I said 6 qt pressure cooker bottom, it is 4 qt above for the Toffee! Sorry! This recipe came from Better Homes & Gardens probably in about 1962-3.Buttery peanut Brittle- 4 qt heavy pan(bottom of old pressure cooker works fine)& candy thermometer is a must! Lightly butter 18 in by 2 ft piece of foil put close to where you are cooking so can quickly dump it out. 2 c white sugar 1 c Light Karo syrup 1/2 c water 1 c butter 2 c peanuts or mixed nuts(I use unsalted or lightly salted) 1 tsp baking soda measured out into spoon(level) Place sugar, Karo & water in 4 qt pan on high heat stirring constantly,when mixture is boiling,add the butter. Now with clean damp dishcloth over fork changing cloth to different area each time to get crystals, wipe down inside of pan just above the cooking mixture, put the candy thermometer on side of pan opposite from you so you can read it being careful to get it off the bottom of pan,(could break) should be able to get the wooden spoon under where it's at! Keep stirring whole time add nuts when it reaches 280degrees will get harder to stir but keep it going won't be long now. When it reaches 300degrees take the thermometer off quickly dump the soda in stir around quickly & pour out on buttered foil. (It says 305 degrees but I find by time I've got it on foil it's plenty done. I like it light not real molasses like as when over- cooked take wooden spoon & spread out as thin as you can. Let sit until it is cold. lift up & break in irregular pieces store in double zip loc bag. That is 1 gal Zip -loc bag inside another. it stays nice and fresh in fridge, if fact couple of yrs ago I found some that was months old & it was fine.Mom had been in & out of hospital ! Anyway candy is a little tricky so I tried to include tricks I use to get it to come out. Friends I've taught are still making candy but it's much easier in person to tell them than trying to remember all this. (I couldn't type at all until GD was 5 & wanted to know why grandma wasn't on computer.) As I don't have anything on my recipe card but the recipe, rest is school of hard knocks tho I almost never have had to throw anything out. With candy always read whole recipe before you start & have everything measured out & ready before you turn stove on. If butter is to be cut up & you are supposed to be stirring it's easy to burn something. If you ever caramelize sugar you know what I mean! Anyway bedtime, if you have any questions ,I'll answer them. About fondant- takes a couple of weeks to ripen then you need a cold marble slab to work it so it gets creamy, lot of work! But I could find my recipe if you have all that. Time & marble- I cleaned my long makeup section of marble in bathroom with Comet & then dishsoap & polished with clean dishtowel & dumped the ripened fondant out to work it takes a lot of energy. You do get a lot of candy tho.

Here's a couple thumbprint cookies that are tried & true. Imake them every year. Chocolate Caramel Treasures Cookie type: formed These are another variation of thumbprint cookie. This recipe came from Gourmet Magazine, December 1999. Ingredients For the cookies: 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar 1 egg yolk 1 teas vanilla 1 cup flour 2 tbsp whole milk 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4 teas salt 1 egg white, lightly beaten 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts For the filling: 10 (1 x 1/2 inch) plain caramels, 2 tbsp heavy cream For the drizzle: 3 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped Directions For the cookies: Beat together butter, yolk, milk, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Sift in flour, cocoa, and salt and mix until mixture forms a dough. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls, then coat with egg white, and roll in nuts. Place balls 1 1/2 inches apart on a greased baking sheets. Press your thumb into center of the balls to flatten, leaving a depression. Bake until puffed slightly but centers are still soft, 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press centers of cookies again with a spoon. Let cool. Make the filling while cookies are cooling. Heat caramels and cream in a small sauce pan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and mixture is smooth. Spoon into centers of cookies and cool completely. Make chocolate drizzle one hour before serving. