Raising a healthy Jane (or just being a healthy grown-up Jane) comes from good food and proper nutrition. Grab your aprons, I’m on kitchen duty with food to spare and recipes to share! When time allows, here’s where you’ll find one of my how-to-convert-to-an-organic-diet recipes.
CJ Armstrong says: That looks familiar! Think we went vegetable “shopping” for our supper, while staying at the B&B
Winnie Nielsen says: This is on the way from the cabin to the BunkHouse Kitchen. Lovely greens are growing inside for yummy breakfast salads with fresh eggs from the girls who live in the same “neighborhood”.
CJ Armstrong says: Yup, Winnie, that’s it! What a wonderful visit we had there!
Winnie Nielsen says: Love the new wallpaper in the CoopHaus!
Gluten Mittag, MaryJane , from Nurenberg!! We visited the sites today of Hiltler’s famous propaganda rallies and the famous courthouse of the 1945 Nuremberg trials in room 600. Sobering to say the least.
MaryJane says: I was hoping I’d get a Winnie travel update today. Yes, sobering. But a part of history none should forget.
I think I will have to make this. MaryJane is this like making taffy? Looks really pretty and good. Thanks for posting.
MaryJane says: Yes, a version of taffy. Enjoy!
Geni Estell says: So glad to find this. My grandmother made this candy every winter.She always told me it had to be very cold and dry out. This is my favorite candy.
Earle Goodwin says: is this kin to Divinity Candy ?
C. Dahl says: No. THis is a version of taffy. Divinity is a meringue based cookie.
Tracy M. says: Mary Jane,
Is it true that the weather must be cold and dry in order to make this recipe? I remember hearing my Granny say this too.
Dominique says: read your recipe and would like to make this candy but need to know what measure is a T ?
MaryJane says: Standard to recipes is a capital T for tablespoon and small t for teaspoon.
Dee says: Can’t wait til cold outside. What if I made it in cold environment in my house. Do you think it would work?
Kelly says: Can you add food coloring and is it sweet tasting also does it turn hard.
1
Kathleen says: Can add flavorings and color
Rachel says: Do you have a recipe for caramel candy (not sauce) that uses ONLY brown sugar and butter? Seems like every recipe on the planet uses cream, or milk, or “vegan drinks” nowadays to make “caramel”.
It sounds very fussy to want the simple recipe, but my great grandmother always made caramel candy for Christmas using only those two ingredients, and I’d like to continue the tradition.
Grandma made it a few times, but never wrote it down, and my mom hasn’t a clue about how it was done. She said she remembers “Grandma used her big wooden spoon, a cast-iron pot, and a wood-burning stove…”, but nothing about proportions.
I would be grateful if anyone can post that recipe. Pretty sure I’m not just dreaming this. 🙂
Sounds as if the recipe you are looking for is… Brown sugar butter toffee…. One cup of brown sugar and one cup of butter cooked in a heavy saucepan to 300 degrees. You can add 1 teaspoon of vanilla or some nuts if you choose.
CooknNuStuf says: My mother made this type of candy too. It was called Taffy.
Looks like taffy to me. My mother made it once when I was about 6 and I had several friends over to pull the taffy, it was fun and a mess, needless to say. We never were allowed to do it again.
Amy says: As a child, we used to butter up our hands and have taffy pulls!…Memories
Krista says: This looks like fun. I haven’t made candy before and have always wanted to try it. It sounds pretty easy and delicious.
Esther says: If you have a marble slab, butter it and pour the hot mass on that instead of in a pan. I have never been successful in letting it cool on its own, too hard and brittle to work by that point. On a slab you can work it with bench scrapers to cool it fast. What a lovely creamy confection when done right…yum!
TwinCaster says: Yes that is how i was always told to make it with a marble slab to cool it on before you twist it – and it’s called “pulled candy” or “cream candy” just some slight differences in the recipe.
Joan Taber says: Back in the day (1940s-1950s), one of my aunts made this candy. She did the pulling outside on a night when there was no humidity; usually in the month of October or November. It’s delicious and I’m happy that I found this recipe. Thank you!
