DO NOT ATTEMPT ON A HUMID DAY.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Divine Divinity

Recipe By :Tammy McNiff
Serving Size : 30 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Candies

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
3 egg whites -- stiffly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine sugar, syrup and water. Place in a saucepan and cook over low
heat until sugar is dissolved, without stirring, to 255F or until a
small amount dropped into cold water forms a hard ball. Remove from
heat; pour, beating constantly, in a fine stream into stiffly beaten
egg whites. Continue beating until mixture holds shape and loses its
gloss. Add vanilla and nuts. Drop quickly from tip of spoon onto
waxed paper in individual pieces.

Source:
"rec.food.cooking"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTES :
Tammy McNiff:
"This is the very best recipe for divinity that I know of (course,
EVERYONE will tell you that, but in my case, it's TRUE ;-) ). It
comes from a woman who lived next to my grandmother years ago. Her
name was Madeleine, and she was a lovely woman, somewhat formal and
devoutly religious. Every year, she would gift us with a box of this
candy. Combat was waged amongst various family members over these
confections!! The recipe is written in my grandmother's hand, and is
aptly named "Divine Divinity" as Madeleine's surname really and truly
was Divine (really and truly!!)"

Oh pshaw, On Tue 08 Aug 2006 03:15:27p, Damsel in dis Dress was muttering
about...

> DO NOT ATTEMPT ON A HUMID DAY.

This would rarely ever be a prolem in Arizona!

I absolutely love divinity, but always prefer it with pecans.


> * Exported from MasterCook *
>
> Divine Divinity
>
> Recipe By :Tammy McNiff
> Serving Size : 30 Preparation Time :0:00
> Categories : Candies
>
> Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
> -------- ------------ --------------------------------
> 4 cups sugar
> 1 cup light corn syrup
> 3/4 cup water
> 3 egg whites -- stiffly beaten
> 1 teaspoon vanilla
> 1 cup chopped walnuts
>
> Combine sugar, syrup and water. Place in a saucepan and cook over low
> heat until sugar is dissolved, without stirring, to 255F or until a
> small amount dropped into cold water forms a hard ball. Remove from
> heat; pour, beating constantly, in a fine stream into stiffly beaten
> egg whites. Continue beating until mixture holds shape and loses its
> gloss. Add vanilla and nuts. Drop quickly from tip of spoon onto
> waxed paper in individual pieces.
>
> Source:
> "rec.food.cooking"
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> NOTES :
> Tammy McNiff:
> "This is the very best recipe for divinity that I know of (course,
> EVERYONE will tell you that, but in my case, it's TRUE ;-) ). It
> comes from a woman who lived next to my grandmother years ago. Her
> name was Madeleine, and she was a lovely woman, somewhat formal and
> devoutly religious. Every year, she would gift us with a box of this
> candy. Combat was waged amongst various family members over these
> confections!! The recipe is written in my grandmother's hand, and is
> aptly named "Divine Divinity" as Madeleine's surname really and truly
> was Divine (really and truly!!)"
>



--

Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________ ________________________

I often wonder ...
What do people mean when they say the computer went down on me?

Damsel in dis Dress wrote:
> DO NOT ATTEMPT ON A HUMID DAY.
>
Geeez, that leaves out about 250 days a year in Augusta Georgia.. lol
What do you think humidity does to it?

On 9 Aug 2006 00:22:34 +0200, Wayne Boatwright
<wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote:

>I absolutely love divinity, but always prefer it with pecans.

Don't tell Tammy, but when I finally get up the nerve to try this
(I've become wary of smoking hand mixers), I'll use pecans instead of
walnuts. I think the KitchenAid should be able to handle a batch of
divinity.

Carol

On Tue, 08 Aug 2006 18:24:41 -0400, Goomba38 >
wrote:

>Damsel in dis Dress wrote:
>> DO NOT ATTEMPT ON A HUMID DAY.
>>
>Geeez, that leaves out about 250 days a year in Augusta Georgia.. lol
>What do you think humidity does to it?

Leaves it flat. Dead as a doornail. Kaput.

All that beating, and all those egg whites. They get too moist and
commit suicide. Wait for the right day. According to Tammy, this
candy is worth the wait.

