IT'S MINE

Today I tried my hand at making chocolate-covered peanuts.  I thought of this idea while at the store, so I bought ingredients I thought would work.  Of course, after getting home and looking at recipes online, my choices don't seem that great, but oh well.  There's always next year.

These are for my dad.  It mystifies me that chocolate-covered peanuts are so difficult to purchase ready-made around here, because when I was growing up, this was my dad's go-to candy.  He ALWAYS had some either under the seat in his truck, or on top of the kitchen cabinet.

Yes, you heard me right--on top of the kitchen cabinet.  This was because these peanuts were HIS candy alone.  And...myself, I don't recall ever even tasting one.  It just WASN'T done.

One time my Aunt Pauline defiantly pulled up a chair, reached her hand up on top of the cabinet, got that candy down, and ate some.  It shocked the socks off us kids.

One of the deterrents Dad used was to tell everyone he had spit on them before they were put away. That's become a family phrase now, when it comes to keeping others away from your stuff:  "Hey, I spit on this!"

But all I can find at the store are "chocolate peanuts" which have a shiny fake-chocolate coating.  So I used a recipe that calls for 1 can of salted peanuts (16 oz?) and 2 bags of milk chocolate chips (24 oz?). Melt the chips, stir in the peanuts, and drop them by tablespoon onto waxed sheets.  Not bad at all, and certainly easy!

The "fancy" recipes call for a combo of milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and white chocolate. And unsalted peanuts.  White chocolate kind of gives me the heebie-jeebies; it's more like candy than chocolate and so I don't like using it.

Anyhow, I spit on all of them.