This was made by my German grandmother and is to die for but is also very
labor intensive. Tackle it if you will

Lena Ruffner McQuown's Date-nut Coconut Candy

2 c. sugar
1 c. whole milk
1-1/2 Tbs. butter (or as she said, butter the size of a large walnut)

Cook this mixture, stirring constantly, until it reaches the soft-ball stage
(test in cold water; it will flatten but can be picked up). Add a package
(?) of chopped dates and cook 5 minutes longer. Add 1 cup of chopped
walnuts, 1 c. flaked coconut and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Beat with a spoon
over heat until thick.

Grease a 3 inch strip on 6-8 feet of waxed paper. Spoon the hot mixture (I
can attest this will burn your fingers!) along the buttered strip and spread
and shape quickly with a knife into a long strip. Let the mixture set, then
cut into square candy cubes. Wrap pieces in waxed paper. Store tightly
covered.

Jill
--
I used to have a handle on life...but it broke off.

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
.. .
> This was made by my German grandmother and is to die for but is also very
> labor intensive. Tackle it if you will
>
> Lena Ruffner McQuown's Date-nut Coconut Candy

Hey, I know! Make some and send it to me! (laugh)
Don't you dare, I am OD'd on sugar.

nancy

Nancy Young wrote:
> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
> .. .
>> This was made by my German grandmother and is to die for but is also
>> very labor intensive. Tackle it if you will
>>
>> Lena Ruffner McQuown's Date-nut Coconut Candy
>
> Hey, I know! Make some and send it to me! (laugh)
> Don't you dare, I am OD'd on sugar.
>
> nancy

As IF I have a kitchen counter long enough for 6-8 feet of waxed paper! I
made this at my mom's old house back around 1978. She had a kitchen big
enough to land a plane in! Come to think of it, I'm not sure how Grandma
Mac made it; her kitchen was as small as mine!

Jill

On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 08:12:12 -0500, "jmcquown"
> connected the dots and wrote:

~Nancy Young wrote:
~> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
~> .. .
~>> This was made by my German grandmother and is to die for but is
also
~>> very labor intensive. Tackle it if you will
~>>
~>> Lena Ruffner McQuown's Date-nut Coconut Candy
~>
~> Hey, I know! Make some and send it to me! (laugh)
~> Don't you dare, I am OD'd on sugar.
~>
~> nancy
~
~As IF I have a kitchen counter long enough for 6-8 feet of waxed
paper! I
~made this at my mom's old house back around 1978. She had a kitchen
big
~enough to land a plane in! Come to think of it, I'm not sure how
Grandma
~Mac made it; her kitchen was as small as mine!
~
~Jill
~
Waxed paper is 12" wide. You could probably do it on 3-4 feet of
counter space or the kitchen table with a double strip.

maxine in ri
just back, and headed for the store tomorrow

maxine in ri wrote:
> On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 08:12:12 -0500, "jmcquown"
> > connected the dots and wrote:
>
> ~Nancy Young wrote:
> ~> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
> ~> .. .
> ~>> This was made by my German grandmother and is to die for but is
> also
> ~>> very labor intensive. Tackle it if you will
> ~>>
> ~>> Lena Ruffner McQuown's Date-nut Coconut Candy
> ~>
> ~> Hey, I know! Make some and send it to me! (laugh)
> ~> Don't you dare, I am OD'd on sugar.
> ~>
> ~> nancy
> ~
> ~As IF I have a kitchen counter long enough for 6-8 feet of waxed
> paper! I
> ~made this at my mom's old house back around 1978. She had a kitchen
> big
> ~enough to land a plane in! Come to think of it, I'm not sure how
> Grandma
> ~Mac made it; her kitchen was as small as mine!
> ~
> ~Jill
> ~
> Waxed paper is 12" wide. You could probably do it on 3-4 feet of
> counter space or the kitchen table with a double strip.
>
> maxine in ri
> just back, and headed for the store tomorrow

She must have, Maxine. You also have to be very quick with pouring and
spreading this as the mixture starts to set up fast and it needs to be
shaped so it can be cut into squares when completely cool.

