Grandma Stahle's Caramels

4 cups sugar
1/2 lb. butter
2 cups white corn syrup
2 tall cans evaporated milk
2 t. vanilla

Stir sugar, butter, and syrup in a heavy pan. Cook over medium heat until mixture boils well. Add evaporated milk a little at a time so mixture doesn't stop boiling. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Cook to 230 degrees. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Do not scrape sides or bottom of pan into finished caramel. Pour into buttered pan and cool. Cut into small squares and wrap each piece in waxed paper.

Em's Caramel

1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 t. vanilla
2/3 c. Karo syrup
2/3 c. sweetened condensed milk

Melt butter, Karo, and sugar together. Bring to a rolling boil. Stir a lot. Take off heat. Cool 1 minute. Add milk and vanilla. Stir rapidly until it's all combined. Serve warm.

Em's Hot Fudge

6 T. cocoa
1 cube butter
1 can evaporated milk
1/3 t. salt
3 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla

Melt butter over medium heat. Add salt. Gradually add cocoa. Stir constantly. Add sugar, 1/2 c. at a time (still stirring). It will be really thick and crumbly. Turn heat to low. Keep stirring until well combined. Slowly add milk until desired consistency (about 3/4 of can). Add vanilla. Serve warm. Store in fridge.

Eggnog Fudge

You just have to trust me on this recipe!

1 cup White Chocolate Chips
¼ cup Butter
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
¾ cups Mashed Sweet Potato (I bake them in the oven and then let them cool)
1 teaspoon Vanilla
¾ teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon Salt
8 cups Powdered Sugar
2 cups Toasted Chopped Pecans or Almonds

Line an 8×8 glass dish with waxed paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, melt white chocolate, butter and sweetened condensed milk together until smooth in consistency. (I do this in 15 second increments in the microwave.) Once melted, pour into the bowl of a stand mixer and stir in sweet potato, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and half of the powdered sugar. Scrape the sides and mix again. With the machine on, add in remaining powdered sugar by the 1/2 cup until all is incorporated. Fudge should look very thick but still sticky. Pour in nuts and stir them in by hand. Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top.

Refrigerate until fudge has hardened, about 2 hours. Remove fudge from refrigerator and using the waxed paper edges, remove entire block of fudge. Using a sharp knife, cut into small squares. Serve.

Peanutty Chocolate Fudge

1-1/2 c. sugar
2/3 c. evaporated milk
2 T. butter
1/4 t. salt
2 c. mini marshmallows
1-2/3 c. nestle peanut butter and milk chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped peanuts
1 t. vanilla

Line 8 inch baking pan with foil. Combine sugar, milk, butter and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 4-5 minutes, still stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Stir in marshmallows, chips, peanuts and vanilla. Stir vigorously until marshmallows are melted. Pour into pan. Put in fridge until firm. Lift from pan and cut.

Butter Mint Pillows

1 stick softened butter

1 lb. powdered sugar plus more for dusting

2 T. heavy cream

1 t. mint extract

red & green food coloring

Beat butter until creamy. With mixer on low, beat in sugar, cream and mint until creamy and smooth. Turn mixture out onto a work surface that has been lightly dusted with pow. sugar. Knead until smooth and satiny. Divide into 1/3's. Tint one pink, one green and leave one white. Cover each with plastic wrap to keep from drying out.

Line 2 baking sheets with foil. Lightly dust work surface again. Working with one color at a time, roll out 1/4 cupfuls, using your fingers, into a 1/2 inch thick rope. Cut into 1/2 inch pillows. Transfer to a baking sheet using a spatula. (be careful, they are soft and will squish easily) Repeat with all mixtures.

Let air dry at room temp for 1-2 days until firm enough to handle. Transfer to covered containers. Store in fridge up to 1 month or in pantry for 2 weeks.

Emily's Fudge

4-1/2 c. sugar

1 can evaporated milk

3- 12 oz. bags of milk chocolate chips

2 cubes real butter, cut into 4th's

1 t. vanilla

Combine chocolate chips and butter in a large bowl. Soften in the microwave. In a saucepan, bring sugar and milk to a boil. Watch it! Stirring constantly, boil for 6 minutes. Pour over the chocolate mixture. Stir together. Beat the crap out of it with the hand mixer and add vanilla. Pour into buttered glass pan. Cool and cut.

Carmels

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 c. sugar

1 t. vanilla

1/2 lb. real butter

1-1/2 c. light karo

Combine all but vanilla in heavy pan. Cook on medium heat. When butter is melted, add candy thermometer. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Reduce heat. Keep stirring until it reaches 230 degrees. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Pour into buttered 9x13 pan.

English Toffee

2 cubes butter

1 c. sugar

1 t. vanilla

2 T. water

Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until hard crack stage. Pour over chopped walnuts or almonds on ungreased cookie sheet. DON'T SCRAPE PAN! When it has cooled some, you can put chocolate squares on and spread it around as it melts. Let cool, then break apart.

*Mom invented this last year: Pour the hot candy over a mixture of pecans, almonds and cashews that are not salted. Break after it's cool. Don't add chocolate.

Peg's Fudge

Basic white fudge:

1 c. half and half

2 c. sugar

2 T. light karo

Cook to soft ball, stirring constantly so it doesn't scorch. Take off heat and let cool until barely warm. Add 1/2 t. of flavoring and a few drops of coloring. Stir until it loses its gloss. Roll in buttered tin foil.

Variations:

pink coloring and wintergreen flavor

black walnut flavor and chopped walnuts

pink color, almond flavor, chopped pecans and well drained, chopped maraschino cherries

green coloring and mint flavoring

You can also add 3 T. cocoa at the beginning to make chocolate fudge.

Cherry Mash (Aunt Polley)

1 large jar marshmallow creme

8 oz. cherry chips

12 oz. milk chocolate chips

3/4 c. creamy peanut butter

1 c. crushed peanuts

Follow fudge recipe on marshmallow creme jar except add cherry chips instead of chocolate. Boil for 5 minutes. Spread into a buttered pan. Melt peanut butter and chocolate chips together. Stir in nuts. Spread over cherry fudge. Let cool and cut into squares.

Peppermint Patties

7 c. powdered sugar

7 T. cocoa

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 c. butter, soft

1 t. peppermint extract

24 oz. chocolate candy coating, chopped

1 pkg. milk chocolate chips

Combine sugar and cocoa. Add milk, butter and peppermint; beat until well blended. Shape into 1 inch balls and then flatten into a patty. Place on waxed paper and freeze for 30 minutes. Melt all chocolate in a double boiler. Remove from heat. Coat 12 patties at a time with chocolate and return to waxed paper. Store in fridge.