Welcome To Pilgrims and Pioneers!

After many years of researching my family geneaology I have been lucky enough to discover actual information about my relatives that lived in the Pilgrim Era and the Pioneer Era- while many people also have realtives from those eras- many do not know their names or where they lived- actually seeing the proof in print makes you much more aware of who they really were.
After discovering these relatives it of course made me curious to learn more about the eras that they lived in and what their lives were like as, the history I learned in grade school had long since been forgotten.
I decided to start this blog for others who are also interested in these eras.
Some of the information here will be actual facts about my realtives and some will be information about the eras in general that I have found on the web.
I hope you will enjoy traveling back in time with me!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Pecan Pralines

Pecan Pralines (From an old Godchaux Sugar Refinery recipe book printed approx. 1879)
3 cups white sugar,1 cup light brown sugar,1-1/2 cups water,3 cups broken pecan meats (you can use halves; I prefer pieces),1 tblspn butter or margarine,1 tsp. vanilla
Place sugars and water in larger heavy pot. (I use as old heavy iron pot.) Bring to boil. When sugars are dissolved, add pecans. Turn heat down and allow mixture to gently simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally. Cook for approx. 15 -20 minutes..."until the mixture grains when metal spoon is rubbed against side of pot." (This is direct wording from original copy.) Remove from heat. Add margarine and vanilla. Stir mixture until it appears to granulate and adhere to the spoon. Drop by spoonfuls onto plain wax paper. Allow to cool beforeremoving and enjoy.
This is what pralines really tasted like in the 1800's. Most of today's pralines have milk in their recipes and are not the authentic taste. The Godchaux Sugar Refinery was an old company in New Orleans, LA. If you don't cook this long enough, put it back and cook longer. If you've cooked it too long and it gets hard before you've finished "dropping...", add a little more water and return to simmer once more. I've never ruined a batch...except by trying molasses! Nothing else will damage the recipe.

3 comments:

KKJD1 said...

Yum sounds delish! Blessings,Karen

My Colonial Home said...

WOW, mom always made Pralines but I never had. This recipe sounds quite easy actually. I'm going to try them.
Thanks.
Karen

Debra said...

I have not tried them yet either- but I sure am going to. I love them!

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