Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Family Favorite Christmas Candies!!!

I have made numerous candies over the years for my family that includes 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. These are a few favorites of family and friends.

Old Fashioned Potato Candy (Jeremy's favorite)
Ingredients
  • 1 small potato
  • 2 pounds confectioner's sugar
  • peanut butter
Instructions
  1. Peel and slice potato. In small sauce pot, cover potato slices with water and cook over medium heat until soft. Drain potato and place in mixing bowl. Beat until mashed. Add 1/2 sugar and mix well. Mix in remaining sugar, scraping down sides as needed.
  2. Line a countertop with a sheet of waxed paper dusted with confectioner's sugar. Scrape out dough onto waxed paper and dust top with more confectioner's sugar. Roll out to a thickness of about 1/4 of an inch. Spread dough with peanut butter and roll up like you are making cinnamon rolls. Once you have rolled up into a log, roll log up in your waxed paper and cut in half. Place halves in a gallon zipper seal bag and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
  3. When ready to serve remove waxed paper an slice into 1/4 inch slices. Store leftovers in the refrigerator



Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares aka Homemade Reese's Cups (Josh's Favorite)
1 sleeve of graham crackers, crushed
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, melted
2-1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
12 oz. chocolate chips
1 Tbsp. Butter

Mix melted butter & peanut butter until well blended.

Add graham cracker crumbs and confectioners sugar.

Mix thoroughly to combine.

Place peanut butter mix into a lightly buttered 13x9 pan.

Melt chocolate chips and Tbsp. of butter in microwave, stirring
every 30 seconds.

Pour chocolate mix over peanut butter and spread evenly.

Chill until firm before cutting into bars.




Jill's favorite! NONE...like me, she doesn't care for a lot of sweets unless it is LEMON! ;)

Grandma Cadelle's Pecan Pralines (My longtime friend Marsha Banko's favorite)


Cadelle was my step-grandmother...lived in Algiers, LA.
She taught me to make these in the early 70's.

In a heavy saucepan, combine:
2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 small can evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
dash of salt
Bring to a soft boil over medium heat and boil for 8 minutes.
Remove from heat and add:
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 cups chopped pecans
Stir until pecans are coated and drop by spoonfuls onto cookie
sheets lined with waxed paper. Let stand until firm.


  1. refrigerator.