Family Anecdotes: November 2006

Grandma Beisler's Caramel Fudge with Bitter Choc
1 box light brown sugar
1 T butter
1 cp whole milk

Put on stove and cook till it comes to a boil. Simmer to soft ball stage. Remove from stove and cool for a little bit. Add vanilla and beat. Pour into buttered pan.

2 squares bitter chocolate
Melt in double boiler and pour over caramel.

Mom says this is always a bit grainy, and I remember that, too.

Grandma’s Sugar Cookies (also called Aunt Dot’s Sugar Cookies b/c she made them for Gma--I remember them as always being round, about 2 1/2 inches, not various shapes--these are crisp cookies, apparently Grandma liked them rather brown)

1 cp crisco
2 cp sugar
4 eggs (room temp)
1 T vanilla
5 - 5¼ cp flour
2 heaping tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cp milk

Cream sugar and crisco.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add vanilla.
Sift flour, bp and salt together. Add alternately with milk.
Bake at 350ºF for 10 - 15 minutes.

Aunt Anna’s Sugar Cookies (These are soft cookies.)

1 ½ cp powdered sugar
1 cp butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond flavoring
2 ½ cp flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Bake at 350ºF for 8 - 10 minutes.

Divinity

2 cp sugar
½ cp corn syrup
½ cp water
2 egg whites (¼ cp)
Dash of salt
¾ tsp vanilla
1 cp black walnuts and candied cherries, chopped

Combine sugar with corn syrup and water. Stir over low heat until all the sugar is dissolved and mixture starts to bubble. Boil over medium heat to 260ºF.

Remove from the heat and let stand while egg whites are beaten to stiff peaks. Salt is added to the egg whites while beating them.

Slowly add the syrup to the egg whites, beating on low. (Add slower at first, then pour more quickly.) After all the syrup is added continue beating on med to high until candy holds a definite shape and no long streams form a spoon. This will require at least 15 minutes of beating. A test can be made before the beating is stopped and unless the dropped portion holds its shape immediately, beating should be continued.

When it is ready, vanilla is quicky stirred in, along with nuts and cherries, and then the candy is dropped on waxed paper in teaspoon-sized pieces. It may also be poured into a pan (8 x 11 inches) and cut into squares.

Grandma’s Molasses Taffy

1 (1 lb) box brown sugar
1 bottle dark karo (2 cups)
2 T butter

Stir continuously.

Boil to hard crack (stringy): 300ºF

Pour onto marble. Pick up (when cool enough) and pull till pale brown.

Mom and the aunts talk about remembering how Grandma would take her rings off to do this and that she could pick it up even when it was still incredibly hot.

Modjeskas

2 cp sugar
2 cp heavy cream
2 T butter
1 ¼ cp white corn syrup
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
¾ pound marshmallows, cut in half with scissors (or see recipe below)

Combine sugar, 1 cup of the cream, butter, syrup and salt in a heavy 3- or 4-quart sauce pan. Put remaining cup of cream in a small pan and heat it separately. Bring sugar-cream-butter mixture to boil, stirring constantly. Wipe down sides of pan with wet cloth or cover with lid briefly to dissolve remaining sugar crystals.

When it begins a rolling boil, dribble the hot cup of cream into the boiling mixture, stirring. Don’t let the boiling stop. Cook over medium heat, stirring as necessary to prevent scorching, until thermometer registers 238 degrees. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Allow cooked caramel to stand 10 minutes before starting to dip. Drop marshmallow half into caramel, then, with a fork, turn it over to coat completely and lift out, pulling the fork over edge of pan so surplus runs back into pan.

Place each piece on buttered or oiled surface, such as cookie sheets or clean counter top. When set, wrap each piece separately in square of waxed paper.

Marshmallows

2 T gelatin (2 envelopes)
½ cp cold water
2 cp sugar
¾ cp light corn syrup
½ cp hot water
2 tsp vanilla
Confectioners’ sugar

Put gelatin in an electric mixer bowl. Pour in cold water and mix well. Let stand.

