Minted Nuts

Now here's a recipe that turned out to be more of a challenge than I expected. And it sounds so easy! The challenge came from the marshmallows. I added about a cup of the mini's rather than the large. Same rule applies - about 8 mini's to one large. The challenge came in the stirring and the spreading. The whole mass looked like pecans caught in a giant spider web. I thought perhaps this would be a better Halloween treat! Anyway, with a little patience and two forks, I was able to separate the whole lot into small, bite-size chunks. I let them stay out on the waxed paper over night, which allowed them to dry. I'm sure any nut would be good. I used just over a pound of pecans, which added to my persistence. I wasn't about to waste that many nuts!

MINTED NUTS
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. Karo syrup
8 marshmallows cut
1 quart nut meat
1 tsp. mint flavoring
Cook sugar, water, & Karo syrup to a soft stage or ball, when dropped in cold water. Take from stove and add marshmallows, stir until dissolved. Add flavoring. Pour over nuts. Mix well and pour on wax paper.

Unusually Good! - Light Fudge

This was my second try at making this fudge. I'm nothing if not persistent! It sounded really good and I remember Mother making this fudge. So I gave it a second chance. The recipe, which was attributed to Mom's club friend Lois Johnson, says to cook it to a firm (real firm) ball. But don't. I think she meant soft ball stage that really formed a ball and not too mushy. My first attempt I cooked it too long. Before I beat the fudge, I added the fruit and nuts, but I think it might have been better if I had waited till the fudge was nearly done. My fudge turned pink as I stirred the cherries. Maybe that was OK - its quite festive this way. It has a nice tangy taste from the sour cream, but not too strong.

LIGHT FUDGE
4 cups sugar
1/4 lb. butter (real)
16 oz. sour cream
Melt butter, add other ingredients. Slow boil to firm ball stage (real firm). Pour into greased dish. Cool till warm. Beat & add vanilla, Maraschino cherries (dried good), nuts or pre-cooked raisins or any kind of fruit you like.

The Trick to English Toffee

I have struggled over the years making toffee, but I never give up because that's one candy that we all love. When it's done right, it's wonderful. One classic problem when making toffee is that the butter starts to separate and leaves a watery mote around a clump of brown sugar. Well, last year I had the AHA moment. My honorary second mom, Betty, was a good friend of my mom. Her daughter Jenna was glued to my side through my entire childhood. Well, Jenna sent me a recipe book of her mom's recipes a couple of years ago, so I looked up Betty's secret to toffee. She said to always cook it on high heat, and if you'll notice in my recipe below, it also says to cook on the highest heat. Somehow in the copying of Mom's recipe to my own file, I left out that important note. Well, never again. I made this toffee tonight in about 15 minutes. High heat - no separation. Can't wait to cut it!

The first recipe is the one I used - the following two are also in her collection.

ENGLISH TOFFEE
Cut coarsely 1 cup nuts into the bottom of an 8 x 8 pan. Turn stove unit onto top heat. Into heavy pan place the following:
1 cup white sugar
1/2 lb. butter
3 tbsp. water
Stir with wooden spoon throughout time of cooking. Mixture should appear fluffy at all times during cooking. Mixture will start to leave the sides of the pan when it turns amber with cooking smoking slightly. Pour immediately over nuts. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Indicate squares while warm. Cool & break.

Note: I used almonds tonight but I often use walnuts. And instead of chocolate chips, I used Hershey milk chocolate bars.

ENGLISH TOFFEE (2)
1 lb. butter
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. corn syrup
1 cup ground almonds
2½ cups sugar
1 lb. sweet chocolate or 9 5-cent plain Hershey bars
Chopped Walnuts
Cook butter, water, sugar and syrup to hard cracked stage (310°F). Remove from heat and add almonds. Pour into buttered pans (cookie sheets). Have chocolate melted; pour over toffee then sprinkle with walnuts. Let cool, then break into pieces. If using candy bars just lay on hot toffee and spread with knife.

FAVORITE TOFFEE
1/2 cup water
1 lb. butter
2¼ cups sugar
1 cup coarsely ground almonds
Melt butter in heavy sauce pan. Add sugar & water & bring to boil. Add almonds & cook over high heat. Stir candy constantly as it nears end. Cook until brown. Pour quickly into buttered pan. Cool & bread as is - or spread with melted milk chocolate & sprinkle with chopped toasted almonds.

Oh Fudge!

