Grandma Dobbins' Penuchi

My skills in candy-making are fairly limited. So what have I learned today? That you *have* to pay attention to the temperature on the candy thermometer. There is your first clue that I was headed for disaster. And what else did I learn with this recipe? I now know that *close enough* is not the attitude to take, when seeking the "soft ball stage." But jeez, louise, that boiling brown sweet stuff was rising out of the pan like a monster, scaring me, and I just wanted this whole thing to be done, the sooner the better!

So I kinda peered at the thermometer and decided 230 would be just fine. Well, never having made or eaten this stuff, I don't know what the finished product is supposed to look like. The directions say to cut it as soon as mixture sets. Ha! I tried putting a fork in it and might as well have put a spoon in, because it was a soupy sweet little mess. Fortunately, I don't like to let a failed recipe go to waste. So I poured it over vanilla ice cream and oh, my, my. If this isn't ambrosia, I don't know what is! The Resident Archaeologist is rather fond of this newly discovered close relative of Penuchi, and doesn't mind one bit that it didn't turn out quite as planned. He has made a dent in the vanilla ice cream, in order to sample this wonderful new ambrosia. Don't you just love it when happy food accidents happen?!



Comments

Post a Comment

I welcome your comments. Please be kind and considerate. Thanks for stopping by!

Popular posts from this blog

Lancey House Dip

Image
Funny how childhood memories will pop up when a food reminds us... This dip is not one that I recognize from reading its ingredients, but when I tasted it, oh, wow, did it ever take me back in time! As a child, we lived in a large house in Bangor, and my parents loved parties. My mom enjoyed making dips and this one tastes very familiar to me. Maybe it's the cottage cheese base, but there are other ingredients that compliment the cottage cheese and really bring it together. A nice mix with other cheeses to bind it together. My husband is not fond of blue cheese, but I love it. I decided that, since I promised myself I'd try to stay true to the original recipes in the book, the first time around, I would keep the blue cheese in, and see how it tasted.  Turns out, it is in such small proportion to the rest of the recipe, I doubt he will really notice. It simply adds strength to the cheese base, I think, but not enough to overpower other flavors. He hasn't come downstairs to t...
Read more

Maine Party Chicken

Image
 As I read the ingredients for this recipe, I had a flashback to my childhood. My parents enjoyed having friends over, and my mother was not a chef by any means, but she would look for recipes that were easy to prepare for a crowd. This is one of the recipes she used to make.  I used to be a can-of-soup cook, like my mom, when a white sauce was called for. But since I learned how to do a bechamel, oh my, there is no going back. Not that there is anything wrong with an easy pop-top cream of mushroom soup once in awhile. It does the trick, and you just tuck this dish in the fridge overnight and do a three-hour bake the next day, which gives you time to focus on putting up party banners, or whatever, for your company. I'm not sure I care for the dried beef in this dish. Awfully salty. But the bacon, when you do a slow bake, smells fantastic for three solid hours. Can you say Anticipation?! I say, when you go big, go easy. Try this recipe for a crowd. You'll be glad you did!
Read more

Riverhouse Scallops "Benedict"

Image
 If elegant and easy ever paired perfectly, this would be the recipe for such a happy marriage. I saw the minimal ingredients, and thought to self: "This is where the quick hors d'oeuvres meet the 'oh wow' from the guests, with the hostess barely lifting a finger, except to sip some wine." Now, that's my kind of hors d'oeuvres! Slice the very fresh scallops into thin circles. Drop them into fresh lemon juice to "cook." You are also supposed to slice the avocados into circles, to mirror the scallops, but mine ended up being whatever shape the avocado chose. I don't argue with avocadoes about their shape, I just eat them and am grateful they choose to show up on the plate at all. The recipe calls for a few shakes of hot sauce on each scallop slice. I used Cholula Sweet Habanero Hot Sauce.  This is a fabulous appetizer that will impress your friends and family!
Read more