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Cool to warm and pour into a heavy-duty sealable plastic bag. Seal bag and snip 1 corner to form a small hole. Drizzle chocolate over cookies and let stand until set, about 30 minutes. *I never bother with the drizzle. I also usually use walnuts and not hazelnuts. ***************** Austrian Jam Cookies Cookie type: formed My mom originally got the recipe out of a magazine years ago. I don’t know what magazine. These cookies nowadays go by the name thumb print cookies. I like to call them Austrian Jam cookies because they sound more sophisticated that way. I usually double the batch. A single batch will make about 15-18 cookies. A double batch, you will get closer to 3 dozen. Ingredients 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened (not melted) 1/2 cup sugar 1 teas vanilla* 1 egg, separated 1 1/4 cup sifted flour 2/3 cup chopped almonds** your favorite flavor of jam Directions Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and egg yolk in a medium bowl until fluffy. Stir in flour. Gather dough into a ball, cover and chill for several hours. Roll level teaspoonful of dough into balls. Dip the ball into a slightly beaten egg white. Roll the ball into the almonds. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Space cookies 1 inch apart. These cookies will not spread very much. Press an indentation with your thumb in the middle of the cookie, careful not to go all the way through to the pan. Fill with jam. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. *Almond extract can be used in place of real vanilla. ** Generally, I think the almonds are a little too hard for the rest of the cookie. I usually use walnuts or pecans. I like using Polaners preserves for the jam centers. I have also used Smuckers as well as homemade jam.

The Chabba-doodle-poodle's mother has quite a few. Linda C DOGGY RYE CRISPS 2 cups rye flour 1/4 cup wheat flour 1/4 cup corn meal 6 TBL vegetable oil 2/3 cup warm water Preheat oven to 350 Combine the dry ingredients & then stir in the oil & the warm water. Form the mixture into a ball & then pat or roll it out to 1/4" thick. Cut into puppy-pleasing shapes & bake on a greased cookie sheet for 30-40 minutes. Makes 24 crackers. RUMPOLE'S ROCKS: A DOGGONE GOOD SNACK 3 cups oatmeal 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 1/2 cup powdered milk 1/2 cup bacon grease or leftover fat 2 eggs 2 tsp cod-liver oil 1 1/2 cups canned beef or chicken gravy Preheat oven to 325°. Combine all the ingredients & drop the mixture by spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 50 minutes & cool the "rocks" on wire racks in a safe place. Store in a covered container & dole them out for "Good Doggies). Makes 30. LUCY'S CHEESE BONES 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/4 cups shredded cheese (your choice) 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup water (more or less) Preheat the oven to 400°. Combine the flour, cheese, garlic & oil. Add water if necessary to form a stiff dough & knead well. Roll it out on a floured surface to 1/2" thick & cut into shapes. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browwwned. Makes about 36. Snickerpoodles Dog Treats 1/2 cup canola oil 1/2 cup shortening 1 cup honey 2 eggs 3 3/4 cups white flour 2 teaspoons cream of tartar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup cornmeal 2 teaspoons cinnamon Mix vegetable oil, shortening and honey together until smooth. Add eggs and beat well. Blend in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Knead dough until mixed well. Shape dough by rounded teaspoons into balls. Mix the cornmeal and cinnamon together in a bowl and roll balls in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with a nonstick spray. Press the balls down with a fork twice going in 2 different directions or press with your favorite stamp. Bake 8 minutes at 400. Remove from baking sheet and cool on a rack. We do tons of homemade dog biscuits at Christmastime. When we deliver cookie trays, we deliver dog biscuits, strung on red ribbon, to our canine friends. What the doggies like is garlic and meat paste. I make my own meat paste, from leftover pot roast and canned beef broth, in the food processor. For the picky-est of the picky eaters (and we own a little Tibetian Spaniel like that), try cheese or cheese-and-bacon. What you're going for is a thick, non-fluffy, very heavy dough that smells strongly like meat and garlic. And a low oven temperature, to bake them hard and long-lasting. BASIC RECIPE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, or