Christmastime is here, and one of the abiding pop culture symbols of the season, the “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” TV special, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The special first aired on Dec. 9, 1965 on CBS.
“Growing up I was definitely a fan,” said David Levine, chocolatier and owner of Illinois Nut & Candy in Skokie. “I used to love watching the holiday specials. Several years ago, we took the kids to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Peanuts exhibit. As much as they enjoyed it, they had no frame of reference for any of the characters, while I really got a kick out of it.”
At Levine’s candy shop, where the air is dense with the powerful whiffs of chocolate, freshly molded menorahs, dreidels and other symbols of Hanukkah dry in long lines on countertops. “Around this time of year, we really focus our efforts on celebrating all of the holidays so if you come into our store you will see a lot Hanukkah and Christmas items as well as non-denominational gift items,” Levine said.
Among those are his peppermint patties, also the name of one of the Peanuts characters. “Peppermint patties are a classic confection that has never lost its appeal, just like the Peanuts cartoon, which has become relevant to a new generation,” Levine said. “The combination of mint and chocolate is timeless. Now, with the Peanuts movie release, a whole new generation is being introduced to the characters that so many of us grew up with and loved.”
Levine’s recipe has been tweaked over the years. “It’s the perfect ratio of creamy chocolate with intense but not overpowering mint,” he said. “People love the snap of the chocolate in combination with the firm mint center.”
And they’re a cinch to make at home. “Making them is a fun, simple and kid-friendly process,” Levine said.
York, the maker of the original Peppermint Patties candies, also shares recipes and ideas for making peppermint patty ice cream sandwiches, popcorn, cupcakes and other treats on its website, www.hersheys.com/york/recipes.aspx.
Yet another holiday treat with a Peanuts connection is popcorn. Margarita Challenger, owner of Guanajuato in Glencoe, suggests adding a little color to a string of popcorn for the tree with another of Charlie Brown’s favorite ingredients: jelly beans. After all, they were on the dinner table in another Peanuts holiday classic, “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” The combination of popcorn, jelly beans, pretzels and toast (made by Snoopy) is widely recognized as the iconic Charlie Brown holiday meal.
To make the popcorn strands, Challenger uses a long needle, thin yarn, a bag of colorful jelly beans and a bag of popcorn. First, she threads a kernel of popcorn and then a jelly bean and then she continues alternating each until its long enough to use. “Just string together the jelly beans and the popcorn, so the strand is white and colorful,” she said.
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Challenger also turns popcorn into “snowballs,” by mixing popcorn and her homemade caramel sauce.
Simple recipes like these are a fun and easy way to celebrate the season.
Peppermint Patties
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons of butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon of edible peppermint oil
3 Tablespoons of either sweet condensed milk or non-dairy creamer
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, melted
Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips together with an electric mixer until a ball of marzipan begins to form in the center (ball will form in about two minutes).
Remove the marzipan and roll it into a cylinder. Cover the marzipan with saran wrap and store in the refrigerator until firm (40 to 60 minutes, depending on your refrigerator)
Remove the cylinder and unwrap. Slice the cylinder horizontally to make 1/4-inch disks. Using a confectioner’s fork, dip each disk, separately, into melted chocolate.
Place each disk, one by one after dipping, on parchment paper in a cool area of the kitchen to cool and set.
Adapted from David Levine, Illinois Nut & Candy, Skokie
Snowballs
14 cups freshly popped popcorn (made from 1/2 cup popcorn and two spoons of canola oil)
2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon butter, plus additional for greasing
1 teaspoon vanilla
Lightly butter two 15×11-inch baking sheets
Lightly butter rubber spatula.
Working in batches, place two cups of popcorn in food processor, pulsing until crushed but not over mixed. Repeat with remaining popcorn until done.
Stir together sugar, corn syrup and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture is simmering. Clip a candy thermometer to the inside of the pan and continue heating undisturbed for about 10 to 15 minutes until temperature reaches 270 degrees. The mixture will boil vigorously. Stir in butter and vanilla and continue heating until temperature reaches 290 degrees. Remove pan from heat, and right away stir in crushed popcorn. Working quickly, pour mixture over greased sheets. Spread the mixture with spatula. When cool enough, make balls of the size of your choice. Then cool and enjoy.
Margarita Challenger, Guanajuato, Glencoe