Pralines
Caution: Do not give these to children under four years old. I learned this lesson the hard way with Josh’s help. On November 10, 1996, Josh inhaled some pecan pieces to his right lung and had endoscopic surgery the following morning to remove them. Whew.
NOTE: dump the pecan halves in an ungreased skillet and toast them for about 5 min before adding them to the mix.
Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
Dash salt
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Sheet or two waxed paper
Combine first 5 ingredients in a saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture is well blended – about 4 hours. (Just kidding…it seems like that long though!)
Bring to boiling point and boil gently until soft ball stage (236-240F) WITHOUT STIRRING then remove from heat. Add the butter and then let this mixture cool for ten minutes.
Add vanilla; beat until semi-cool and it thickens and loses its gloss (this is the tricky part; you almost have to be psychic or psychotic or something to know when to stop stirring). If mixture seizes up, add hot water and continue stirring. Add pecans and drop by tablespoons onto waxed paper. Cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge.