antepenultimate

On the antepenultimate (had to look it up, but what a nice mouthful of a word!) day before Christmas, the gifts required for joy:

Eight eighth grade teachers*;
Five paper/delivery/mailmen;
Four fifth grade teachers;
Three schoolbus drivers;
Two afterschool teachers;
And one secret santa gift for a boy.

In case you’re wondering about all those teacher gifts, we my LSH made several batches of cashew brittle. Here’s the recipe in case you need a few last minute gifts of your own!

2 C sugar
1 C light (but not Lite! there is a difference) Karo syrup
1/4 C water
3 T butter
1 lb peanuts or raw cashews
1/4 t salt if using raw unsalted cashews
2 t baking soda
1 t vanilla

Mix sugar, syrup and water; cook to 285 degrees over medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in nuts and butter (and salt). Cook until 295 degrees stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add vanilla and baking soda. Mix well; mixture will foam. Spread quickly on well-buttered marble slab to cool. (The last step is best accomplished with one person holding the hot pan and the other one scraping out the candy and spreading it.)

Pre- and post-breakup

* Yeah, yeah, I know. There's no need to drive myself crazy with gifts for teachers in eighth grade. Except I have two more coming up behind him, and each one is more ornery than the last. Never too early for the teacher bribing goodwill toward younger brothers to begin!