any combination of heavy, whole-grain flours 1/2 cup nonfat powdered milk 1 tsp. sugar 1 tsp. Lawry's Seasoned Salt 1 large egg 1 tsp. minced garlic 1/2 cup hot meat paste (see notes above) 1/4 to 1/2 cup very hot water Mix together well with an electric mixer. Turn out onto a floured pastry cloth and knead until elastic and "set." Cut with dog-bone cutter, or with the edge of a drinking glass. Spray cookies sheets with Pam and place biscuits on them. They will not spread at all, so you can place them very close together. Bake at 250 degrees F. for one hour, turn trays 180 degrees, and bake at least another half hour. FOR CHEESE BISCUITS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you know that you're going to be making doggie treats, save up all the hard bits of leftover cheese. Grate them up and use them, in place of the meat paste. If you do not have leftover cheese, then buy a bag of Kraft grated cheese, sharp cheddar, and use that. Once the biscuits are on the cookie trays, you can sprinkle them with grated Parmesan. FOR CHEESE-AND-BACON ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Add Hormel's Real Bacon Bits (they're in the salad dressing section of your grocery store) ******************************************* Fido's Favorite Treats Yield: 1 batch 1 c. Rolled oats 1/3 c. Margarine 1 c. Boiling water 3/4 c Cornmeal 1 tbp. Sugar 2 tsp. chicken or beef flavored instant bouillon 1/2 c. Milk 4 oz (1 cup) shredded cheddar cheese 1 Egg, beaten 2 c. To 3 cups whole wheat flour. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. In large bowl, combine rolled oats, margarine and boiling water; let stand 10 minutes. Stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk, cheese and egg; mix well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition to form a stiff dough. On floured surface, knead in remaining flour until dough is smooth and no longer sticky, 3 to 4 minutes. Roll or pat out dough to 1/2 inch thickness, cut with bone shaped cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes on until golden brown. Cool completely. Store loosely covered. Makes 3 1/2 dozen large dog biscuits or 8 dozen small dog biscuits. *************************************** Here is a doggy bday cake recipe as well...grin DOGGIE BIRTHDAY CAKE Don't forget the "Frosty Paws" from the grocery store to top off the cake. 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 cup chopped/unsalted peanuts 1/4 cup oil 1/3 cup honey 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon soy flour 1 egg 5 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup ground or grated carrots Preheat oven to 325°. Combine flours, baking soda and peanuts. Mix in egg, oil, vanilla, honey and carrots until well combined. Pour mixture into a prepared cake pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Here's the recipe for Mrs. Barden's Bourbon Balls. It's probably the easiest cookie to make because it's a no-bake recipe. Every year I look forward to making these for a few reasons ~ they're DH's favorite's, they're really attractive in a cookie plate, there are only a few ingredients and they don't have to be baked, which saves me mucho time when I'm up to my eyeballs in cookies baking in the oven. I use a cookie scoop to shape them and for uniformity. I do them "in between" my other cookies when the oven's full and I need a breather. Make sure you mellow them for at least 48 hours before you eat them ;o) Mrs. BardenÂs Bourbon Balls Ingredients: 1 cup fine vanilla wafer crumbs 1 cup finely chopped pecans 1 cup confectioners' sugar (plus more for rolling) 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4 cup bourbon 1 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup Preparation: Combine 1 cup crushed vanilla wafer crumbs, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, and 2 tbs. cocoa in a food processor. Pulse until fine. In a separate bowl, blend the bourbon and corn syrup. Pour the bourbon mixture into the dry mixture; mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the food processor. Cover and chill for at least a few hours. Sift about 1/2 to 1 cup of confectioners' sugar on a cookie sheet. Shape small bits of the dough into balls and roll them in the confectioners'. Store in refrigerator in tightly covered containers. Make these a few days in advance for best flavor, and roll in confectioners' sugar again before serving, if desired. These can also be frozen for longer storage. Makes about 3 dozen