Just exactly the type of recipe I was looking for. I happened upon a jar of candied jalapenos once in a small farmer's market and they were absolutely delicious. Excited to give this a shot this year! I'm digging the name "Cowboy Candy"!

Some of the recipes below are a lot older than 50! Just updated to Metric by Yours Truly. Acid Drops 500g sugar 150ml water 1 teaspoon tartaric acid icing sugar to coat (optional) Put the sugar and water into saucepan, stir over a moderate heat until the sugar dissolves then boil the mixture until it reaches the 'brittle' stage at 156C. Remove any scum that floats to the top of the mixture during boiling. Allow the mixture to cool slightly in the saucepan, then, while it is still a pouring consistency, carefully blend in the tartaric acid. Mix thoroughly. Pour into tiny moulds and allow the mixture to set, or pour into a tray and leave until sufficiently cool to handle, then form into long rounded bars. When cold, cut into small pieces. Roll in a little sifted icing sugar if desired. Basic Honey Toffee 1 cup honey Cook honey to hard crack stage, stirring constantly. Pour onto a buttered marble slab. As soon as outside edges are cool enough to touch, fold to centre and make a long roll. Start stretching or pulling while hot. Pull until honey becomes light and porous and small strings develop. Cut into short pieces. Place in paper lined metal containers for two days to soften. Creamy Peanut Toffee 60g butter 1/2 cup sugar 1 tablespoon golden syrup 3/4 cup condensed milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup unsalted peanuts Stir butter, sugar and golden syrup over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Stir in milk, bring to the boil. Reduce heat and stir for 8 minutes or until the colour of straw. Add vanilla and peanuts, mix well. Pour onto a greased oven tray and leave until set. Break into pieces. French Toffee 5 cups sugar 2/3 cup hot water 1 cup sweet cream any flavouring desired Combine sugar and hot water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Boil. Add cream slowly. Stir constantly. Do not allow syrup to stop boiling. Boil to hard ball stage. Add flavouring. Pour into a well-buttered pan. When cool, pull until it will hold its shape. Form into long bars about 3cm wide. Cut with a sharp, hot knife in 2cm lengths. French Rocks 500g sugar a little cream of tartar 1 large cup water essences and colours as desired Stir sugar, cream of tartar and water together over heat until the mixture boils, then allow to boil for another 5 minutes. Turn onto a large greased baking dish, sprinkle with a few drops of essence, fold over and over with a wooden spoon. When cool enough to handle, keep pulling it out until it is white and firm. Form into a long roll and cut into pieces with scissors. Many varieties can be made by varying the flavourings and adding colourings. Honey Almond Brittle 1 cup sugar 1 cup toasted, chopped almonds 2 tablespoons honey Place the honey and sugar in a saucepan and heat together over gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved, stirring once. Bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes. Stir in the almonds. Pour mixture into a greased 18cm square dish. Cut into 12 pieces while still warm, then leave to cool. Potato Candy 1 cup warm mashed potatoes, unseasoned 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla 1kg icing sugar 500g chocolate, melted for dipping 2/3 cup crushed peanuts OR 1 cup coconut Combine the potato, salt and vanilla in a four-quart mixing bowl. Sift the icing sugar over the potato, stirring and adding about one cup at a time. The mixture will liquefy when the first sugar is added, then gradually begin to thicken. When it becomes the consistency of stiff dough, knead it even though all the sugar has not been added (likewise add more sugar if needed). After kneading, cover the mixture with a damp cloth; chill until a small spoonful can be rolled into a ball. Shape into 1cm balls. Dip the balls into melted chocolate, then roll in peanuts or coconut. Makes about 8 dozen 1cm balls. The amount of water in the potato affects the quantity of icing sugar you need to add. The trick is to add enough sugar to produce a candy mixture with the consistency of a stiff dough so that you can knead it. The result is a type of fondant that you can dip in melted chocolate and roll in chopped nuts or coconut. Or you can omit the dipping and decorate the candy pieces with nuts. Best when eaten fresh. Russian Caramels 2 1/2 cups sugar 2 tablespoons condensed milk 1 tablespoon butter 1/2 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a saucepan and bring to the boil over low heat, stirring frequently as it will burn easily. Boil for 15 minutes, or until it forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water. Remove from heat, add the vanilla. Beat until creamy and just beginning to thicken, pour into a greased slab tin. Cut into squares while still warm. Scottish Tablet 400ml condensed milk 1kg sugar 1 cup milk 1 teaspoon butter vanilla essence 2 teaspoons golden syrup (optional) 100g chopped walnuts (optional) Combine the condensed milk, sugar, milk, golden syrup (if adding walnuts) and butter in a large saucepan and bring to the boil very slowly, then simmer for 20-30 minutes or until a rich creamy brown colour and a small amount dropped in a little cold water firms nicely. Add vanilla and beat until thick (the beating is important - it is easier with an electric mixer). Quickly stir in the walnuts if using, and pour into a greased slab tin. Leave until cool, then mark into squares. Remove when cold. Toffees 3 cups sugar 1/4 cup brown malt vinegar 1 cup water Place sugar, water and vinegar into a saucepan, stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat, boil rapidly, uncovered, for about 15 minutes or until a small amount, when poured into cold water, will crack. Remove from heat, stand saucepan in cold water for 1 minute. Remove from water, allow bubbles to subside. Pour into paper patty cases. Leave 2 minutes before decorating with coconut, hundreds and thousands etc. Butterscotch 2 cups sugar 2/3 cup liquid glucose 1 teaspoon lemon essence 1/3 cup water 125g butter 1/2 teaspoon salt Combine sugar, water and glucose in a heavy saucepan, stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, reduce heat until very low, boil 8-10 minutes or to 150C on a sweets thermometer; mixture should be light golden brown. Remove from heat, add remaining ingredients, stir until well blended. Pour into lightly greased lamington tin. Mark into squares while still hot. [A lamington tin is your Jelly Roll tin.] Old Fashioned Barley Sugar 1/2 cup pearl barley thinly peeled rind of 1/2 lemon juice of 1 lemon 5 cups cold water 4 cups sugar Put the barley, lemon peel and water into a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer, covered, for two hours. Remove from heat, and let the barley water stand for about 30 minutes so that the solids settle to the bottom of the pan. Ladle off enough clear liquid from the top of the barley water to make 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Pour the barley water into a saucepan and add the sugar. Set the pan over low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved, then let the syrup boil without stirring. Add the lemon juice, and boil the syrup again until it begins to crack (140-145C on a sweets thermometer). Pour the syrup onto a buttered platter or buttered marble slab. When cool enough to handle, cut it into short strips with oiled scissors, then hold each strip by its ends and twist the ends in opposite directions. You will need to work quickly, before the mixture cools. Makes about 1kg.