Here are several fudge recipes - two of them I tried. The first was the Marshmallow Rocky Road Fudge. First because I love nuts and marshmallows, easy decision. I had to adjust this recipe a bit because I didn't read the recipe closely enough. I looked at the evaporated milk line and saw 1 can instead of 1 cup. I'm not sure that it shouldn't have been one can if Mom wrote 1 c. Anyway, since I had already added the full can, which is 1-1/2 cups, I adjusted the rest of the recipe to match. Turned out fine - I just had extra of the fudge layer. It's really good!

MARSHMALLOW ROCKY ROAD FUDGE
3/4 cup broken walnuts
1 12-oz. pkg. chocolate pieces
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup evaporated milk
2 cups tiny marshmallows
1/4 tsp. salt
Sprinkle walnuts evenly over buttered pan 9 x 9 x 2. Butter sides of 2 quart heavy saucepan. In it combine sugar, milk, & salt. Heat & stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to rolling boil & boil 2 min. Stirring. Remove from heat immediately stir in chocolate & vanilla. Beat until chocolate is melted. Cover walnuts with 1/2 fudge. Top with tiny marshmallows pressing gently into fudge. Spread with remaining fudge.

Now, since there are two more chocolate fudge recipes all very similar, I decided to only make one of them because I didn't necessarily want or need two more huge pans of fudge! The recipe I tried was a bit different from other easy fudge recipes I've made in the past using marshmallow cream. This recipe called for marshmallows, and since I had just bought them, this recipe one the draw. Here it is:

FUDGE
4½ cups sugar
1 cube butter
1 lg. can milk
Boil together stirring constantly for 7 min. Pour over 1 lb. marshmallows, 2 pkg. chocolate chips. Stir until dissolved. Add nuts & put in fridge to chill.

And here's the other recipe:

EASY FUDGE
4½ cups sugar
1 tall can milk
1-1/3 cubes margarine
1 pint marshmallow topping
2 giant Hershey bars
1 lb. chopped nuts
2 tsp. vanilla
Combine sugar, milk, margarine in saucepan and boil for 6 min. stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and while still hot add chocolate, marshmallow, vanilla and nuts. Blend together and pour into two dripper pans or one large cookie sheet (buttered). Cool in refrigerator overnight. Before cutting, take from refrigerator and sit in room temp. for about 1 hour.

Yummy Gifting - Cranberry Nut Bread

My friends and neighbors are going to benefit (I hope) from my efforts this season. What better chance to try all these recipes for cookies and candy? Well, the home teachers are coming early this month, and my sweet home teacher can't have sugary sweets. So I looked to the collection for something appropriate for gifting but not in the candy section. Cranberry Nut Bread! Still seasonal, not quite as sweet. This recipe was from a magazine clipping. I followed it exactly, but when it came to pouring it into the pans, it didn't pour. The batter was quite thick, which worried me. Much thicker than banana bread, for instance. Anyway, I resisted the urge to add another egg or more liquid, and stayed true to the recipe. I used two smaller pans, rather than one large one, so I reduced the cooking time to 60 minutes. It looked a little dry, possibly too done, when I removed it from the oven. So I decided a little orange glaze might help. Just dumped - powdered sugar and orange juice till it seemed the right consistency. Of course I had to cut one loaf to make sure it was worthy of gifting. Well, I thought it was delicious, but Doug's first word when he tasted it sealed the deal - "WOW!" He liked it, so I guess this is a good gift idea. Hope the home teachers like it!

CRANBERRY NUT BREAD
Grease bottom only of a 9x5x3 in. loaf pan. Line pan with waxed paper cut to fit pan bottom; grease the waxed paper.
Rinse, sort, and cut into halves 2 cups (about 9 oz.) fresh cranberries.
Coarsely chop and add to cranberries 3 oz. pecans (about 3/4 cup, chopped). Set aside.
Melt and set aside to cool slightly 2 tbsp. butter or margarine.
Sift together into a bowl and set aside:
2 cups sifted flour
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar
1¾ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Combine:
1 egg, well beaten
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup water
Stir in the melted butter or margarine. Make a well in center of dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients all at one time. Stir only enough to moisten all the dry ingredients. Add the nuts and cranberries and 1 tsp. grated orange rind (grated through colored part only; white part is bitter).
Stir just until blended (do not overmix). Turn into prepared loaf pan and spread to corners.
Bake at 350°F about 70 min., or until a cake tester or wooden pick comes out clean when inserted in center of loaf.
Remove from oven; cool 10 min. in pan on cooling rack.
To remove bread from pan, first loosen by running spatula gently around sides. Cover with a cooling rack. Invert and remove pan. Immediately peel off waxed paper and turn bread right-side up. Cool bread completely before slicing or storing. To store, wrap tightly in aluminum foil or other moisture-vapor-proof material.

