Pralines

Picture in your mind a round disc of sugar and butter with pecans in it. Do you call it a PRAH-leen or a PRAY-leen? Only one is right, and it’s time to put the confusion on how to pronounce “praline” to bed. The candy was brought to America, particularly Louisiana, in the 1800s by French … Continue reading Pralines

Homemade Butter Mints

Butter mints are a staple at Southern showers, teas, and receptions. Sweetly pastel, they sit proudly between the mixed nuts and petit fours on our party tables. Butter mints are no wallflower though. Their pale colors belie their assertive flavor. A few Christmases ago, Husband and I went to visit his parents. We hadn’t been … Continue reading Homemade Butter Mints

Oh, fudge!

My Granny was not a good cook. There, I've said it. She just wasn't. Granny had many talents, but they were all put into practice far, far away from the kitchen. Unless you count arranging flowers on the kitchen table, but that had nothing to do with food. I remember one time when I was … Continue reading Oh, fudge!

Oh, fudge!

Granny made fudge every year at Christmas - the real kind from the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box. The kind that requires you intuit such things as when you achieve "soft ball stage." The kind that requires you to beat it by hand with a wooden spoon until it yields in unglossy submission. The … Continue reading Oh, fudge!