Is the above mentioned recipe the one posted on May 25? My mom and dad have fond memories of their grandmothers making pickles on the farm in an old 5 lb.crock. We recently got one for Mom and she would love to make them. Could you please post the recipe? Thanks!

posie4U-- here it is You will need some kind of crock (glass or glazed pottery)-- I bought a couple at Walmart year before last - they are clear glass (2 gallons each) with glass lids, sort of like the glass jars they used to have candy in at old timey general stores. Don't know if they still have them. Anyway this is the recipe. Lay crock on its side and pack cucumbers in as tightly as possible. (This recipe is not exact. I have tweaked it some with regard to quantities though, and it still works out fine.) These are the quantities I used for one - 2 gallon crock. Day 1 - Dissolve 2 cups of salt in 1 gallon of boiling water. Pour over cucumbers and let stand 24 hours. Day 2 - Dissolve 1 to 1 1/2 jars of powdered alum (the recipe is old and says a box of alum-- don't think it comes that way anymore - 1 used 1 and 1/2 containers - which were 1.9 ozs. each for the 2 gallon crock of pickles. Day 3 - Drain cukes. Pour fresh boiling water over cucumbers and let stand 24 hours. Day 4 - Drain. Boil together 1 gal. vinegar and about 1 oz. of pickling spice ( put spices in cheescloth or old clean handkerchief and tie up)-- put in pot with vinegar. After you pour the vinegar over the pickles, put the bag of spices in the top of the crock with the cucumbers. let stand for 9 DAYS. After 9 days - Drain cucumbers and slice crosswise. Put a layer of cucumbers and a layer of sugar in large plastic bowls or some type of non-reactive container. Use plenty of sugar so you have enough syrup to cover the cucumbers when you pack them in jars. (I think about 5-7+ lbs. for the 2 gallon crock.) Let the sugar melt and then fill clean jars. (qts. or pints) No need to process. These keep very well for a couple of years in a dark dry place. The amount of pickles you have depends on the size and quantity of cucumbers. But like I said I'm doing a 2 gallon crock and I expect to have probably about 5-7 qts. of pickles. For potato salad, chicken salad, etc. these are the absolute best. Make sure to chill before using. Please excuse the approximate quantities. This is a very old recipe, but I've never had a bad pickle. I will be glad to answer any questions.