Macon Magazine

entertaining | by alacia rhame Almond Roca 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 16 ounces Hershey Almond Bars broken into squares 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds chopped Cook butter and sugar until light caramel color over medium heat. Stirring. Cover a jellyroll pan with nonstick foil, spread 1/2 cup of nuts on pan. Pour sugar on top of almonds and Hershey bars on top of that. When it begins melting, press in rest of almonds. Refrigerate. To serve, break or cut into squares. Easy Peanut Brittle Honor your mother with homemade goodness In 1907, Anna Jarvis began a personal campaign to establish a National Mother's Day in the United States. The year after her mother died she led a small tribute to her mother at Andrews Methodist Church. By the next year, Mother's Day was also celebrated in her city of Philadelphia. Jarvis and her supporters wrote hundreds of letters in support of a national Mother's Day to politicians and decision makers. Though the response was weak initially, she achieved a breakthrough when merchant and philanthropist, John Wanamaker of Philadelphia became a supporter. His support helped immensely. By 1909, 45 states as well as Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico observed Mother's Day. By 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state in the Union. And in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day a national holiday to be held each year on the second Sunday of May. With this wonderful long tradition of honoring our mothers, what can we do on this special day to show our love and gratitude? Homemade gifts are always special. How about a box of candy that you have made and a card lovingly designed and decorated by one of your children? You may want to extend your giving to someone who has been like a mother to you. The Almond Roca and Peanut Brittle recipes are so easy and sure to please. And of course, you can never go wrong with fancy Pralines or elegant White Chocolate Truffles. They will be the perfect gift for a special mom. M 80 l Macon Magazine 1 cup white sugar 1/2 cup light corn syrup 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup water 2 cups unsalted canned peanuts 2 tablespoons butter, softened 1 teaspoon baking soda Grease a large cookie sheet. Set aside. In a heavy two-quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in peanuts. Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 degrees or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads. Remove from heat; immediately stir in butter and baking soda; pour at once onto cookie sheet. With 2 forks, lift and pull and spread peanut mixture into rectangle about 14x12 inches; cool. Snap candy into pieces. april/MAy 2013

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