Sweets for the Sweet! by Shirley Raye Redmond

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d share some of my favorite homemade candy recipes. Forget those heavy copper pots, the candy thermometer and boiling sugar syrups. If you want to make something for the sweethearts in your life, try these easy recipes instead, combining old-fashioned taste with modern-day simplicity.

I -Can-Make-It Marzipan

You will need:

• 1 3/4 cups sweet shredded coconut
• 1 cup almond paste
• 1 - 3 oz. pkg. of Jell-O any flavor—strawberry for strawberries, lemon for bananas and lemons, orange for pumpkins and oranges, and lime for green apples or pears etc.
• 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix first six ingredients and shape into small fruits. Decorate appropriately with cloves, gumdrop bits or colored sugar. Chill until dry to the touch. Makes about 2 dozen. Store at room temperature in airtight container.

------

Easy-Does-It Peppermint Creams

You will need:

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) of cream cheese, softened
• 6 and 2/3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. peppermint extract
• food coloring
• granulated sugar
• candy molds

Mix cream cheese with extract and food color. Add powdered sugar and mix with hands until it has a Play Doh consistency. Roll into marble-size balls, then dip in granulated sugar and press into candy molds. Drop out onto waxed paper. Makes approximately 15 dozen--depending upon the size of the molds.

-------

Party Time Nut Patties

You will need:

• 1 pound (16 oz.) of white chocolate chips or almond bark
• 6 oz of semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 pound of nuts—your choice: salted peanuts, cashew halves, chopped pecans, macadamia halves, other.

Melt the two chocolates in a glass mixing bowl in the microwave on medium heat until soft and stirrable. Add nuts. Mix. Drop mixture from teaspoon onto waxed paper. When patties are completely cool and firm, they may be packed into candy tins. Makes about 3 dozen.

------

Don't forget to leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for To Gain a Valentine by Tanya Eavenson! Winner announced in the Weekly Windup on February 13th.

Check out all of our great prizes on the Prizes Galore page.

An award-winning writer and frequent conference speaker, Shirley Raye Redmond is the author of two inspirational historical novels, PRUDENCE PURSUED and AMANDA’S BEAU, as well as two dozen children’s books, including LEWIS & CLARK: A PRAIRIE DOG FOR THE PRESIDENT (Random House), which was a Children’s Book of the Month Club selection. Shirley Raye holds an M.A. in literature. She has been married to her husband Bill for forty years. They live in New Mexico and are blessed with two grown children, two adorable grandsons, and one spunky Scottish terrier. Touch bases at shirleyrayeredmond.com or Facebook and http://www.writechildrensbook.com/blog.