Aunt Pauline Winkler (APW) had these down to a science and she honored all of her relatives special functions like weddings with them. Because she was the one who made them most her name gets affixed; however, 3 other names might get substituted later. APW recently died and 3 of us are reinventing the wheel today while we try to make this recipe work. Here it is for those of you who are brave at heart. I recommend you try honey candy first, and then progress to this devil candy later. If you do attempt this delicious to eat but hard to make treat you may want to move to Utah. The warning I heard from both APW and from my Grandmother Beth (who cites her Aunt Winona) is that you can't make Butter Mints when there is a cloud in the sky. Humidity kills them.

BUTTER CREME MINTS
~
1 square of butter 3 cups of sugar 1 cup water Mint Flavoring Food Coloring, if desired ~ In a pot having a lid, boil together the water and butter. When boiling, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Put the lid on and cook slowly for 3 minutes. Remove lid and turn heat to high and cook until candy spins a thread, (260 degrees [try between 255 and 260, but DON’T let it get higher than 260]). Pour on buttered marble or platter. Add flavoring and coloring and let cool. When the candy is cool enough to handle, stretch it until it is full of air and loses its gloss. Stretch into rope and cut into desired pieces. Let stand at room temperature until creamed. Store in airtight container.
~
HINTS:
*Wipe the sides of the pan down with a pastrybrush dipped in water. Do this several times during cooking to dissolve any sugar that may have formed on the sides of the pan. (Cloth wrapped around the tines of a fork may be used instead of a brush.)
*DO NOT STIR AFTER THE SUGAR IS DISSOLVED
*For flavoring, use 3 or 4 drops of peppermint oil or 1/4 tsp of most flavorings.
*Use 1/8 tsp of most colorings.
*These freeze very well and will most likely mellow.

Wassail Punch

This is something done in my Aunt's home every Christmas. It's a tangy, spicy holiday beverage. It's also the extremely stretched joke from a favorite holiday show from when I was younger: "A Claymation Christmas." Here are the first and last 1 or 2 minutes of the show (courtesy of youtube), featuring the start and end of the wassail joke:





anyhow, here's the recipie:

Wassail Punch

From the kitchen of Maureen Kijek
~
Preperation time: not long
Servings: lots
[This is exactly what the recipe card says - take it for what it's worth]
~
2 cans frozen apple juice
1 can frozen orange juice
1 can pineapple juice OR 1 can frozen white grape juice

cinnamon sticks, whole cloves or spice mix, tied in a square of muslin with clean white string

2 T. brown sugar
~

In a large pot, reconstitute juices as directed, plus an extra quart or so of water. Stir in sugar and add spice bag. heat for 15 minutes or more. Serve in punch cups or mugs. For a festive punch bowl, float small orange slices that have simmered about 10 minutes. Makes about 2 gallons. The spice bag may be used several times. Squeeze out excess juice, put into a small plastic freezer container and freeze until next time, even next Christmas.

Spanish Hot Chocholate

My mother's sister served a mission in Spain. She learned how to make Spanish Hot Chocholate there and has made it every winter for as long as I can think of. I've never had this anywhere else, so of course it always makes me think of her.

Spanish Hot Chocolate

From the kitchen of Mareen Kijek
~

Preperation Time: 20 Min
Servings: 6-8
~

3/4 to 1c. Sugar
1/4 c. corn starch
1/4 c. cocoa
1 1/3 c. dry milk
2 qts. water
~

Over high heat in a large pot, bring 1 1/2 qts of the water to boiling. Meanwhile, mix all the dry ingredients together, then add the last 2 c. of water and stir until there are no lumps. Stir into the boiling water and continue stiring until it boils again. You may cook it a few seconds longer. Remove from heat and serve in cups or mugs. The Spanish people use more water than milk so that the chocholate is a darker richer brown, maybe 1 1/2 qts. water and 2 c. liquid milk. You seem to like the milk chocolate version. [I'm not sure who "you" is... might be me, but I never can tell when somebody hands me a recipe they printed off their computer at my request.]

Secrests' Lemon Pepper Chicken

This is something that my family has liked to do for the last several years. Almost everybody loves to eat Lemon Pepper Chicken. It's great for something easy and fast to do on the grill. This recipe prepares about 6 large chicken breasts. You can use scale this for more or less chicken breasts, but they need to be able to be immersed in the solution. Chicken strips or smaller chicken breasts also work well.

~
Lemon Pepper Chicken
~

6 large chicken breasts (they tend to be juicier if they haven't completely thawed.)

