More Traditions

Hello Dear Reader,
Let's get back to the traditions that Wes and Mary began as newly weds. Sometime during the Christmas season they made candy—traditionally fudge and divinity but sometimes pulled taffy. Wes usually made the divinity. It is one of the few things I remember him cooking and he did it well. Here is the recipe:

GRANDPA’S DIVINITY
2 cups sugar
2 egg whites, beaten until very stiff
½ cup white corn syrup
½ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup chopped walnuts, optional

Mix sugar, syrup and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil and cook without stirring until hard, almost brittle when dropped in cold water. Pour slowly over egg whites, beating constantly. Continue to beat until it creams or until it looses its glossiness and becomes dull. Add vanilla and nuts, if desired. Drop from a spoon. (Divinity is better if kept in a covered container overnight.)

Christmas dinner usually took place on the afternoon of Christmas Eve in celebration of Wes’s birthday. Then there was time for family parties and reading the Christmas story from the Book of Luke before bed. Wes and Mary opened their gifts on Christmas morning and then visited parents, brothers, and sisters to see “what Santa brought,” and exclaim over wonderful gifts. Christmas was always anticipated and the season was full of love and joy.
Love,
Aunt Genni