Recipe Box Adventure!

I have always been fascinated by old recipes. I collect antiques and am always scouring the shops looking for old recipe books. I always hunt for a recipe box which actually contains the recipes from the home cook. In all my travels, and all of the recipe boxes that I have looked at, I have never found one that had the recipes contained within. On a recent trip to Texas, I found such a box! It was made in Japan (has the sticker on it) but was sold to its owner in Bruners San Antonio Corpus for $1.00. There was a label in the box written by the shop keeper which said “Purchased in 1950”. It is jam packed with recipes and I decided that it would be fun to include you, my readers, as we explore this recipe box together.

I am also a home cook who has a passion for cooking, food and all things yummy. So, I thought, why not combine my love of cooking, old recipes and exploration in this blog that I could share with my friends?

I’m not sure how many recipes are actually contained in the box, but it could be a couple of hundred which will keep us entertained for many days to come.

Together we will pull one recipe at a time and I will attempt to cook it. I have to admit, I’m not much of a baker but will give it my very best effort. I hope that in exploring these recipes we can keep history alive and cookin’!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Recipe Box- Recipe  #13

Creamy Pralines:
Southern recipe!

2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups broken pecans

Combine the sugars and milks with butter and salt in a heavy saucepan.  Bring slowly to a full rolling boil over medium heat.  Add the nuts and continue boiling and candy reaches the soft-ball state, 234 degree's on the candy thermometer.  Remove from heat and stir only enough to give a creamy look.  Spoon out onto buttered baking sheet.  Cool.  Yield: 6 dozen pralines.

Hello my recipe box explorers!  Today we are back to recipes and it is Pralines!  Correction...Creamy Pralines!  This recipe is hand written and don't you love a hand written recipe?  It can sometime mean that it was a recipe which was passed down in a family and is highly unique and treasured. I, personally, salivate at hand written recipes.

So...any trepidation's?  You bet your sweet praline!  I've said before that I am not really a great baker but this is entering a whole new pool.  Candy.  Yes, I said candy.  Holy guacamole!  It's funny because I actually had a candy thermometer in the bottom of a junk kitchen tool drawer.  I thought, "What the heck?...Did I EVER make candy?"  I think many years ago, I tried to make some sort of brittle but don't remember it very well so it must not have been very memorable. 
Are you kidding me?  I didn't even know I owned one!

So, time to jump in with both feet.  Here we go!
Using sweetened condensed milk
Cooking with all heart today!!

I went to the grocery store and was standing in the baking aisle looking for condensed milk.  The only thing I could find was sweetened condensed milk so I'm a little nervous.  Maybe the recipe just wasn't specific or maybe there is only sweetened condensed milk- I really don't know.
So far, so easy!

Well, my candy thermometer doesn't have a specific line for 234 degrees so I'm winging it a little.  I am definitely out of my comfort zone.
Yikes, I'm afraid at this point!

I made the decision to stop the boiling and spooned them onto a cookie sheet as I had no idea what the soft-ball state is.  It just doesn't feel right though.  I have put the cookie sheet into the fridge hoping that a miracle happens and these mushy, runny, things somehow turn into CANDY!!
It doesn't look like candy..

As I am waiting for candy to appear, I realized that I have never eaten a praline (and really never have known what it is!) so I thought I would consult with my handy dandy reference book and try to get some history on this little goody.

The book says that Pralines were named for the French diplomat Cesar du Plessis-Praslin, later Due de Choiseul.  It is said that Praslin's butler advised him that almonds coated with sugar would not cause indigestion.  (too funny)  In Louisiana, the Creoles adapted Pralines, substituting native pecans for almonds and brown sugar for white.

Again, another recipe with that southern influence which I love.  I think we have two now which are pecan winners.   

Hmm.. interesting because this recipe uses both white and brown sugar.  AND!  I should have done my research before jumping into the recipe because the research yielded the definition of a "Soft-ball state".  It said to drop a little syrup into a glass of cold water and it should form a soft ball which flattens when taken out of the water.  BUT!  it also said to add the pecans after the syrup had reached the soft ball state.  Our recipe said to add the pecans and continue boiling. 
Pretty cool...I might have done it!?

So...when I dropped a test case into the cold water, it did form a soft ball- so we might be okay (fingers crossed)!
Luscious candy pralines!!  
Okay!  I did it!!  I cannot believe that I made candy and it was pretty easy!!  I would definitely recommend this recipe if you want to try to make candy for the first time.  Just get a candy thermometer and go for it!!  Don't be afraid to try it.  Sometimes you have to take risks both in the kitchen and in life.  If the candy had flopped I would have been okay, really.

Cooking should be fun! Get in the kitchen and try some of these vintage recipes!

See you all next recipe my friends!!  
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