Pop Corn Candy.—­Boil two cups of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of butter and a cup of water until it threads.  Stir in four quarts of nice popped corn, rejecting all hard kernels, take from the fire and stir till cool.  Make into balls.

Popcorn Baskets.—­Prepare the corn as above, instead of making into balls, butter the bottoms of tumblers and press the candy around them to form little baskets, in which ice cream may be served or which may be filled with candies.

Sour Drops.—­Strain the juice of three or four large lemons into a bowl, and stir in powdered loaf sugar till it is quite thick.  Put into a pan and let boil five minutes, stirring constantly.  Drop from the end of a spoon upon writing paper, and when dry keep in tin cannisters.  Tartaric acid is generally used by commercial candy makers, but is much more injurious to health.

[854 Mothers’ remedies]

Crystallized Fruits.—­Other Candies.—­Boil two cups of granulated sugar with two-thirds of a cup of water until it hardens in cold water, do not stir.  When it is brittle without being sticky, it is ready to use.  Dip the fruit to be candied, sections of oranges, white grapes, cherries, squares of pineapple, etc., into this, and lay on paraffin paper.  Dip a second time after the first has hardened, to ensure a good coat.  Use the same rule for the syrup to glace nuts.

Cream Dates.—­Remove the stones from nice dates.  Replace them with the roll of flavored fondant.  Or roll a blanched almond in fondant and stuff the date with it.

Hoarhound Candy.—­Boil the hoarhound in a little water till the strength is extracted.  Make a sugar syrup, adding the hoarhound to it; let it boil up and stir against the sides of the pan until it thickens.  Pour out on paraffin paper dusted with fine sugar, and cut into squares.

Marshmallows.—­Dissolve over a slow fire eight ounces of best gum arabic in three gills of water.  Boil one ounce of marshmallow roots in a little water for half an hour.  Strain, and boil down.  Put this and the gum arabic solution with half a pound of loaf sugar, let it cook slowly till it makes a paste that can be rolled between the fingers to the “soft ball” stage.  Then add the beaten whites of two eggs; when well mixed pour in a pan which should be lined with white paper, with enough projecting over the sides so that as the mixture cools it can be lifted out and cut in cups with a sharp knife, then rolled in powdered sugar.

Marrons Glaces.—­Remove the shells from a quart of large Italian or French chestnuts.  Let stand fifteen minutes in boiling water.  Drain; rub off the skin; cover again with boiling water and simmer gently half an hour or till tender, but not soft.  Drain in a sieve.  Boil together one cup of granulated sugar and one cup of water; add the nuts and simmer until they begin to look clear.  Make another syrup of one pound of granulated sugar and one cup of water; boil till it will spin a thread, add a teaspoonful of lemon juice and set aside till it cools a little; then beat till it begins to turn white.  Set in a basin of hot water, flavor with vanilla, and when melted to a syrup, dip each nut.  When coated, lay on paraffin paper to dry.  These sugared chestnuts are highly esteemed as a sweetmeat and are expensive to buy.