What's a Little Hoax?

Spreading an untrue hoax is not harmless. It perpetuates the idea that lies do not harm. It allows conspiracy theories to thrive. It allows people to justify supporting someone who constantly lies. Shading the truth is a lie. Look, we all tell lies to protect someone we love or ourselves. We don't really want our auntie to know that her new dress looks like she is wearing part of a circus tent. So, we tell her something to spare her feelings.

But spreading a hoax on a social medium is not the same thing. If you accept one lie and offer it to others as harmless, you make the next one and the next one and on and on easier. This is how propaganda works. It starts with something innocuous and before it is all said and done, you are believing that entire groups of people are evil. Accepting a lie to justify the next leads you and what you may believe to accept that facts are capricious. Suddenly, alternative facts and fake news are acceptable.

Alternative facts are better known as lies, and fake news is both propaganda and a lie. Sadly, we have too many people who accept these terms as shadings of reality. They use these lies to confirm their bias. They accept lies to justify a moral choice. A moral choice using a lie to justify is immoral. If you get something born from this lie, is it not the tainted?

Acceptance of such then is the basis of power. There is then a moral consequence if you fail -- we fail to speak truth to power. Spreading of a simple, seemingly harmless hoax is but a beginning. Check that Facebook hoax before you post. It will just take a moment.  As we start a new time and examine and reflect, ask, "Have I spoke the truth or accepted a lie?"

Grandma's Popcorn Balls

These are, in my opinion, the best popcorn balls on the planet. This is not a kid-friendly activity. Like many of my candy recipes, this one comes from my grandmother, which means it’s from the South. I’ve only run across this recipe one other place and that was in a Christmas book which published mostly classic English Christmas stories and English recipes. What makes these unique is that a part of the recipe of sweet treat uses vinegar.

Ingredients: 2 cups of sugar, ½ cup of water, 4 tablespoons of vinegar, I tablespoon of butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 5 quarts (approximate) of unseasoned popcorn, food coloring of your choice.

Instructions: Over low medium heat, put water, sugar, and vinegar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Once the syrup begins to boil, let the syrup heat up without stirring. The syrup will need to reach hard-crack stage (295°F-300° F)

While the syrup is reaching temperature, get the popcorn ready. You will need to put it in a large bowl or if you have it, on one side of a double sink. Line the basin of the sink with parchment paper at the bottom and then foil along the bottom and sides. You will want the popcorn close to cool water so you can keep your hands wet while forming the popcorn balls.

When the syrup reaches hard-crack stage, remove from heat and add vanilla and butter stirring until the butter is dissolved. Add several drops of food coloring to the syrup to color. We usually color it red or green for the season. We did try yellow color once and discovered that for popcorn balls, yellow is not an appealing color.

Making the popcorn balls: My grandmother made these by herself. I have no idea how. It takes both my wife and me to make the balls. Be careful while pouring syrup and stirring. This syrup will blister as soon as it hits skin.

Slowly pour the syrup over the popcorn while stirring it into the popcorn. Be sure you pour evenly as you stir covering the popcorn to the edges. It works best for us to have one person do the slow pour while the other person stirs.  As soon as all the syrup is poured, start balling the popcorn into baseball to softball sized balls. We keep a small stream of water running on the other side of the sink to keep our hands wet and cool as we from the popcorn balls. We wet our hands after every ball.  You can also use the stirring spoon to mix more syrup up from the bottom if needed. You must work very quickly to make the balls. Press the popcorn tight into the ball shape. And place into a bowl or bowls. The popcorn balls will set almost immediately.

Allow to cool and you’ll have a great sweet treat. Surprisingly, if done right, they are not sticky but sweet with a slight buttery and vanilla taste. 

If you don’t want to risk making them into balls, you could probably just let the syrup cool on the popcorn and then break up the popcorn into a bowl of sweet popcorn. 

Enjoy!

