Molasses candy

Hallie loves the "Little House" series, and we have three that we've almost completely worn out reading for the past three years.  And probably our favorite one is "Chirstmas in the big woods," because whenever we get to the part about Laura and Mary making molasses candy with Ma, Hallie expresses her desire for us to try making it.

So after three years of talking about trying it, I finally made it a priority out of sheer fear that Hallie was going to sail through childhood without ever filling pans with snow and making swirly little designs out of this simple candy syrup.

The day before, Elon took Hallie to the library to check out the Little House Cookbook.

So during Chandler's nap, I set out the pans, and figured it would for sure happen if I had the ingredients sitting on the counter ready to be poured into the saucepan.

Plus I told Hallie before she got on the bus that we'd make the molasses candy when she got home.  That was probably the most effective thing I could have done in ensuring that molasses candy be made that day.  

And just like clockwork, when she got off the bus, the first thing out of her mouth was, "are we still making molasses candy?"  And I was grateful I could say "yes" with flying colors!  I told her to go in and hang up her backpack and then we'd grab the pans sitting in the entryway and head right back out to fill them with snow.  As we were heading out the door she said, "I can't believe the day is finally here!"  


And I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I handed her a long-handled serving spoon to fill the pans with.  

But I'll tell you what, I'm grateful this shovel was hanging in the garage, because it got the job done lickity split, ensuring that we'd finish while the sun was still up.

Then we headed in for the "heating and stirring" portion of the process.


And Hallie is an expert pour-er.

And stirrer.

Once it had boiled up to a scary temp (with me stirring), Hallie went out and hauled all those pans of snow inside by herself!

And the pouring began.

Funny they didn't turn out quite as attractive as they were in the book :)

And lets just say that the tasting portion of the activity yielded a little girl with a very questionable look on her face.  

In fact, it would've been nice if there was a note to the parents printed up on the same page as the recipe that reads:

         "Attention Parents:

                     If your child has ever eaten a lolly-pop, skittles, m&m's, or any of the like, they will most likely think this candy is nasty."

But we had fun determining some of the shapes.  Can you find the giant #4, U, M, whimsical tea kettle, sitting cat, rainbow, and the little boy driving a car?  

So now I can be at ease to have indulged Hallie and I in something we've been talking about doing for sooo long. 

And even though it didn't turn out to be the most palatable, it made for a fun memory with lots of laughs. (Especially when Elon came home and politely declined a piece ;))