Soft ball and hard crack

Q: What do those phrases stand for?

A:  Stages of sugar in candy-making. It's what the mixture does when dropped into cold water. If you're new at it, or not, it definitely helps to have a candy thermometer.

I like to make candy -- it's an adventure. I especially love to make real fudge so I can eat it. NOT the recipe with marshmallow fluff: the real candy-thermometer fudge. It's a messy process and a little tricky, as it crystallizes easily and then you get that gritty mouthfeel - sign of an amateur candymaker.

I may or may not make fudge this year. However, every year I do make nut brittle for my dad. It's like peanut brittle but with cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, brazil nuts, etc. instead. Very decadent. And murder on the fillings.

Here are some pics of Nut Brittle in the making. Recipe available upon request (I'm too sleepy to post it right now)

The set up:

Approaching the hard crack stage (300 degrees)

You stretch it while it's still hot (it's not as dark as it looks here)

Done. Yum.