Sweet Candy Christmas July 1st-9th 2011 Give Away

[Gingerbug]

We are getting a long week to start off the festivities!

This thread will open on July 1st....It's a give away thread....post your favorite candy recipe or story or memory about Christmas candy.... and be entered to win a give away.

OPEN....I'm leaving on my trip so I'm opening this early!! Can't wait to read everyones, recipes, memories or stories about candy!!

 

[Lolwlias]

My most outstanding memory of Christmas candy is a year the dog got into the stockings.
Not having a fireplace, I would hang the stockings on a door jamb into the livingroom. They hung oldest at the top, youngest child's stocking at the bottom.
I got up, the stocking was down & candy eaten.
I had to hurry up and give him all the candy from MY stocking before anyone knew!!!!
(She also got into a box of Valentine chocolates that dh had bought me one year. We'd opened it, ate a few, then went out to dinner. When we got back, the box was open again and the little brown papers that hold the chocolates were all over the floor and she was looking VERY guilty lying on the floor between the couch and the coffeetable where I'd left the chocolates.)

 

[PamelaG]

We have always received an orange and some nuts in the toe of our stocking in the British tradition, but with a chocolate twist. The orange is a Terry's Chocolate Orange and the nuts are fancy chocolates (they are shaped and wrapped to look like a hazelnut, an almond and a pistachio) that I picked up at the Lindt store in the local mall. They carried them for several years but I haven't seen them recently - I hope I can find them this year.

 

[Dreamer]

I'll put both the recipe and the story/memory in the same post as the memory is about the candy anyway

As far back as I can remember my Gram always made Date Nut Roll candy every Christmas, as we grandkids came to be she started doing a roll of it for each of her daughters families and 1 to keep at her house, I have 4 aunts. As we kids all started getting older and seeing how much we loved the date nut roll, she'd make sure she always had some in the fridge at her house through the holidays. She knew that as soon as I hit the front door I'd be yelling "Gram, I'm here and love ya!" as I ran for the kitchen and the date nut roll

In January of 1982 she had me cutting out squares for a quilt she said she wanted to make for her bed and told me she'd "pay" me in date nut roll to cut them out for her. In May of 1982 we were sent to Germany and it just about broke my heart to have to leave Gram, she was my "sheltering rock" for the 10 years of my life up until that point. As Christmas of 1982 rolled around I begged and begged to be sent home to Gram...I remember crying on the phone one day to her and telling her Christmas would not be Christmas without her with me and she told me to just hang on a box would be there for us in the next day or two and that even if she couldn't be there physically with me she'd be there in thought and spirit and would also call Christmas morning. When mom took the phone back Gram told her to let us open our presents from her as soon as the box got there.

Gram was right, the next day a BIG box was delievered! Mom handed me my present from Gram and told me I could go ahead an open it...inside the box I found a child's sized quilt made out of the squares I had cut for Gram with a note saying she had a matching one so we could "snuggle together" and omg not 1 but 2 rolls of Date Nut Candy, some Brach's carmels, a tape with "I'll fly away" on it and a picture of Gram snuggled up with the quilts before she mailed them!! (I cried and cried...I still cry about it lol)

Finally in the end of 1984 we get orders to go back stateside and had our choice of where to go, I begged and pleaded to go "home to Gram" as that was one of our choices after they talked with Gram and she told them both "Bring my baby home to me, it's been to long without her." they agreed to come home. We would miss Christmas of '84 with Gram and would not be allowed to get a box from her because of packers coming and such but I was ok with it...I knew I was going home to her.

We were to be home January 31st, 1985 but missed the stupid connecting plane in Dallas...it took off 5 minutes before our plane even landed, so we spent the night in a little cafe that was suppose to be closed, the manager kept it open so we'd have somewhere to sit/lay down on the benches and made sure we kids had things to drink and snack on and mom and dad had coffee.

February 1st, we landed at our home airport, Gram had left her car for us and taken a cab to work as she couldn't take another day off. As we got to her house and walked in the door...there was the Christmas tree all lite up with presents under the tree!!! A box of chocolates and nuts on the coffee table and a note telling us to visit the fridge. We all went to the kitchen and discovered that she had a ham in the oven, pecan, pumpkin and mince meat pies on the counters and in the fridge was...Date Nut Candy!!! She had made each one of us our very own roll of candy!!! She had put a hold on Christmas and waited for us to make it home before even allowing my cousins to have their present from her so we could all celebrate together

Gram is gone now and has been since January of '93 but I have her recipe and make it each year along with her pecan pie recipe.