Carol

Oh pshaw, On Tue 08 Aug 2006 03:24:41p, Goomba38 was muttering about...

> Damsel in dis Dress wrote:
>> DO NOT ATTEMPT ON A HUMID DAY.
>>
> Geeez, that leaves out about 250 days a year in Augusta Georgia.. lol
> What do you think humidity does to it?
>

Makes it gooey.

--

Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________ ________________________

I often wonder ...
What do people mean when they say the computer went down on me?

On Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:25:44 -0500, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:

>On 9 Aug 2006 00:22:34 +0200, Wayne Boatwright
><wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>I absolutely love divinity, but always prefer it with pecans.
>
>Don't tell Tammy, but when I finally get up the nerve to try this
>(I've become wary of smoking hand mixers), I'll use pecans instead of
>walnuts. I think the KitchenAid should be able to handle a batch of
>divinity.

Your KA will do the trick. Don't worry about it smokin', it won't!

Darlin', you can use pecans, of course you can. I think I'd probably
prefer it with pecans, but the taste would not be the same as
Madeleine's and that would simply not do :-)

TammyM,

On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 00:31:51 GMT, (TammyM) wrote:

>On Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:25:44 -0500, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:
>
>>On 9 Aug 2006 00:22:34 +0200, Wayne Boatwright
>><wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>I absolutely love divinity, but always prefer it with pecans.
>>
>>Don't tell Tammy, but when I finally get up the nerve to try this
>>(I've become wary of smoking hand mixers), I'll use pecans instead of
>>walnuts. I think the KitchenAid should be able to handle a batch of
>>divinity.
>
>Your KA will do the trick. Don't worry about it smokin', it won't!
>
>Darlin', you can use pecans, of course you can. I think I'd probably
>prefer it with pecans, but the taste would not be the same as
>Madeleine's and that would simply not do :-)

I understand that completely. Humidity's 65%. I won't be whipping up
a batch tonight. <sigh>

Carol

On Tue, 08 Aug 2006 19:36:54 -0500, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:

>On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 00:31:51 GMT, (TammyM) wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:25:44 -0500, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:
>>
>>>On 9 Aug 2006 00:22:34 +0200, Wayne Boatwright
>>><wayneboatwright_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>I absolutely love divinity, but always prefer it with pecans.
>>>
>>>Don't tell Tammy, but when I finally get up the nerve to try this
>>>(I've become wary of smoking hand mixers), I'll use pecans instead of
>>>walnuts. I think the KitchenAid should be able to handle a batch of
>>>divinity.
>>
>>Your KA will do the trick. Don't worry about it smokin', it won't!
>>
>>Darlin', you can use pecans, of course you can. I think I'd probably
>>prefer it with pecans, but the taste would not be the same as
>>Madeleine's and that would simply not do :-)
>
>I understand that completely. Humidity's 65%. I won't be whipping up
>a batch tonight. <sigh>

You do know that the only time it's actually humid here is when it
rains, right? Well. Almost the only time. It really is "a dry heat"
here.

And for me, divinity is a Christmas thang anyway. I wouldn't dream of
making DD any other time. That's seriously a YMMV thing :-)

hugs,
Tammy

On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 04:33:23 GMT, (TammyM) wrote:

>On Tue, 08 Aug 2006 19:36:54 -0500, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 00:31:51 GMT, (TammyM) wrote:
>>
>>>Darlin', you can use pecans, of course you can. I think I'd probably
>>>prefer it with pecans, but the taste would not be the same as
>>>Madeleine's and that would simply not do :-)
>>
>>I understand that completely. Humidity's 65%. I won't be whipping up
>>a batch tonight. <sigh>
>
>You do know that the only time it's actually humid here is when it
>rains, right? Well. Almost the only time. It really is "a dry heat"
>here.

You mean if I lived there, I might stand a chance at having straight
hair for more than 14 minutes? <G>

>And for me, divinity is a Christmas thang anyway. I wouldn't dream of
>making DD any other time. That's seriously a YMMV thing :-)

Oh, you're right. It's strictly a Christmas thang. I miss my mom,
just thinking about divinity. I can envision her spooning each piece
out onto waxed paper.