Put sugar, corn syrup and hot water into a saucepan and blend well with a wooden spoon. Place over low heat until sugar is all dissolved and then increase the heat. When mixture boils, put in candy thermometer and continue cooking without stirring.

When thermometer registers 244º to 246º, remove from heat and pour into gelatin, beating all the while. Continue beating until candy thickens and is slightly warm. At least 15 minutes is required.

Blend in vanilla and pour into two pans (7 x 7) that have been lightly buttered and dusted with cornstarch. Set in a cool place or refrigerator until firm. Remove from pan and cut into pieces, dusting each piece well with confectioners’ sugar. Scissors can be used if dipped in confectioners’ sugar between cuttings, but a large knife will also work well.

Russian Tea Cakes

1 cp soft butter (2 sticks)
½ cp sifted confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 ¼ cp sifted flour
¼ tsp salt
¾ cp finely chopped pecans

Mix butter, sugar and vanilla thoroughly.
Sift flour and salt together and stir in.
Mix in pecans.
Chill dough.
Roll into 1" balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 400ºF until set, not brown, 10 - 12 minutes.
While warm, roll in confectioners sugar.
Cool.
Roll in confectioners sugar again.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Sea Foam (one of Mom's favorites)

3 cp light brown sugar
¾ cp water
1 T lt corn syrup
2 egg whites (¼ cp)
Dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Measure brown sugar, water and 1 T corn syrup into a 2-quart saucepan. Blend with a wooden spoon and place over low heat, stirring continuously until the mixture begins to dissolve.

Continue stirring until the mixture boils, then put in your candy thermometer and boil without stirring over medium-high heat until thermometer registers 256º.

Remove from heat and let stand while egg whites are beaten to stiff peaks. Salt is added to the eggs while beating them.

Slowly add the syrup to te egg whites, beating continuously.

After all the syrup is added continue beating until candy holds a definite shape and no longer streams from a spoon and loses its gloss. This will require at least 15 minutes of beating. A test can be made before the beating is stopped and unless the dropped portion holds its shape immediately, beating should be continued.

Vanilla is stirred in just before candy is dropped in teaspoon-sized pieces on waxed aper. Walnuts or pecans may be added–they combine well with brown-sugar candies.

Springerle

1 lb powdered sugar (3 ½ - 4 cp)
4 eggs (room temp)
1 T + 1 tsp butter
1 T corn syrup
1 lb flour (3 ½ cp)
1 ½ tsp anise oil

Beat eggs till light yellow and thick. Add sugar, beating well after each addition. Add remaining ingredients. Bake at 300º - 325º for about 15 minutes. They should be white, not yellow or brown.

*Dust dough with cornstarch to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin.

*These are soft. If you would like them hard, leave out the butter and corn syrup.

Bourbon Balls

1 (1 lb) box (3 ½ - 4 cp) powdered sugar
½ stick butter (¼ cp)
1/3 cp bourbon

Mix powdered sugar and butter with fork. Add bourbon. Mix. Roll into balls. Chill in fridge. Dip in dark chocolate.

These were Angie's specialty. I think she got the recipe from her sister-in-law Lucille.
I have found that Old Forrester makes stronger Bourbon Balls than Early Times, which Angie always recommended.

When I was little I thought Graham Crackers were called that because you always got them (with milk) from Grandma (ie, Gramma=Grammcrackers).
I always thought the world "suitcase" was "soupcase" and always wondered why since you didn't carry around soup with it. Sometimes it still slips out!
It took me forever to pronounce "spaghetti" correctly. I always said "basketti."
Since I was the youngest, I had to sit next to Dad at the dinner table. He salted my plate before I even had any food on it. He also rapped my knuckles with his butter knife if I used my fingers.
Being the youngest also meant I had the "privilege" of saying Grace. I think they actually just liked to hear me say it because I had my own version: "...and knees I give..." I never could figure that out about the knees! Fred says I also said "from my bounty," but I don't remember that.
When I couldn't sleep I'd try to count my brothers and sisters--in the right order--instead of counting sheep. Worked every time!