Fall is my favorite season......the changes in the air, smells and deep earthy colors and the distinct urge to bake!!! It must be the spices and flavors that are more promenent at this time of year that bring on that urgent feeling to get busy making holiday gifts and baking delicious treats.
My husband likes to "cook", actual meals with meat and I am the baker, not that he can't whip up an awesome pie crust! But I like baking different flavored breads...zucchini, banana, pumpkin...and fresh homemade rolls..ummmmm...what could be better.
Candy is another of my favorite things to make. That is another tradition taught to me by my Grandmother. She didn't have fancy equipment and rarely used any type of measurement and things always turned out. I remember making taffy with her..she wouldn't let me anywhere near the boiling sugar mixture..but when she had it out of the pan and cooling down on the kitchen table, we both shared the responsibility of making it into shiny taffy. We would coat our hands in "gobs" of margarine so the candy wouldn't stick to us, and begin stretching and pulling over and over, passing the hand fulls of warm sugar candy back and forth and constantly stretching it. When it was at a certain shining texture we would begin to snip it into small bits with her kitchen shears. She would let me have the first piece, or so I thought. She somehow managed to sneak the first piece into her mouth and we would laugh so hard. I couldn't say anything due to the taffy sticking to my teeth, so we would laugh even harder!!! What wonderful memories!!!
From my Mother I learned to make Divinity, one of my favorite candies. She taught me to be patient and precise in the making of this heavenly treat and I believe it was also a life lesson.
Wow, I am so into the holiday cooking season now. I think I will whip up something with cinnamon in it........
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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