She did the same with fudge. The first pieces would flatten out like
creamy chocolate cookies. As she furiously spooned out more and more
pieces, the candy got less and less glossy and more and more
mountainous. Took me a long time to get used to other people cutting
fudge into squares.

Carol

"Damsel in dis Dress" > wrote in message
...
> DO NOT ATTEMPT ON A HUMID DAY.
>
>
> * Exported from MasterCook *
>
> Divine Divinity
> snip <

In other words, you're telling me that I'll never be able to make it while
living in Florida. <SNORT>

--
Cyndi (again)

On Sat, 12 Aug 2006 16:08:32 GMT, "Syssi" >
wrote:

>"Damsel in dis Dress" > wrote in message
.. .
>> DO NOT ATTEMPT ON A HUMID DAY.
>>
>> * Exported from MasterCook *
>>
>> Divine Divinity
>> snip <
>
>In other words, you're telling me that I'll never be able to make it while
>living in Florida. <SNORT>

Pretty much, yeah.

Carol

Syssi wrote:

>> DO NOT ATTEMPT ON A HUMID DAY.
>>
>> Divine Divinity
>
> In other words, you're telling me that I'll never be able to make it while
> living in Florida. <SNORT>

How long have you lived in Florida? It gets plenty dry during the winter.
When you static-zap yourself reaching for a doorknob, you'll know it's dry
enough to make divinity.

Bob

On 12 Aug 2006 23:10:02 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>When you static-zap yourself reaching for a doorknob, you'll know it's dry
>enough to make divinity.

I think I'll add that to the recipe.

Carol

On 12 Aug 2006 23:10:02 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>Syssi wrote:
>
>>> DO NOT ATTEMPT ON A HUMID DAY.
>>>
>>> Divine Divinity
>>
>> In other words, you're telling me that I'll never be able to make it while
>> living in Florida. <SNORT>
>
>How long have you lived in Florida? It gets plenty dry during the winter.
>When you static-zap yourself reaching for a doorknob, you'll know it's dry
>enough to make divinity.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Divine Divinity

Recipe By :Tammy McNiff
Serving Size : 30 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Candies

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
3 egg whites -- stiffly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine sugar, syrup and water. Place in a saucepan and cook over low
heat until sugar is dissolved, without stirring, to 255F or until a
small amount dropped into cold water forms a hard ball. Remove from
heat; pour, beating constantly, in a fine stream into stiffly beaten
egg whites. Continue beating until mixture holds shape and loses its
gloss. Add vanilla and nuts. Drop quickly from tip of spoon onto
waxed paper in individual pieces.

Source:
"rec.food.cooking"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES : "This is the very best recipe for divinity that I know of
(course, EVERYONE will tell you that, but in my case, it's TRUE ;-) ).
It comes from a woman who lived next to my grandmother years ago. Her
name was Madeleine, and she was a lovely woman, somewhat formal and
devoutly religious. Every year, she would gift us with a box of this
candy. Combat was waged amongst various family members over these
confections!! The recipe is written in my grandmother's hand, and is
aptly named "Divine Divinity" as Madeleine's surname really and truly
was Divine (really and truly!!)" Tammy McNiff

"When you static-zap yourself reaching for a doorknob, you'll know
it's dry enough to make divinity." Bob Terwilliger

Damsel in dis Dress wrote:
> On 12 Aug 2006 23:10:02 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"
> > wrote:
>
> >When you static-zap yourself reaching for a doorknob, you'll know it's dry
> >enough to make divinity.
>
> I think I'll add that to the recipe.
>
> Carol


Same way here, too. This is pretty much made only during the winter
because of the sweltering humidity. We usually just see it around
Christmas because the humidity is low enough to make it with success.
L-U-V the stuff!

On Sat, 12 Aug 2006 23:25:14 -0500, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:

>On 12 Aug 2006 23:10:02 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:
>
>>When you static-zap yourself reaching for a doorknob, you'll know it's dry
>>enough to make divinity.
>
>I think I'll add that to the recipe.

Carol, please don't! Terwilliger is favorite of mine, but the recipe
is what it is. If peeps are too .... special ... to understand that
you can't make this recipe in humid weather, then let them The
recipe is what it is. PLease don't alter the recipe, it is a hand me
down.

