I still have that taffy pulling (that Vickie mentioned) picture in my mind. And I still remember getting those blisters. And believe it or not I remember several kids pulling that taffy. Umm – no gloves, were those hands clean… My goodness – nobody died of dirt either… but we had a lot of fun pulling that taffy all over that kitchen at the house that burned.
I found my original ditto copy of my Home Economics recipe page. For those who may not know what ditto is – it was a method of making multiple copies of a typed or written document. This was before printers and copiers. Teachers typed things on these pages that had ink on the back and then they could place it on a drum like cylinder and feed several pages through to make copies. The copies came out purple. Oh, how far we have come with all this technology!
Anyway, here are the recipes as they were printed on the original handout in 9th grade Home Ec around 1959:
Taffy
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water
1teaspoon vinegar
Combine sugar, corn syrup, water and vinegar. Cook without stirring until a little forms a hard ball in cold water or 268 degrees Farenheit. Add vanilla and pour onto greased platter, but do not scrape the pan as candy will sugar. When cool enough to handle, pull until light colored and firm. Stretch into a long rope and cut into short pieces. If desired, wrap in wax paper.
Variations:
One square of chocolate may be melted with the 1/4 cup of water and added to the sugar mixture.
Five cents worth of red cinnamon candies may be melted with the 1/4 cup of water before adding the sugar.
(I have no idea how much five cents worth is)
White Taffy
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 pinch cream of tartar
2/3 cup water
1teaspoon vanilla
Directions: Put sugar, corn syrup and water in saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Boil without stirring until thermometer is 268 Farenheit. Remove from fire. Stir in vanilla, turn onto a greased pan and cool till ready to handle. Gather in a ball and pull until firm and white.
Molasses Taffy
1cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cup light molasses
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1/8 teaspoon soda
pinch of salt
Put the sugars, molasses, and water into a saucepan and cook to the temperature of 265 Farenheit. It will be necessary to cook the candy slowly and to stir it during the latter part of cooking in order to prevent burning. Remove from the fire, add the butter and soda, and salt. Stir just enough to mix well. In adding the soda, be sure it is free from lumps. Turn into a greased pan and allow to stand until cool enough to handle.
Gather into a ball and pull until rather firm and of a light yellow color. Stretch out in a rope and cut into pieces.