My Favorite Christmas Cookies - Thumb Cookies & Date Pin Wheels

I have loved Thumb Cookies, aka Angel Thumbprints, since I was little. Mother made them and then I started making them for my family. Then I realized that I was the only one eating them. My good fortune. I love the way the walnuts taste baked on the outside of this cookie. You can also fill the thumbprint with jelly, but I prefer frosting.

THUMB COOKIES
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Mix all together then add 1 cup sifted flour, 1/4 tsp. salt. Mold into balls the size of a walnut, then roll in egg white and finely chopped nuts. Bake five minutes in 350°F oven. Take out and make a depression with the thumb in each cookie then return to oven and bake until brown. Then take out and cover with colored icing.

My other favorite cookie is Date Pin Wheels. This is also one that Mother made every year. The recipe was from a newspaper clipping. I know my sisters make this cookie, but it's not one that I have made very often. The recipe wasn't very specific in the instructions. You need to roll the dough out before you spread it with the date mixture. Then you roll it up and wrap it in waxed paper. Chill it a couple of hours, and then slice the roll with a sharp knife in 1/4 inch slices. I loved the way they turned out! This is probaly another cookie that I would eat all by myself. And that's OK!

DATE PIN WHEELS
1 cup chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg (beaten)
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
Cook dates, sugar and water slowly until thick. Add nuts and cool. Cream shortening, brown sugar and vanilla. Add egg. Sift flour, salt and soda. Add to creamed mixture, making a stiff dough. Spread dough with date mixture and roll up like jelly roll. Chill in refrigerator for two hours. Bake at 375°F from 10 to 12 minutes.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas! - Caramels & Peanut Brittle

House decorated - check. Shopping done - almost. Wrapping - I've started. But I've got lots of recipes to try before I run out of the best excuse ever to make yummy treats. I started with the caramels this week. I've made caramels before, but it was a very long time ago. The instructions for this recipe were very precise, and I followed them to the letter. My main dilemma is knowing how many degrees to subtract from my candy thermometer reading. I read on a website today that you subtract 2 degrees (F) for every 1000 feet above sea level. I think I'm about 4500 feet so that would be about 9 degrees. But I wasn't that careful. And I have a very cheap candy thermometer. If I were to be a serious candy maker, I'd invest in a decent thermometer. However, these caramels are perfect, if I do say so myself. And I didn't subtract any degrees from my thermometer reading because I was worried about under-cooking it. Warning - it takes a very long time to make caramels - maybe an hour of stirring, but they're worth it.

CARAMELS
2 cups sugar
1 cup white Karo syrup
1 pint whipping cream
Shake salt
Mix sugar & syrup together. Add 1/3 of cream & boil to 230°F. Add 1/3 more cream and bring to 230°F then add 1 inch square of butter and 1/2 tsp. vanilla and bring to 234°F. Break 1 cup nuts on bottom of 9 inch buttered square pan. Pour mixture on top. Cool in refrigerator.

Today I made Peanut Brittle. This recipe was attributed to Lucile F. Can't for the life of me remember who that might be. The instructions say to cook it till it spins a two-inch thread. I had to look that one up! I got the answer from the same website that told me about subtracting 2 degrees. You get some of the syrup and hold the spoon over the boiling candy, and then let the syrup drip off the edge of the spoon. It will start to spin a thread - a little stream of syrup that kind of stays on the end of the spoon. Also the temperature reading according to this chart said 215 to 235 degrees. For what it's worth! Then after I added the peanuts, I stirred for about a half hour - really. Seemed like forever, and then suddenly it was done. So have everything ready that needs to be added at the end and have your tray buttered and ready to pour. I took Mom's advice and didn't add 2 teaspoons of soda - only 1, but I did add 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Why not? And notice Mom's note about the recipe - it must be good if she says so.

PEANUT BRITTLE (GOOD)
2 cups sugar
1 cup corn syrup (white)
1/2 cup water
2 cups raw Spanish peanuts
1 tsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla (?)
2 tsp. soda (?) (I didn't use 2)
Cook syrup, water & sugar until it spins 2" thread. Add peanuts to cooking mixture & continue cooking stirring constantly until syrup turns light golden brown. Take off stove & add soda. Add vanilla & butter. Pour on buttered plate or trays & break when cold.