TammyM

Tammy wrote:

>>> When you static-zap yourself reaching for a doorknob, you'll know it's
>>> dry enough to make divinity.
>>
>> I think I'll add that to the recipe.
>
> Carol, please don't! Terwilliger is favorite of mine, but the recipe
> is what it is. If peeps are too .... special ... to understand that
> you can't make this recipe in humid weather, then let them The
> recipe is what it is. PLease don't alter the recipe, it is a hand me
> down.

Tammy, while I understand your point and the reason you place such value on
keeping this recipe intact, I have to disagree: I've always thought that
recipes -- and this forum -- exist to help people SUCCEED in cooking. I
frequently change recipes to make them easier to read and understand, or to
correct a stupid sequence of instructions (e.g., I've seen recipes that
start out with, "Preheat oven to 350F," then proceed to give directions for
making a dough that has to rise for two hours.)

Besides, by the time your post got through, Carol had already perpetrated
her desecration of the recipe.

Bob

In ,
Bob Terwilliger > typed:
> Syssi wrote:
>
>>> DO NOT ATTEMPT ON A HUMID DAY.
>>>
>>> Divine Divinity
>>
>> In other words, you're telling me that I'll never be able to make
>> it while
>> living in Florida. <SNORT>
>
> How long have you lived in Florida? It gets plenty dry during the
> winter.
> When you static-zap yourself reaching for a doorknob, you'll know
> it's dry
> enough to make divinity.
>
> Bob

True enough. Most people in Florida also have air conditioning, which
has the side effect of de-humidifying.
I don't make divinity, but my Mom and sisters do, all in Florida. It
doesn't travel well in high humidity conditions, but it's a treat when
I visit them.

BOB

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 07:37:57 GMT, (TammyM) wrote:

>On Sat, 12 Aug 2006 23:25:14 -0500, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:
>
>>On 12 Aug 2006 23:10:02 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:
>>
>>>When you static-zap yourself reaching for a doorknob, you'll know it's dry
>>>enough to make divinity.
>>
>>I think I'll add that to the recipe.
>
>Carol, please don't! Terwilliger is favorite of mine, but the recipe
>is what it is. If peeps are too .... special ... to understand that
>you can't make this recipe in humid weather, then let them The
>recipe is what it is. PLease don't alter the recipe, it is a hand me
>down.

Okay, Tammy. I removed it. I did put a small comment in parentheses,
just before the directions, advising to make divinity only on low
humidity days in order to achieve successful results. A lot of people
don't know that. They have no way of knowing that. But I understand
your not wanting a joke comment on this very special recipe.

Carol

On 13 Aug 2006 05:22:02 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>Tammy wrote:
>
>>>> When you static-zap yourself reaching for a doorknob, you'll know it's
>>>> dry enough to make divinity.
>>>
>>> I think I'll add that to the recipe.
>>
>> Carol, please don't! Terwilliger is favorite of mine, but the recipe
>> is what it is. If peeps are too .... special ... to understand that
>> you can't make this recipe in humid weather, then let them The
>> recipe is what it is. PLease don't alter the recipe, it is a hand me
>> down.
>
>Tammy, while I understand your point and the reason you place such value on
>keeping this recipe intact, I have to disagree: I've always thought that
>recipes -- and this forum -- exist to help people SUCCEED in cooking. I
>frequently change recipes to make them easier to read and understand, or to
>correct a stupid sequence of instructions (e.g., I've seen recipes that
>start out with, "Preheat oven to 350F," then proceed to give directions for
>making a dough that has to rise for two hours.)
>
>Besides, by the time your post got through, Carol had already perpetrated
>her desecration of the recipe.

Said desecration has been removed, but I did place a short commet
about humidity on the recipe.