Joan Taber says: I meant to say that this IS NOT taffy. It is more like a butter-cream, but not.
pauli says: this sound like Edenburg rock my dad used to make it but you start working the cooked syrup sooner after you put it in a cooling pan. He made a pen at the inside of our kithen door and start working the syrup over the pen until the syrup becomming glossy white and if pull it to the bottem and leave it it pull up. You then pull it out and start cutting with a sissor in small cushions. After a day or 2 it melt in your mouth. The secret is to use only the best clean white sugar. Selati will not do. Hullets is the only sugar . And wet weather also do not work with this candy unless you are like me who love the flops.
Gaetane says: My grandmother made something similar….would till the weather was cool so she could put the pan on snow to cool!
And then we would pull….yummy,
Millie Hubbs says: Hi: I read your comment about not having your grandma’s recipe for
vinegar taffy. I don’t know how to get
A recipe I pinned to you, but it has
1/2 cup vinegar in it. If you can get to
my “Candy” pins. 🙂
Millie Hubbs
Tatiana says: Is it supposed to end up like hardish candy? My sister and I made it tonight and it ended up hardening after we pulled and rolled it.
MaryJane says: Yes hard, enjoy!
Jennifer says: Does it melt in your mouth like creamy butter?
Valerie Mahler says: This is NOT a hard candy, Mary Jane. It should ‘cream’ after a few hours. Melts in your mouth just like a butter mint only without the mint. I am surprised that you got it to pull as much as you did without it hardening more than it did. This candy should not be stirred or disturbed at any point. Even the old clipping that you show says nothing about stirring. A better recipe is to put 3 cups sugar into large heavy pan. Pour 1/2 cup water over and bring to a boil over medium high heat WITHOUT stirring ever. Start dribbling 1 cup heavy cream slowly around edges to keep pan boiling. All the sugar may not be dissolved-that’s OK. Boil slowly until 252 degrees. Pour quickly only frozen, buttered marble slab. Pull edges up as candy cools and fold toward middle so it cools evenly. When cool enough to handle, pull until white and and loses it sheen. It will also make a clacking sound now as you smack the ends together. Twist into a rope and cut into bite-size pieces onto wax paper to dry. Keep pieces separate until creamed so they don’t stick together and then store in airtight container. I cover with more wax paper while creaming so they don’t get dry and stale. Thus can happen very quickly and then your candy will be sub quality. This should be a very soft, creamy texture. I don’t add any other ingredients, not even vanilla. This is a regional southern specialty that has local recipes, but this is the only one that performs consistently for me. The local candy store makes it and it seems the same as mine, (no vanilla, cream of tartar or vinegar). All other recipes that I have tried are very finicky and give inconsistent results. Hope this helps!
MaryJane says: Hi Valerie, it sounds like your version of cream candy is a regional favorite. Thank you for sharing your recipe, it sounds scrumptious. We adapted this recipe from the Comfort Sisters Magazine (circa March 1916), which does not include cream in the ingredients. The generic term “cream candy” refers to the creamy color of the candy, since we typically think of hard candies as being somewhat transparent or dyed.
Cora says: You should make a youtube video of you making this candy. I have tried so hard to make this candy but it never turns out right. I love this candy and have searched for a recipe but I think I’m doing something wrong but not for sure what it is.
TwinCaster says: yes excactly!
Sabina says: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! I ate this when I was a child and always wanted to get the recipe!!! Can’t thank you enough for sharing.
Connie says: My grandma used to make us this as kids, and we gobbled it up! When I grew up I learned to make it. Love this yummy treat, and you get a good workout as you’re pulling it. My question is, can this be made with Stevia. I’m dietetic now in my older years, I’m hoping there might be a sugar substitute I could use.
Misty says: Happy to see this recipe. We called it pull candy and I miss it! Thanks for sharing!
Frances says: Hi there. We made what we called Stick Jaw. Some butter in a pan and add sugar then some vinegar. It boils to a transparent mixture. If you put a spoon into the mixture and then into a cup of water, the toffee should harden to the point that you cannot remove it from the spoon. You have to crack/bang it off.
Pour the mixture into a buttered dish and when solid, crack it into pieces. It is not called Stick Jaw for nothing!!
Regards Frances from South Africa
Penny Hedges says: I made this, but it didn’t cream. What did i do wrong?