4 cups water
1/2 cup salt
2 cups white vinegar

(Variation: add one extra cup of water and a cup of sugar.)

Lemon Pepper
Other Seasonings if desired

~

Dissolve the salt in the vinegar and add it to the water in a big bowl (we like to use an empty ice cream bucket). Immerse the chicken in the water/vinegar/salt solution and let it sit there while heating and preparing the grill. Sear the chicken (try heating the grill to about 400 degrees before throwing on the chicken, but let it cool to 300 degrees for the duration of the grilling process) and season it to taste. We usually grill half of them with lemon pepper and the other half with Grill Creations: Gourmet Burger. Turn the chicken after 5-7 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken. After turning the chicken grill them for another 5 or 6 minutes - if the chicken isn't quite done turn it and grill for another few minutes. Serve.

Chad's Tuesday Cookies

While I was studying at BYU this past semester I lived next to a fellow named Chad Isom. Every Tuesday for the last several years he has made hundreds of cookies according to the following recipe. It's become tradition for everybody in the area to stop by, walk in the door whilst yelling "Cookie Night!" and grab a few for the road. Chad asks for nothing in return except that people take what they want and enjoy it. He doesn't even care if people stick around to visit. I for one enjoyed visiting, and have had many conversations with several people over a mound of cookies. Sometimes I'd take over a glass of milk, and every so often, chat would offer some of his own. Anyhow, the cookies are excellent. According to tradition, 3 varieties of this cookie are usually available: Chocolate Chip, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Plain. It's the same dough with different chips worked in. My favorites are the mint ones. Chad uses Andy's chips, but if you can't find them broken up Andy's Mints works just as well. So here, directly from Chad's Website are Chad's Tuesday Cookies (His site calls them Chad's Chocolate Chip Cookies, but Tuesday = Chad's Cookies, so I like my title better.)

~

Ingredients

Dry:

2 1/4 cups Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Soda

Cream:
1 cup Shortening*
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Brown Sugar**
11/2 tsp. Vanilla***
2 eggs

Other:
Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 375º. Combine Dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat the Cream portion in a bowl until white. Combine the Dry with the Cream. Mix in the choc. chips. Form in to balls and cook for 7-10 min or until the peaks just turn golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes and Enjoy!

Notes:
I personally always do a double batch.
I mix the Cream portion for several minutes in a mixer.
I always use insulated cookie sheets.

*I highly suggest Crisco
**I prefer C&H
***Real Vanilla is highly suggested (Even Mexican if you can)

Aunt Pauline's Bar UB Honey Candy

My Great Aunt Pauline Winkler died two weeks ago. Aunt Pauline had no children, and she often referred to herself as Aunt Pauline even in the community (as in "Would you like an Aunt Pauline thump on the head?"). She wrote me a few letters and usually signed as APW - which is what I'll refer to her as here. This recipe is the first on this blog in her honor.

Honey candy is a pioneer day recipe. APW taught me how to make honey candy and I still love to do it. She made it available for almost every family function. At her funeral every speaker mentioned her honey candy. Her sister Shannon mentioned that she'd make over a hundred pounds of it every Christmas.

I remember that at one point APW was talking about making and selling honey candy as a family business, and that several of our families (those in the Winkler Clan) would go help make it while that was the plan. The company title was Bar UB - named ranch style after my Great randfather Ulrich Bernard Winkler. We were making it in the house he built. Anyhow, this is one of my favorite foods to make and eat and it's a big part of my heritage. Besides that, if I can ever get this down the way APW had it, I'll be very very popular.

~

2 cups Sugar
1 cup Honey
1 cup Cream (half & half)

Powdered Sugar - enough to immerse candy chunks in a bowl
Butter - a cube works well
~

Also needed: marble slab or non stick cookie sheet, wax paper or plastic wrap (I like wax paper better), sieve, candy thermometer, pastry brush, glass of water, large pot

Notes:

CAUTION: Molten candy can is just like molten glass: It looks like it's cool enough to handle when it's still hot enough to destroy your hand. Molten candy will stick to you! If this happens to you run the candy coated body part under cold water - the candy will harden so you can pull it off. I tend to get blisters whenever I make honey candy. BE CAREFUL.

CAUTION: Many people who eat too much honey candy in a short period of time have a tendency to get gas!

The whole process will take 2 or 3 hours. This candy must be pulled and could be difficult for those with weak arms/hands or shoulder problems.

