Catching up on the weekend

This weekend was just nuts. For a few hours I thought I needed to plan a wedding in seven weeks, then 24 hours later the kibosh was put on that. I spent five hours with my Mom on Saturday making peanut brittle and I spent all day Sunday prepping and eating a Turkey Dinner at Sara's house with friends. I was beat by the time I got home Sunday night. Too much physical and emotional work.

Making peanut brittle with Mom is always fun. It's a sticky, greasy mess, but it's a blast. At the end of the day your feet hurt and your back is killing you, but it's only two days out of the year. My Mom makes the best peanut brittle you've ever had. Those of you who have had the pleasure of eating some - you know I'm right. Crunchy, buttery, peanutty goodness. She got her recipe from a friend many years ago and started making it to sell at out church's holiday boutique. Of course it sells like hotcakes and every year she has to make more and more to keep up with the demand.

For a couple of years when I was in high school, Mom started a business and tried making the candy commercially. It was a gutsy thing to do and I admire her for taking the shot at it. Starting a business is really hard. Ultimately it didn't work out the way she wanted, but it was a learning experience to be sure. I occasionally think about giving the business another shot, but that won't be happening any time soon.

So Mom makes copious amounts of peanut brittle for our church's holiday boutique in November every year. She also makes it for the "mini" boutique the church has in October. (This Thursday as a matter of fact.) We made 20 batches for the Mini Boutique. We'll make double that for the regular boutique. If you calculate it out that one batch makes about five half-pound bags, that's 2.5 lbs of peanut brittle per batch. 20 x 2.5 = 50 lbs of peanut brittle. If we make 40 batches in a couple of weeks: 40 x 2.5 = 100 lbs of peanut brittle.

Frequently she has to add a third day of making it for all the special orders she gets. I've also been giving out some as gifts the last couple years, which adds a few more batches. So maybe we do five to ten more batches. Another 25 lbs. 50 + 100 + 25 = A whole lot of candy folks. A whole lotta.

So in case you get to sample the peanut brittle produced by the Ayers Family Kitchen this holiday season, know that was the result of a lot of hard work led by my Mom.