Comments On Article: The Diary Of Sarah February 21 - 27 1932

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I am intrigued by the mention of ice cream candy!  Have never heard of it.  I tried to find a recipe on-line, but had no luck.  I did, however, find something called Kentucky Cream Pull Candy that apparently goes back to the early 1900's or before.  Am looking forward to trying it!

https://mycountrytable.com/kentucky-cream-pull-can...

https://mycountytable.com/kentucky-cream-pull-candy

Grandma Donna wrote, Gayle H, thank you for the link to the candy.  I searched to see if I can find an old ice cream candy recipe and I did find a couple of recipes.  The one you sent looks like a nice recipe to try, thank you for sending the link.    I will write here one of the recipes I have found in the microfilms. 

Year, 1927 - Ice Cream Candy - Boil three cups sugar, one half cup of water, and one-fourth teaspoon cream of tarter until a little dropped from the spoon into cold water will be brittle.  Do not stir while boiling.  Pour on a large well buttered platter and as the edges curl, fold toward the center.   As soon as it can be handled, add flavoring - separating into portions if different flavors are desired.  Pull and cut into kisses.   Another recipe which is very similar said to dip fingers into vanilla when pulling the candy to flavor the candy.  

I get exhausted reading about all she does in a day.  Then I start thanking God for all the modern convenances that I have.  Like a washing machine.  I grew up learning how to use a wringer washer and hated the filling and emptying of it. And the thought of hanging clothes all over the house in the winter so they would dry.  I for one have become very lazy as I sit here drinking my morning coffee and reading a blog about how hard  Sarah worked.  And I know she was not alone in the way women worked as I read this I think of my grandmother doing all that on a ranch in Montana with 3 kids and cooking for the ranch hands.  My mother was 7 in 1932 and was helping her mom with morning chores before her school day started.  

This is the exact site/recipe I found :-)  Seems like I've run into it before but still haven't tried it.  Might have to remedy that ;-)

Thanks so much for the recipe, Donna.  I look forward to trying it out.  :0)

I have a cookbook that was my grandmother's.  It has her maiden name and the date 1923 on the front page so I imagine that it may have been an engagement present as it is about the right time frame.  I thought maybe ice cream candy would be a recipe in there and it isn't but there is a whole section on candy making including Daisy Cream Candy I thought might possibly be similar.  I am going to post the page.  The book appears to be quite well used so likely would have still been in use in the early 30s. 

Grandma Donna wrote, Sara M,  one of the recipes that I found titled Ice Cream Candy reads a lot like this one above in the cookbook.  It even mentions the vinegar.  It said the vinegar gives it a tart taste for those that want to make it tart.  

Not sure why I didn't think of it, but I will have to check one of my old cookbooks when I get home.  Thank you @SaraM!

Ice Cream Candy seems to be a taffy, perhaps?  I see Daisy Cream Candy and Taffy recipes in the old cookbook page here, and they seem to be basically the same, with the exception of the cream of tartar.  

I have to wonder how big Sarah's stove it - it seems like she is doing several things at once on and in her stove.  And, goodness, how many hours in a day does she have?  Canning meat is not quick; making, raising, shaping, baking and cooling breads is not quick; making candy, especially the kind to be pulled, cut and wrapped is not quick; washing clothes in an old fashioned washer is not quick.  How is she doing several of these time-consuming things in a day almost every day?  

Amazing.

I looked through my recipe books from this era and I did find one which I will try to post if I can figure out how. Also interesting, I think the book is from ‘22 and has recipes like Economy Cobbler and Poorman’s Pudding. 

Not sure if this is working 

I am also in awe of how much she gets done in a day.  I wish I had her energy.  I am surprised by how late she stays up in the evening, too. Especially given that it sounds like they get up early, as most farm families did/do.  

Trying again.

I'm curious if the recipe is in one of our old cookbooks for candy making too. If it is I will share a photo when I find it. I heard that most farm families depending upon the time of year got up between 6 and 7 and stayed up a little later depending upon the days activities and the amount of sunshine. We find ourselves sleeping an hour later and staying up sometimes later different times of year. Her pies sound so yummy.