MaryJane says: Did you use any substitutions? Did you check the temperature? Did you follow our step-by-step photos?
Cindy says: This is not old fashioned cream candy. It’s vinegar taffy. There’s a big difference. Cream candy doesn’t have vinegar and it creams overnight. It only resembles vinegar taffy when it’s first pulled. I make both. Go to My Country Table.com if you want to see Kentucky Cream Pull Candy. They’re both very good.
MaryJane says: So you’re saying that back in 1912, the Comfort Sister didn’t have the name right either? I suspect the name bears local flavor and there isn’t a hard and fast rule about what it’s called.
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Gale says: This sounds like the pull taffy my grandma always made. She would pull it till it turned white and then cut the ropes into small pieces. She kept it in tins and would dust it lightly with confectioners sugar to keep it from sticking. All the neighbor kids would show up when she made it for a little baggie full to take home and enjoy.
Cindy says: This is actually Vinegar Taffy. It doesn’t cream. It stays like taffy. Everyone confuses it with Kentucky Cream Pull candy wihich starts out like taffy but creams over night. I make both. They’re both very good but the actual cream candy will melt in your mouth after it creams. It’s only like taffy when first pulled.
Rich says: Can you add different flavorings to this recipe?
MaryJane says: We did not test any flavorings. Try it and let us know.
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This sounds really delicious, I am going to have to try this recipe, but what is T-dried lavendar?
Is that a certain type of lavendar.
Thanks for the recipe.
darlene
Large T means tablespoon. Small t means teaspoon. Enjoy!
Oh Yum! This looks so wonderful and refreshing. I love recipes using lavender because it adds such a unique and fresh flavor. This recipe is definitely going to be tried soon!
Making some today!
Just wondering Eileen if you made the lemon lavendar Iced Tea. I would like to add it to peach tea…peach lavendar lemon Tea.. what do you think..?
This looks wonderful! I am growing a bunch of lavender now…. Is “culinary” lavender a certain type of lavender or can I just use what I grow? (I never spray anything in my yard or on my plants)… Are there lavender types I can’t use?
I’m not sure about the lavender types but we say culinary so you don’t use something that has been grown with chemicals, kind of like when you bring home small potted pansies to plant that have been sprayed recently and raised in a strange soil mixture–best not to eat those!
I made this lemonade last week and it was great. Very refreshing on a hot summer day! Thank you Mary Jane….
When we were in Germany, they have all sorts of lemonades on their menus. Some combos included lemon/fresh ginger, lemon/cucumber, lemon/raspberry, lemon/elderberry flower, and lemon/lavender. To my surprise, they are also just barely sweet and they use carbonated water to make them sort of bubbly. I ordered the lemon/ginger and was surprised at how refreshing and light it was. Delicious!!
How refreshing! Much better than the dark coca cola, dr. pepper, sugary 7-up versions we have here. The world is changing Winnie. There’s hope.
I can’t wait to make this because it sounds wonderful! I always have lavender in my pantry since I cook & bake with it all the time and I keep a large jar of local honey on hand, too. Looks like I’ll be heading to my favorite spice store (the Spice House) for more lavendar.
I can’t wait to try this. I am always looking for new ways to use our lavender. Thank you
This sounds so good! Need to harvest my lavender this summer and make some.
I just enjoyed some lavender ice cream. We have a small dairy that makes it. It comes in a tiny little container which is better for me. The ice cream is the creamiest I’ve ever eaten from a business. Real cream was used!
This lemonade sounds super refreshing! I have been using lemons in everything lately. Also, just a bit ago when I was looking at herbs to grow I debated over lavender and actually opted out. Now I wish I wouldn’t have. I could have grown my own lavender! Looks like I will be adding that to my list for next year!
This sounds so good.. Where do you find safe lavender to plant in your yard? I only find sprayed lavender plants at HD and Lowes .. Would like to find organic plants to grow in my yard. I did purchase a french lavender from our local Whole foods but dont know if it is safe to put i this.. any idea??
Thank you
Carol
I have the lavender,, I have the lemons… now to hit our local Farmers Market and get some local organic honey! Whoot Whoot!
Has anyone tried this lemon lavender tea? I am going to try it in Peach Tea w. lavendar. Has anyone tried this?
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