Jill

On Wed 17 Aug 2005 02:37:23a, jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> This was made by my German grandmother and is to die for but is also very
> labor intensive. Tackle it if you will
>
> Lena Ruffner McQuown's Date-nut Coconut Candy
>
> 2 c. sugar
> 1 c. whole milk
> 1-1/2 Tbs. butter (or as she said, butter the size of a large walnut)

This sounds SO good, Jill. Your grandmother had more fortitude than I do! I
would love to eat this, but I would not love to make it. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974


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Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> On Wed 17 Aug 2005 02:37:23a, jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
>> This was made by my German grandmother and is to die for but is also
>> very labor intensive. Tackle it if you will
>>
>> Lena Ruffner McQuown's Date-nut Coconut Candy
>>
>> 2 c. sugar
>> 1 c. whole milk
>> 1-1/2 Tbs. butter (or as she said, butter the size of a large walnut)
>
> This sounds SO good, Jill. Your grandmother had more fortitude than
> I do! I would love to eat this, but I would not love to make it. :-)

You'll just have to trust me, it's delicious! She also made fudge with
walnuts and soft butterscotch candy (I don't have those recipes, darnit). A
visit to grandma meant checking the candy dish for her homemade goodies

She baked 8 loaves of bread every Tuesday. She kept two, gave 2 to my other
grandparents (they were next door neighbors - yes, Dad married the
proverbial girl next door 54 years ago!) and gave the other loaves to
various neighbors.

Jill

On Wed 17 Aug 2005 06:17:57a, jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> On Wed 17 Aug 2005 02:37:23a, jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>>
>>> This was made by my German grandmother and is to die for but is also
>>> very labor intensive. Tackle it if you will
>>>
>>> Lena Ruffner McQuown's Date-nut Coconut Candy
>>>
>>> 2 c. sugar
>>> 1 c. whole milk
>>> 1-1/2 Tbs. butter (or as she said, butter the size of a large walnut)
>>
>> This sounds SO good, Jill. Your grandmother had more fortitude than
>> I do! I would love to eat this, but I would not love to make it. :-)
>
> You'll just have to trust me, it's delicious! She also made fudge with
> walnuts and soft butterscotch candy (I don't have those recipes,
> darnit). A visit to grandma meant checking the candy dish for her
> homemade goodies
>
> She baked 8 loaves of bread every Tuesday. She kept two, gave 2 to my
> other grandparents (they were next door neighbors - yes, Dad married the
> proverbial girl next door 54 years ago!) and gave the other loaves to
> various neighbors.
>
> Jill

Yep, grandmothers were like that. Mine did the bread baking and the goody
making, and every visit was a treat!

I'm keeping the recipe, just in case I ever get up the ambition to tackle
it! :-)

I love dates. My mom used to stuff dates with some kind of a nut mixture,
then roll in sugar and coconut. I still make the date-nut squares recipe
you posted.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> On Wed 17 Aug 2005 06:17:57a, jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
>> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>> On Wed 17 Aug 2005 02:37:23a, jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>>>
>>>> This was made by my German grandmother and is to die for but is
>>>> also very labor intensive. Tackle it if you will
>>>>
>>>> Lena Ruffner McQuown's Date-nut Coconut Candy
>>>>
>>>> 2 c. sugar
>>>> 1 c. whole milk
>>>> 1-1/2 Tbs. butter (or as she said, butter the size of a large
>>>> walnut)
>>>
>>> This sounds SO good, Jill. Your grandmother had more fortitude than
>>> I do! I would love to eat this, but I would not love to make it.
>>> :-)
>>
>> You'll just have to trust me, it's delicious! She also made fudge
>> with walnuts and soft butterscotch candy (I don't have those recipes,
>> darnit). A visit to grandma meant checking the candy dish for her
>> homemade goodies
>>
>> She baked 8 loaves of bread every Tuesday. She kept two, gave 2 to
>> my other grandparents (they were next door neighbors - yes, Dad
>> married the proverbial girl next door 54 years ago!) and gave the
>> other loaves to various neighbors.
>>
>> Jill
>
> Yep, grandmothers were like that. Mine did the bread baking and the
> goody making, and every visit was a treat!
>
My Grandma Brown did the cookie thing. First thing you did after giving her
a hug was check the big green tin on the shelf by the cellar stairs.
Ginger-snaps, oatmeal-raisin cookies and M&M cookies.

> I'm keeping the recipe, just in case I ever get up the ambition to
> tackle it! :-)
>
Just don't burn your fingers when shaping it into the long strip! I learned
the hard way.

