Seeing that some people didn't know about Canadian Thanksgiving, I'm wondering if you know about how we celebrate St. Catherine's Day, or what it is, and if you do the same. Here's some info I got from the Net to explain it.

But first, this is the recipe we made when my daughter was in the 4th grade. It was good! (I remember making this with my mom in the evening when I was young and bringing it to school the next day to share with the other kids.)

Pulled Taffy

1 cup molasses

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

cup dark corn syrup

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp vinegar

½ cup water

1 tsp baking soda

In saucepan, combine all ingredients except baking soda; stir well to combine.

Bring to a boil and cook until 260oF (drop a little bit in cold water and a hard ball forms). Add baking soda and mix well. Pour into buttered dishes.

When cool enough to handle, pull and fold taffy with lightly buttered hands until it turns a golden brown (itÂs best to pull it outside where itÂs cooler so that the taffy doesnÂt melt and/or stick in your hands). Cut into pieces with scissors and wrap in individual pieces of waxed paper.

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November 25 - St. Catherine's Day

Are you an unmarried woman over 25? Then according to an old Quebec tradition, you'd be a "Catherinette!" But don't worry put on your apron and start pulling some taffy!

Tradition

The further we look back in time, the younger the age at which women got married. If they reached 25 and were still single they were considered "old maids" and it became increasingly difficult to marry them off. Trying to find a husband was an age-old concern. One day Conrart, the founder of the Académie française, was asked to what age this phenomenon was limited, and he responded with a poem:

After age twenty, a girl prays to God:

"Grant me, O Lord, a comfortable marriage,

A husband gentle, wealthy, generous and kind!"

Then at twenty-five: "Lord, someone I can stand

Or at least a man of whom I'm not ashamed!"

Finally as the passing years make her more desperate,

As she finds herself getting older and nearing thirty:

"Whichever man you want, Lord, and I'll make do."

But where does this custom come from?

Tradition says that long ago there was a woman named Catherine who was executed around the year 307 for refusing to marry the Roman Emperor Maxentius. In the 12th century, St. Catherine was named the patron of unmarried women. So on her feast day, November 25, it was customary to expose her statue in all the churches of Paris. The oldest of the marriageable women would place a starched cap on her head, while all the unmarried female workers would wear paper bonnets in their hair. This gave rise to the French saying, common in France and French Canada, "to do St. Catherine's hair," meaning "to remain an old maid." The same custom was found in Brittany and Normandy where the statue was dressed up in the local style.

The tradition was brought to New France with the first settlers, but it is to Marguerite Bourgeois, a teaching sister who was an important figure in the young colony, that we owe "St. Catherine's taffy." To attract the attention of her little aboriginal pupils, she decided to make some taffy. She had opened her first school in Ville-Marie (Montreal) on November 25, and she commemorated the anniversary each year by making taffy so that St. Catherine's day also became known in Quebec as "taffy day." It became customary for marriageable girls to make taffy and give some to all the eligible young men in the area to show off their cooking skill. In English Canada and the US, the sweets became known as "kisses," since whoever kissed the girl would win her heart.

There are numerous recipes for taffy. Some are made with water, others with less butter. There is also brown taffy, a more rustic version, made solely with molasses and brown sugar and no refined sugar. My favourite contains corn syrup, an old recipe from Grandmother Albertine that I'll share with you in confidence. Grandpa, who didn't like the taste of the taffy, though he loved to eat, had his own recipe containing cocoa that he made on the sly. His chocolate taffy was sublime, but he would never reveal his secret.

Ideally, taffy should be made by two people. That way you can pull it to a greater length and twist it up as one person holds it. It can, however, be made by one person, but it takes a bit more time. If the taffy sticks to your buttered hands, sprinkle them with a little flour.

Taffy is usually made with salted butter which gives it a unique flavour and counterbalances the sweetness.

Ingredients

125 ml (1/2 cup) molasse

125 ml (1/2 cup) corn syrup

250 ml (1 cup) brown sugar

250 ml (1 cup) white sugar

65 ml (1/4 cup) butter

1 tbsp. white vinegar

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/8 tsp. baking soda

Method

Place the molasses, corn syrup, brown sugar, white sugar, vinegar, cream of tartar and half the butter in a pot.

Bring to a boil over low heat until the mixture registers 140° C (260° F). If you don't have a candy thermometer, don't panic. You'll just have to test it several times.

Stir for 5 to 10 minutes. The mixture has to reach the "ball" stage, meaning it's ready when you drop a little of it into a small bowl of cold water and it forms a ball.

Mix in the baking soda.

Pour into buttered dishes and let cool slightly until you can pick the taffy up without burning your hands.

Butter your hands well and begin pulling: pull, fold in half, and repeat the process until the taffy is pale golden, and almost white. If it sticks to your hands, put a little more butter on them.

Pull one last time and twist up tightly in small lengths. Cut into pieces with scissors.

Place on a buttered plate or wrap in waxed paper.