Be sure to use a big enough pot. As the candy boils it expands a great deal and will easily overflow. Also, be careful to not let the ball on bottom of your thermometer touch the bottom of the pan, as this will make the temperature shown on the thermometer higher than the actual temperature of the candy.

A marble slab or granite counter top works best for candy making, but I don't have one so I went and bought a cheep non-stick cookie sheet. I turn it upside down because if you use it right side up it can be difficult to access the edges of the candy. A full sized sheet is perfect for one batch. If you make more than that the candy will run off. If you aren't using non stick cookie sheets be sure to use a sheet that's not very beat up, as the candy will try to stick in scratches.

~

Combine everything but the powdered sugar in a pot. Stir till it's pretty consistent while over high heat. Stop stirring and pull out the pastry brush. Dip it in the water and use it to go around the edges of the pot periodically as the candy boils. This keeps the candy on the edges from crystallizing. Allow the candy to boil until it reaches the hard ball stage (around 260 degrees - don't let it get much higher or lower than that or your candy will be too hard or too soft).

While the candy is boiling, grease your marble slab or cookie sheet with the butter (I find that it works best to turn the sheet upside down). When the candy reaches the hard ball stage quickly pour it onto the cookie sheet (if it's upside down you'll want to do this more carefully, if it's right side up try to keep the candy away from the edges).

Let the candy cool. This is tricky. If the candy cools too long it will be difficult to pull. If it doesn't cool enough it will still be lava hot when you try to touch it AND IT WILL STICK TO YOU! SEE CAUTION ABOVE! The best way to check your candy to see if it's cool enough to pull is to gingerly touch the edge with a butter greased finger after 3 - 5 minutes. If the edge is cool enough to touch try testing a few inches towards the center, continue in this fashion until you reach the center. The center cools last, so you shouldn't ever ever every test it first. Capishe? Nod your head.

When the candy is cool it's time to pull. Grease your hands with butter. Apply it like lotion. This will prevent the candy from sticking to your hands. Gather the candy from the edges to the center so you have a lump of candy pick it up and pull it. It should be hot to the point of just under your pain threshold. It's ok to make ooh and ahh noises and throw the ball back and forth between hands like a hot potato or put it back on the tray for a moment while you adjust to the heat. When you really ARE ready, grip the candy mass in your finger tips thus: If you are right handed turn your left hand so that your fingers are under the candy and your thumb is on top, do the opposite with your right hand so that the fingers are on top and the thumb is underneath. Try the opposite if you are left handed. Pull the candy apart while twisting your hands so that your left hand's thumb is on the bottom and your right hand's thumb is on top (or the opposite of that if you are left handed). When you reach this point you should have been pulling the candy at a consistent rate until your hands are at least shoulder width apart and preferably more than that.

Pulling can be difficult to master the first few batches, but the important thing is to keep the candy in motion so that it doesn't get hard. It might be easier to start with if you make half a batch or if you divide the candy in half and let somebody else pull with you. This is a great 2 - 4 person activity, if you pull for a while and then pass the candy off to somebody else while you rest for a minute.

The candy is well pulled when it is getting stiffer and harder to pull AND is close to a creamy white color. If you aren't pulling the candy quickly enough it will still get stiff and hard to pull, but won't be the right color. That's ok, your candy will still be edible. Just pull as best you can until you think your candy is as done as it's going to get.

When you're done pulling, string the candy out on your slab or another cookie sheet so that it's a long string about the width of a finger or thumb. Snip small bite sized pieces off the end of the string and put them in the powdered sugar. When you've got 3-5 pieces in the sugar move them around so they get coated all the way around. Put your coated candy in the sieve and shake the excess powdered sugar off into another bowl. The candy is now ready to eat and/or wrap.

To wrap honey candy make 2-3 inch high squares of waxed paper or plastic wrap. I like waxed paper. Plastic wrap can sometimes be difficult to work with or get your candy out of. Turn a square so that the points are at the top and botom instead of the edges. place a piece of candy just above the bottom tip. Curl the tip up to the candy and roll the candy so that your waxed paper is now a tube pinch the tube at each side of the candy and twist enough to keep it together.

When you've wrapped as much candy as you're going to put it all in a gallon or half gallon ziplock bag. Honey candy is best stored in the freezer. After a few weeks to a month honey candy that is not in the freezer will crystallize. Crystallized honey candy doesn't taste bad and it won't make you sick (I think... I've eaten it and I'm fine). It's just got a funny texture.