Carol

On 13 Aug 2006 05:22:02 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>Tammy wrote:
>
>>>> When you static-zap yourself reaching for a doorknob, you'll know it's
>>>> dry enough to make divinity.
>>>
>>> I think I'll add that to the recipe.
>>
>> Carol, please don't! Terwilliger is favorite of mine, but the recipe
>> is what it is. If peeps are too .... special ... to understand that
>> you can't make this recipe in humid weather, then let them The
>> recipe is what it is. PLease don't alter the recipe, it is a hand me
>> down.
>
>Tammy, while I understand your point and the reason you place such value on
>keeping this recipe intact, I have to disagree: I've always thought that
>recipes -- and this forum -- exist to help people SUCCEED in cooking. I
>frequently change recipes to make them easier to read and understand, or to
>correct a stupid sequence of instructions (e.g., I've seen recipes that
>start out with, "Preheat oven to 350F," then proceed to give directions for
>making a dough that has to rise for two hours.)

LOL, i've seen that too. And I agree, Bob, but this recipe already
had the note (at least I think it did, I'd have to look it up and I'm
too lazy ;-) about not making it on humid days. What I objected to
(and really, it was the gin doing most of the talking, I swear it
was!) was the phrasing of "static zapping". I suddenly got this image
of the recipe's originator, and the static zapping and Madeleine just
didn't go together very well in my mind :-) But again, that was more
gin than me, it's ok with me either way. I'm drinking coffee now ;-)

TammyM

>Besides, by the time your post got through, Carol had already perpetrated
>her desecration of the recipe.
>
>Bob
>
>

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:41:52 GMT, (TammyM) wrote:

>On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 10:48:48 -0500, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:
>
>>Okay, Tammy. I removed it. I did put a small comment in parentheses,
>>just before the directions, advising to make divinity only on low
>>humidity days in order to achieve successful results. A lot of people
>>don't know that. They have no way of knowing that. But I understand
>>your not wanting a joke comment on this very special recipe.
>
>That makes sense, Dams, although (and I can't zactly remember!) I
>thought there was a note in the original to avoid making it on humid
>or rainy days? Oh god, it's hell to get old!

I'm not finding anything like that. ( I'll do some Googling,
though.

Carol

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 11:47:06 -0500, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:

>On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:41:52 GMT, (TammyM) wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 10:48:48 -0500, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:
>>
>>>Okay, Tammy. I removed it. I did put a small comment in parentheses,
>>>just before the directions, advising to make divinity only on low
>>>humidity days in order to achieve successful results. A lot of people
>>>don't know that. They have no way of knowing that. But I understand
>>>your not wanting a joke comment on this very special recipe.
>>
>>That makes sense, Dams, although (and I can't zactly remember!) I
>>thought there was a note in the original to avoid making it on humid
>>or rainy days? Oh god, it's hell to get old!
>
>I'm not finding anything like that. ( I'll do some Googling,
>though.

Don't google, look in your rfc cookbook. I just did. And I'll be
damned. Much ado about nothing. There *is* no note about the
humidity proviso. Geez Louise. Desecrate the recipe with the static
zapping comment, Dams. My apologies. It was the gin talking.

TammyM

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 17:29:34 GMT, (TammyM) wrote:

>Don't google, look in your rfc cookbook. I just did. And I'll be
>damned. Much ado about nothing. There *is* no note about the
>humidity proviso. Geez Louise. Desecrate the recipe with the static
>zapping comment, Dams. My apologies. It was the gin talking.

Nothin' wrong with gin. It's when it gets up out of the bottle and
starts typing that you've gotta start considering rehab. <EG>

I put this just before the cooking directions:
(For best results, avoid making Divinity on humid or rainy days)

I hope Ms. Divine would approve.
Carol

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 14:48:29 -0500, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:

>On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 17:29:34 GMT, (TammyM) wrote:
>
>>Don't google, look in your rfc cookbook. I just did. And I'll be
>>damned. Much ado about nothing. There *is* no note about the
>>humidity proviso. Geez Louise. Desecrate the recipe with the static
>>zapping comment, Dams. My apologies. It was the gin talking.
>
>Nothin' wrong with gin. It's when it gets up out of the bottle and
>starts typing that you've gotta start considering rehab. <EG>
>
>I put this just before the cooking directions:
>(For best results, avoid making Divinity on humid or rainy days)
>
>I hope Ms. Divine would approve.

Cool! Thanks Dams. I wish you could have known her, she was a true
lady.

TammyM