As if I needed more proof that it was time to document recipes, I got another reminder last night. I hadn’t been able to find my (Shirley’s) peanut brittle recipe, and I made plans to copy it from her after Thanksgiving dinner last night. Except that—true to how things have been lately—we rooted through her recipe books and couldn’t find this particular recipe to save our souls.

I came home and checked through my printed-out recipe last night. No luck; it appears to have vanished into thin air.Just now, I remembered that I’d created recipe cards under a layout program (which I’m no longer using). Perhaps I’d saved them. Sure enough, there they were, archived neatly just like everything else. I had to open the files in a text editor to scan for the recipe, but I did find it. To prevent future loss, here it is:

Peanut Brittle

1½ cups sugar
1½ cups water
½ cup Karo
2 cups raw peanuts
1½ tsp baking soda
 butter

Butter a half-sheet pan.
Combine sugar, water, and Karo in saucepan.
Cook on medium-high, stirring very often, until the mixture spins a good thread. This will take quite a few minutes, and you will see a change in how the mixture bubbles (finer, more foamy) before you’ll see threads.
Add peanuts, and cook until they pop.
Add baking soda, stir rapidly, and immediately pour onto buttered cookie sheet. Tilt to spread mixture evenly.
Cool and break into pieces.