      1.      Soft-Ball Stage. 235° F–240° F.

      2.      Firm-Ball Stage. 245° F–250° F.

      3.      Hard-Ball Stage. 250° F–265° F.

      4.      Soft-Crack Stage. 270° F–290° F.

      5.     Hard-Crack Stage. 300° F–310°

If you don’t have a candy thermometer, here’s a link for how to tell hard-crack stage using the water method: https://www.thespruceeats.com/making-candy-without-a-candy-thermometer-520309

Divinity: It Takes Luck

Divinity is a meringue-style candy from the South. It is a Christmas treat that does take a little bit of time to make and is a cantankerous candy since even humidity can affect it. I have made it for many a year, and even though I follow the same recipe it comes out a little different every time. I also discovered that having a good mixer to fluff the egg whites makes divinity much easier to make as will having a decent candy thermometer.

Yes, this really is my Divinity

So, this is the recipe given to me by my grandmother with one little twist that I added which seemed to help.

Ingredients: 2 cups of sugar, ½ cup corn syrup, ½ cup of water, 2 egg whites, 1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla, ¾ cup of chopped nuts (I use walnuts or pecans) Optional ¾ cup of candied cherries.

Instructions: In a saucepan mix the following: sugar, corn syrup, and water. Bring to a slow boil over low medium heat, stirring until dissolved. Once the syrup begins to boil, do not stir. If you bring the syrup to a boil too quickly, it will burn.

While the syrup reaches temperature, in mixing bowl, whip egg whites until stiff (egg whites will form peaks). Coat a pie pan with butter. I prefer to use a ceramic or Pyrex pie pan. It will make the release easier.

Now for the twist that grandma didn’t tell me, dividing the syrup:

Once the syrup reaches between soft-ball (235° F) and hard-ball (250° F) stage pour approximately ½ of the syrup into the stiffly beaten egg whites and continue to mix.

Return the remaining syrup to the stove and continue heating until it reaches soft-crack stage (265-270° F).

Pour the remaining syrup into the mixer. Mix until smooth. Last, add vanilla and the chopped nuts or optional candied cherries (maraschino cherries will cause the divinity to turn pink and may add to drying time).

Let it dry: Pour/scrape the divinity into the pie pan and allow to cool at room temperature. Once the divinity sets usually several hours, you can cut into squares and place on wax paper to dry. To store, put into a sealed container in the fridge separating layers with wax paper. Keeping the divinity sealed and cool will help prevent it from becoming too hard.

You can also put the divinity in mini-baking cups instead of the pie pan.

Something I have not tried is the drop method which I might try next time I make divinity. According to one recipe I found is in the final stage mix the candy until it reaches the point that it can be dropped by the spoonful to create small divinity pieces.

To determine when to do this, the recipe recommends two tests to tell when the divinity is done. “The first test is by just turning off your mixer and lifting the beaters.  If the candy falls back into the bowl in ribbons that immediately merge back into themselves, the divinity is not done and you need to keep beating.  Eventually, the divinity will lose its glossiness and sheen and stop being so sticky, which means it’s ready.

“The second test is even easier, I think, because all you do, if you are having a hard time telling whether the divinity is still glossy in the first test, is to go ahead and stop the mixer, drop a teaspoonful of candy onto wax paper, and check whether the candy will hold its shape.  If it puddles, the divinity isn’t ready, but if it holds a peak and stays in a nice mound, you are good to go.” (https://houseofnasheats.com/old-fashioned-divinity-candy-recipe/)

 If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can use the cold water method. My grandmother and mom used it for years. Here's a link to a site on how to do it. 

https://www.thespruceeats.com/making-candy-without-a-candy-thermometer-520309

      1.      Soft-Ball Stage. 235° F–240° F.

      2.      Firm-Ball Stage. 245° F–250° F.

      3.      Hard-Ball Stage. 250° F–265° F.

      4.      Soft-Crack Stage. 270° F–290° F.

      5.     Hard-Crack Stage. 300° F–310°