a Rule 63 version of the character next year.

--Patrick
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Already had Beggar's Night here. My pumpkins were a hit, per usual... mostly because no one else is willing to spend half a work day carving them like I am.
 
Cajungal

Cajungal

Staff member
Frank said:
Working tonight. Sigh.
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Grad school project here. But I'm no fun on Halloween. I don't go to many parties, so if I put on a costume I tend to have fun for 5 minutes and then look around and think, "now what?" Such is the life of a joyless overthinker.
 
Dei

Dei

A bunch of the guys who got laid off at my husband's job and are awaiting their final termination date wore Star Trek red shirts at work yesterday.

Also, Halloween cupcakes yaaaay! (I did not make them)

 
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