Spread out a couple of sheets of waxed paper. Butter two large spoons and set aside.

In a 3-quart sauce pan, bring the sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt to a boil, stirring frequently to
dissolve the sugar. Once at a boil, stop stirring and cook to 260F – hard ball stage.

While the mixture is coming up to temperature, whisk egg whites on high speed in a heavy duty mixer until
very stiff peaks form.

Once the syrup has reached 260F, remove from heat. Turn the mixer to medium-high and carefully and slowly
pour the syrup into the egg whites. Do this very slowly, it should take about 2 minutes to do this.

Add vanilla, and continue beating until the mixture loses its gloss, and holds its shape when dropped from a
spoon, approximately 4-6 minutes. This is the “magical” stage – if you don’t beat it enough, you’ll have divinity
soup, and if you over-beat it, you’ll have divinity crumble.

If you aren’t sure if you’ve mixed it enough, drop a bit of the candy on the wax paper to see if it stands up
and doesn’t melt into a puddle. If it melts into a puddle, beat a minute or two longer and check.

Stir in the nuts, and then spoon out a heaping spoon of candy, one at a time with greased spoons. Use one spoon
to hold the mixture, and the other to scrape the candy off the spoon.

Let candies set out on waxed paper for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight before storing in an airtight
container.

Other flavorings:

• Jell-O divinity: add in 3 tablespoons of Jell-O gelatin powder flavor of your choice to whipped egg whites
  before you add the sugar mixture.
• Maple walnut: substitute maple flavoring/extract for the vanilla, and use chopped walnuts instead of pecans.
• Peppermint: add in 1/2 cup of crushed peppermint candy and optional 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract.
• Chocolate mint: add 1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips, 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract and optional 2-3
  drops of green food coloring.
• Cherry: add 1/2 cup of chopped maraschino cherries, substitute 1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice plus 1/4 cup
  water for the 1/2 cup water, substitute almond extract for the vanilla, and optional 2-3 drops of red food coloring.
• Coconut: add 2 cups of shredded coconut.
• Miscellaneous fruit: stir in your favorite dried fruit (i.e., cranberries, cherries, figs, peaches, dates,
  raisins, apricots, etc.) or candied fruit (pineapple, cherries, ginger, dates, orange/lemon peel, etc.).
• Almond: substitute almond extract for the vanilla, and chop up a cup of slivered almonds.
• Nut variations: substitute chopped pistachios, walnuts, macadamia, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, cashews,
  or even hazelnuts for the pecans.
• Peanut butter: substitute 1/2 cup chunky (or creamy) peanut butter for the chopped pecans.
• Coffee: stir in 2 tablespoons of instant coffee at the same time you add the vanilla extract.
• Chocolate: melt 2 squares/ounces of semisweet chocolate and stir it in when you add the vanilla.
• Chocolate butterscotch: stir in 1/2 cup butterscotch chips and 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips at the same
  time you add the vanilla extract.