Ms. Kinney's White Trash

Before winter break, after my students have handed in their final projects and taken their final exams, I bestow upon them the ever coveted White Trash. In fact, this year I'm giving them the address of this blog so they can make it themselves.

It starts with your favorite cereals and salty snacks. My favs are Crispix, Rice Chex, Coco Roos, pretzel sticks, Cheezit crackers, Mini Ritz Bits sandwiches with peanut butter or honey roasted peanuts. One box/bag of each...mix 'em up and spread them out on a foil-covered surface.

Put a big heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water (called a double boiler)  But don't let the water boil! Now with a heavy knife, chop up a block of Almond Bark. Almond Bark is NOT white chocolate. You can buy it in the baking section of most grocery stores. It comes in a big segmented chunk that is too clunky to melt efficiently so you'll need those chopped, small pieces in the top of that double boiler if you value your time. Find a large ladle for stirring the melting bark--you'll also need it to do the dipping later.

I use a big stainless steel bowl over a deep pasta pot--notice the bark has plenty of room here. You want to keep it clear of any steam or drops of water! If water touches the bark at this stage, it will get all gummy and weird. That's called seizing up and if it happens you might as well just dump it and start over.

When the bark is smoooooth and ever so melty, ladle it over the cereal mix on the foil. Don't worry too much about big glops but you should try to spread it around evenly.

Use your hands to mix the melted bark and cereal stuff while the bark is still warm. It's very messy and stuff falls on the floor but totally worth the trouble.

Voila! White Trash! It doesn't take long to firm up and "dry." Break it up and place in plastic bags or air-tight containers. It freezes well and, even when left out for snacking, stays fresh tasting for a long time.

Merry Christmas and Happy First Semester's End to my fabulous Art students! Love you guys!  --Ms. K

Toffee

Homemade Toffee!

Nothing says Christmas like the smell of candy making in the kitchen! This toffee recipe is a bit time consuming but soooooo worth it! Over the years, I've given pounds and pounds away to family, neighbors and friends with glowing reviews. Here's the recipe:

 Jan's Toffee
1 C. butter
1 1/4 C. packed, light brown sugar
3 TBS water
1 TBS corn syrup
pinch of salt

1 C. toasted, chopped pecans and 1 C. chocolate chips (optional)
 

You'll need a large, heavy sauce pan--cast iron is great. In these pics, I had to use my Dutch oven as it was a holiday batch and the recipe was quadrupled. 

If you do the nutty variety, toast your pecans in a 300 degree oven for about 8 minutes. Watch them closely so they don't burn! Chop them up and spread them on a heat-resistant surface covered in  Pammed foil. 

Melt the butter over medium-high heat and add the rest of the ingredients minus nuts and chocolate chips.

Get about 5 teaspoons from your silverware drawer and a heat proof, 2 cup container of cold water and set it beside your stove top. You'll need these later...

Stir like a crazy person (not too fast, just very committed) constantly making sure to scrape the bottom as you go. A wooden spoon works well here. At first it will look like the butter will never homogenize with the sugar, but be patient. In about 30-40 minutes it will look like the pic below.

This is where it gets a bit dangerous and tricky. Dangerous because the toffee is like lava--avoid getting it on your skin! Tricky because it's time to start testing the "done-ness" for the soft crack stage. Now for the teaspoons and water...

This is the old fashioned method of candy making--when the candy lava is dipped out of the pot and drizzled into cold water, it stiffens. At first, it may just be a blob in the bottom. Keep cooking and stirring. Test again. This time, it's like soft caramel. Yummy, but still not done. Change out the water but don't take too long because you need to keep stirring! Finally, you'll test it and the sugary squiggles will break with a soft crack--hence the name. You're ready to pour onto your Pammed foil.

Take the toffee off of the heat.I use a large ladle and carefully dip and pour over the pecans. 

This batch was half with nuts/chocolate and half without. The chocolate chips are sprinkled over the hot toffee immediately after pouring it onto the foil. The heat of the mixture is plenty hot enough to melt the chocolate. Just take a spatula and spread it evenly over the candy's surface.

When cool, break into pieces and store in plastic bags or air tight containers. It freezes well but your chocolate will "bloom," that is, it will appear a bit chalky on the surface. This condition does not effect the taste at all, and I've never had any complaints!

Have a happy holiday season and watch out! This toffee is totally addictive!