Today is “Hard Candy Day”! I remember going to my grandmother’s house and looking in the candy jar to see what sweet treat she had. Often it was lemon drops or peppermint rounds.
There is hardly a child today that doesn’t love a sweet treat. The Wilder children were fans of sugar and candy. When the parents leave to visit family Alice takes it upon herself to make some.
“Alice said she knew how to make candy. Eliza Jane wouldn’t do it, but Alice mixed sugar and molasses and water, and boiled them. Then she poured the candy on buttered platters and set it on the porch to cool. “
If you’re a fan of the book “Farmer Boy” you may recall that Almanzo had a pet pig named Lucy. Things take a downward spiral from there as Almanzo’s kind act ends up causing trouble.
“He thought his little pig should have some, the candy was cool. No one was watching, so he took a big wad of the soft, brown candy, and dropped it over the edge of the porch into Lucy’s wide-open mouth.”
You see, Almanzo had forgotten that the candy would harden. By the next day poor Lucy’s mouth was stuck shut.
“Lucy’s teeth were stuck together with candy! She could not eat, she could not drink, she could not even squeal. She could grunt. And when she saw Almanzo coming she ran.”
After much running and chasing, plus the destruction of the garden and one sister’s skirt, Lucy was finally caught, and the candy taken from her teeth.
Do you have a favorite hard candy?
Original source can be found here.
