Butter Taffy
3 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Boil sugar, molasses, water and vinegar. When crisp in cold water add butter and cook 3 minutes. Add vanilla and cool on buttered pans and break into pieces.
Chocolate Caramels
2 cups molasses
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup cream or milk
1/4 pound unsweetened chocolate
4 tablespoons butter
Put all ingredients into kettle. Boil until it hardens in cold water; add 1 teaspoon vanilla and turn into greased tins. When nearly cold, cut into small squares.
Creamed Nuts
2 cups confectioner's sugar
white of 1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cold water
walnuts or other nuts
Mix sugar, unbeaten egg white, vanilla and water into a stiff paste. Shape into little balls, press between halved walnut or other nut meats.
Stoned dates and large seeded raisins may be filled with this cream, or it may be mixed with chopped nuts, shaped into bars and cut into squares.
Peanut Brittle
2 cups chopped roasted nuts
3 cups granulated sugar
Put sugar in frying pan. Stir over slow fire. It will lump, then gradually melt. When pale coffee color, and clear, add nuts and pour quickly on greased tin. When cold break into pieces.
Candied Popcorn
1-1/2 cups sugar or maple syrup
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons water
3 quarts popped corn
Boil sugar or syrup with butter and water until it spins a long thread; pour this on corn and if desired shape into balls.
Pulled Molasses Candy
1 cup molasses
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup water
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons butter
Put molasses, sugar, water and vinegar into saucepan and stir; boil until very brittle when dropped into cold water; add butter and pour on buttered platter. When cool enough to handle, butter hands and pull until light brown. Pull into oblong strips and cut with scissors.
Fudge
3 cups sugar
1 cup milk or cream
4 or 5 tablespoon's cocoa or 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Put sugar, milk and cocoa or chocolate into saucepan; stir and boil until it makes soft ball when tested in cold water; take from fire, add butter and vanilla, cool and stir until creamy. Pour on buttered plates and cut into squares.
Penuche
2 cups light brown sugar
1/3 cup milk or cream
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Put sugar, milk and butter into saucepan. Boil with as little stirring as possible until it makes a soft ball when tested in cold water. Take from fire; add nuts and vanilla; beat until thick and pour into greased tins.
Cocoa Cream Candy
4 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons boiling water
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix sugar and water until smooth; add cocoa and vanilla; mix until creamy. Dust hands with sugar; take up 1/2 teaspoon of mixture and roll into ball. Dust a plate with sugar, and lay balls on to dry about 2 hours; then roll in finely chopped nuts.
Stuffed Prunes or Dates
Wash, dry and stone fruit; cut almost in half and fill with a half marshmallow or blanched almond, or chopped nuts and raisins and roll in sugar.
Cocoanut Cream Candy
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup milk
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup grated fresh cocoanut
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt butter in saucepan; add milk and sugar; stir until sugar is dissolved, heating slowly; boil 12 to 15 minutes; remove from fire and add cocoanut and vanilla, beating until creamy. Pour into buttered tins and cool.
For Chocolate Cocoanut Cream Candy add 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate to other ingredients before boiling.
Hickory Nut Candy
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
lemon or vanilla extract
1 cup hickory nut meats
Boil sugar and water, without stirring, until thick enough to spin a thread; place saucepan in cold water; add flavoring and stir quickly until white; stir in nuts; turn into buttered tin; when cold cut into squares.
Date and Peanut Paste
1 cup stoned dates
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
Wash and dry dates; put through food chopper; add peanut butter and salt. Mix and roll into small balls; then cover with sugar. Lay on plate to dry.
Salted Almonds
Blanch almonds by putting into boiling water for a few minutes. Remove skins, dry well and brown in heated olive oil or butter in pan on top of stove stirring continually. Take from fire when very light brown, as they continue to color after removing from pan. Drain well on brown paper and sprinkle with salt.
Fireless Cookery
The Fireless Cooker has become an important factor in the home. The principle employed is the preservation of heat by the use of non-conducting materials. The device ordinarily used is a rectangular box lined on all sides with some substance which will prevent escape of heat, with spaces or wells for the insertion of stone or metal discs or radiators and vessels containing food to be cooked.
Among the advantages of this method are: the improvement in flavor by slower cooking with little opportunity for evaporation; improved appearance of food that is subject to shrinkage when cooked by ordinary methods; saving in labor, as the cooking practically takes care of itself. Dinner may be prepared in the morning, placed in the cooker, and without further attention be ready to serve at any time after 3 or 4 hours. While the time required for cooking is longer than in the usual methods, the actual time consumed in preparation of a meal is considerably reduced.