> I love dates. My mom used to stuff dates with some kind of a nut
> mixture, then roll in sugar and coconut. I still make the date-nut
> squares recipe you posted.

Ah yes, that was years ago! Similar area of the country, if I remember
correctly, so we figured it was a regional sort of thing

Jill

On Wed 17 Aug 2005 07:57:26a, jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> On Wed 17 Aug 2005 06:17:57a, jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>>
>>> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>>> On Wed 17 Aug 2005 02:37:23a, jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>>>>
>>>>> This was made by my German grandmother and is to die for but is
>>>>> also very labor intensive. Tackle it if you will
>>>>>
>>>>> Lena Ruffner McQuown's Date-nut Coconut Candy
>>>>>
>>>>> 2 c. sugar
>>>>> 1 c. whole milk
>>>>> 1-1/2 Tbs. butter (or as she said, butter the size of a large
>>>>> walnut)
>>>>
>>>> This sounds SO good, Jill. Your grandmother had more fortitude than
>>>> I do! I would love to eat this, but I would not love to make it.
>>>> :-)
>>>
>>> You'll just have to trust me, it's delicious! She also made fudge
>>> with walnuts and soft butterscotch candy (I don't have those recipes,
>>> darnit). A visit to grandma meant checking the candy dish for her
>>> homemade goodies
>>>
>>> She baked 8 loaves of bread every Tuesday. She kept two, gave 2 to
>>> my other grandparents (they were next door neighbors - yes, Dad
>>> married the proverbial girl next door 54 years ago!) and gave the
>>> other loaves to various neighbors.
>>>
>>> Jill
>>
>> Yep, grandmothers were like that. Mine did the bread baking and the
>> goody making, and every visit was a treat!
>>
> My Grandma Brown did the cookie thing. First thing you did after giving
> her a hug was check the big green tin on the shelf by the cellar stairs.
> Ginger-snaps, oatmeal-raisin cookies and M&M cookies.

Being in the South, you could never go to my grandmother's without finding
at least 2 or 3 cakes and a pie or two, even when it wasn't a holiday.
While we were there she would always make a hot gingerbread and, usually, a
banana pudding. When I was growing up, my grandparents owned a small
country store, which had the proverbial "penny candy" glass case. All we
grandchildren were in heaven.

>> I'm keeping the recipe, just in case I ever get up the ambition to
>> tackle it! :-)
>>
> Just don't burn your fingers when shaping it into the long strip! I
> learned the hard way.

I always take head of "hot"!

>> I love dates. My mom used to stuff dates with some kind of a nut
>> mixture, then roll in sugar and coconut. I still make the date-nut
>> squares recipe you posted.
>
> Ah yes, that was years ago! Similar area of the country, if I remember
> correctly, so we figured it was a regional sort of thing

Yep, it was at least 6-7 years ago, and we agreed it had to be a regional
thing. It's funny, since we've moved to AZ where they grow a huge abount
of dates, I've never heard of anyone making these out here. When I make
them they disappear very quickly. One plate of them I took to work
disappeared betwen the time I set it out and went to the break room to get
my coffee!

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

jmcquown wrote:

> This was made by my German grandmother and is to die for but is also very
> labor intensive. Tackle it if you will
>
> Lena Ruffner McQuown's Date-nut Coconut Candy
>
> 2 c. sugar
> 1 c. whole milk
> 1-1/2 Tbs. butter (or as she said, butter the size of a large walnut)
>
> Cook this mixture, stirring constantly, until it reaches the soft-ball stage
> (test in cold water; it will flatten but can be picked up). Add a package
> (?) of chopped dates and cook 5 minutes longer. Add 1 cup of chopped
> walnuts, 1 c. flaked coconut and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Beat with a spoon
> over heat until thick.
>
> Grease a 3 inch strip on 6-8 feet of waxed paper. Spoon the hot mixture (I
> can attest this will burn your fingers!) along the buttered strip and spread
> and shape quickly with a knife into a long strip. Let the mixture set, then
> cut into square candy cubes. Wrap pieces in waxed paper. Store tightly
> covered.
>
> Jill

Thanks, Jill. I am saving this recipe in case I feel
ultra-ambitious. I am into heirloom and really old recipes
now--pondering, not necessarily doing, esp. during the summer.
:-)

--
Jean B.