Date Nut Roll Candy (by Viola Golden)

3 c sugar
½ lb dates (chopped)
½ tsp salt
1 c chopped pecans
1 c milk
2 Tbsp butter

Combine sugar, salt, butter & milk. Boil until sugar is dissolved.
Add dates & cook, stirring constantly, to soft ball stage.
Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
Beat until creamy & thick. Add nuts & mix thoroughly.
Pour on wet cloth, knead until smooth. Shape in roll.
Chill until firm. Cut into thin slices.

 

[Lolwlias]

{{{{{Dreamer}}}}} What an awesome story! TFS

 

[PamelaG]

Thanks for sharing the recipe, Dreamer. Every time you make a roll, I know that your Gram is there with you. What a lovely memory.

 

[KimD]

Dreamer what a wonderful story. I have many wonderful memories of my gram like that.

 

[Dreamer]

Thanks to both of you, you're right Pamela when I do make a roll I can almost "feel" her standing with me again

 

[teachermomof2]

I have 1 memory to share...my mom always bought ribbon candy at Christmas. It was my favorite. I loved all the colors and the different flavors. It amazed me as a child. I also thought it was so neat that each ribbon had it's own compartment in the box.

 

[christmasrocks]

These memories are so wonderful. Thank you for sharing them!

 

[luludou]

Dreamer that is awesome! your grandma was awesome!

 

[Dreamer]

I have 1 memory to share...my mom always bought ribbon candy at Christmas. It was my favorite. I loved all the colors and the different flavors. It amazed me as a child. I also thought it was so neat that each ribbon had it's own compartment in the box.

Lisa, I have a pattern for a knitted Ribbon Candy Ornament that I plan on making this year. You're right they amazed me as well as a kid.

 

[cmerth]

When I was a kid during Christmas, my mom would put aside her laundry and housework for one day (usually a Sunday) and bake cookies with me. My grandparents would come over and help. We made massive batches of all kinds of holiday cookies. After my grandpa would take his nap or read the paper he would join us in the kitchen and make his famous fudge. This was the only time of the year when he would cook.

I always got to sample all of the different kinds of cookies. I am sure I was on a sugar high for hours.

These were special times.

 

[PamelaG]

I have 1 memory to share...my mom always bought ribbon candy at Christmas. It was my favorite. I loved all the colors and the different flavors. It amazed me as a child. I also thought it was so neat that each ribbon had it's own compartment in the box.

Here's a pretty way to display Ribbon Candy - Michael's has all sorts of large decorative glass jars/vases/bowls.

http://princessandthefrogblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/favorite-things-3.html

 

[sunshine]

My dad was a simple man with few wants - but he LOVED penuche. We'd make it for him for every gift giving event - Christmas, Father's day, his birthday - just because. I made him a batch every few months when he was in the nursing home. He'd not always remember who I was, but he was always thrilled to get his favorite candy.

PENUCHE

Ingredients

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Butter an 8x8 inch square dish.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, white sugar, cream, corn syrup and salt. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (112 to 116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Remove from heat and let cool without stirring until bottom of pan is lukewarm. Pour in vanilla and beat until creamy. Stir in nuts. Pour into prepared pan.
Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

 

[Lana]

Years ago when I was younger my grandparents would always make divinty. Some with nuts and some without. They would put it on wax paper out on top of the dryer. The dryer was in the porch area before the locked door to the kitchen. Many a years when you knew they would be gone somewhere you would go down and get handfuls. Later in years we learned that they had extras made and put away because Kim and Lana liked it so well. Guess that was our stash and we thought we were being sneaky!


Also my grandparents were the ones who made the buckeyes for Christmas and would give everybody a container for a gift and make us big containers for where we worked. They were such generous people. I now do them.

 

[Doodlebug]

Beautiful stories ladies. Love them all.

 

[luludou]

Never had ribbon candy but they are so cute! Penuche is the same as our sucre à la crème.

My story:
Every year mom would make potato-donuts and we got to put sugar on some of them. She'd make cupcakes and cookies too which we decorated. Mom does not put something not christmas-decorated on the table at Christmas. She still does all of this work but now we freeze them and take them out on Christmas eve. DH always gets a can of donuts just for him because he likes them so much.

Seems the christmas candy that's mine is chocolate fudge. It's expected and so good (and easy too). The recipe is the one on the can of skim milk!

 

[girlsinmo]

Thank you all for sharing the beautiful memories and recipes. Michelle I can relate to that kind of bond between a grandmother & grandchild beautiful story.

As I was reading some blogs yesterday I was reminded of our simple rendition(sp) of smores on a stick & hope to do them this year at least for CIJ.

Simply stick big marshamellows on a craft stick, straw whatever, dip in your choice of melted candy and roll in graham cracker crumbs. Let set or try to

 

[PamelaG]

What a great recipe, Tricia! Sounds like a quick summer snack when you don't have a firepit handy to roast those marshmallows. Definitely filing this one away for future reference. I hopped over and followed your blog so I'll be watching for your Christmas in July posts.