As I stuggled along through the desert snow, I could not get my mind off a thought which has occupied my mind for the past few hours. It is a memory of my sister Mary too, I am sure. This was something my mother would make for us children; seldom, perhaps twice a year, but this small task fills my mind these 50 years later.
I began pondering this thought several days ago while I was putting a spoonful of brown sugar into my cup of fresh coffee. I use brown sugar now for two reasons
: it is not as sweet a more highly refined white sugar and it has ingredients that are good for you. Molasses is best for you, lots of iron, calcium and magnesium but I have yet to search it out. ( a thick dark syrup produced by boiling down juice from sugar cane; especially during sugar refining)
Kids (and me) like candy and if possible it is best to satisfy their (our) yearnings with something that is also somewhat healthy.
I am thinking about molasses pull-taffy!
My mother would make it, usually for Hallowe'en, and we children would help her
pull it until it became a golden brown, then cut it into pieces and wrap each piece in its own wax paper.
I was going to ask my sister to send me a copy of Mom's recipe for these candies
but I just finished a search on the Internet and found 4 recipes which, when combined, should give me what I want.
Perhaps some of you will be interested so here is what to do to make somewhat healthy candy for your child:
prepare 2 cups of molasses, 1 cup of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of butter, one
third cup of water, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 tablespoon of baking soda
melt the butter in an iron pan and add and mix all the ingredients and then boil
them without stirring until you can make a soft ball that will hold its shape when put in cool water.
pour the candy out onto a flat buttered or oiled surface so candy will not stick
. Keep folding the candy to the center until it has cooled enough to start pulling out into long ropes; be sure your fingers have some butter or oil on them so
nothing sticks.
The dark colour will turn golden as you pull the candy. Cut into pieces and wrap in wax paper.
Hope you enjoy your candy! (If you try this, tell me about it.)
(When I find the molasses here I will try this too!)