Margaret did not wait till she reached the recipes for candy at the back of her book before she began to make it. She made it all the way along, whenever another little girl came to spend the afternoon, or it was such a rainy day that she could not go out. Nearly always she made molasses candy, because it was such fun to pull it, and she used the same rule her mother used when she was a little girl.
Molasses Candy
2 cups New Orleans molasses. 1 cup white sugar. 1 tablespoonful butter. 1 tablespoonful vinegar. 1 small teaspoonful soda.
Boil hard twenty minutes, stirring all the time, and cool in shallow pans. If you double the rule you must boil the candy five minutes longer.
The best thing about this candy is that it does not stick to the fingers, if you let it get quite cool before touching it, and pull it in small quantities. Do not put any butter on your fingers, but work fast.
Maple Wax
Boil two cups of maple syrup till it hardens when dropped in cold water. Fill a large pan with fresh snow, pack well; keep the kettle on the back of the stove, where the syrup will be just warm, but will not cook, and fill a small pitcher with it, and pour on the snow, a little at a time. Take it off in small pieces with a fork. If there is no snow, use a cake of ice.
Peanut Brittle
Make the molasses candy given above, and stir in a large cup of shelled peanuts just before taking it from the fire. Put in shallow, buttered pans.
Peppermint Drops