Remember how we coordinated history curriculum with our trip to the historic triangle?
Studying colonial life was fascinating. We thoroughly enjoyed that trip to Colonial Williamsburg.
We learned that many times the colonists would band together
in gatherings referred to as "bees" to work and play.
The girlies just wouldn't let me forget that the colonists had taffy pulling bees.
Taffy pulling sounds like sticky sweet fun, right? Sign us up!
Taffy pulling sounds like sticky sweet fun, right? Sign us up!
I can hardly blame them for their fascination with taffy pulls, as I'd read a Christmasy novel that involved folks pulling taffy for old-fashioned fun and it picqued my curiousity as well.
I mean, taffy-pulling sounds like something everyone should try at least once, right?
When Daddy was away slaying deer for the family freezer,
we decided that a nice, quiet evening was perfect for pulling taffy.
Keep in mind, I've never pulled taffy before and I don't have a fantastic track record with candy that requires a candy thermometer. (Too many distractions around, perhaps?)
We utilized this recipe. Can you tell Blossom4 wasn't thrilled about pink slime on her hands?
Grammie called right in the middle of waiting for the candy thermometer to reach the right temperature. She remembered putting powdered sugar on her hands when pulling taffy as a kid. This proved to vastly increase our enjoyment of the whole experience.
We were sure to share a bag of taffy with her!
Oh, the giggles, friends!
What a kick we got out of smooshing
and stretching
and pulling
and demonstrating
our pink slime to each other.
Blossom4 was "done" almost immediately and resorted to handing me taffy candies for wrapping.
The rest of the girlies eventually pulled their taffy into ropes and we came out with plenty of taffy to share with their friends. Of course, it didn't even compare to yummy saltwater taffy or the I Ching of taffy, a huckleberry flavor shared by some cross country road-tripping friends. Perfection is never achieved the first time around, but it sure was fun aiming for it anyway.
It should be noted that Blossom1, true to form, said we should sell taffy. I doubt that the recipients of our pink taffy would agree with her.
Blossom2 vastly exaggerated her stretching dramatics, causing us to double over in laughter.
Blossom3 was particularly enthralled with slicing the taffy ropes into bite-size pieces with my nifty "scrape shovel" kitchen utensil.
As for me, I was astounded that no one got it in their hair.
