A Little Something Sweet on Sunday

The month of July was busy, busy, busy! Packing and moving five hours away from home takes a lot of energy! We have been official residents of NWA for a week. I have been battling a summer cold most of the week. I finally felt better when I got up this morning, so I thought I might put our new kitchen to use! I have a serious love of pecan pralines. Especially the ones from TaMolly's in Arkadelphia. Since I couldn't just hop in the car and drive five hours to get them, I thought I would try to make them myself. I used this recipe:

Pecan Pralines
2 cups brown sugar (I used golden brown)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup evaporated milk
2 1/2 cups pecan pieces
2 tsp vanilla
3 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into pieces

Combine sugar, evaporated milk, and water in saucepan. Heat to boiling while stirring constantly. (I did this over medium heat). Cook until mixture reaches soft ball consistency (235). Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla, butter, and pecans Drop by tablespoons onto wax paper.

I did not have a candy thermometer, so I used a cold bowl of water to test the consistency while cooking. When I thought it had heated enough, I dropped a little bit of the liquid mixture into a bowl. It formed a soft, flexible ball. I took it off at that point. I am going to buy a candy thermometer soon, since I don't like guessing! The pralines turned out very well. Sweet, soft and melt in your mouth yumminess. They are very sweet, so I can only eat one at  a time.

Cheers to a sweet finish to the weekend! Tomorrow I start my new job. Any one else make candy this weekend???