Usually we have only one recipe, but today, because they are so good, we have two snacking recipes for you, with not one sweet tooth but a whole mouth full of them.
The recipes are from Mattie B. Evatt, who lives in the historic mill town of Newry in South Carolina’s Upstate. The mill has been closed for several years, but for many people, employment there was almost a family relationship.
Mrs. Evatt and her late husband Lawrence, who died in 1978, both worked at Newry. After it closed, she went to another plant, but it wasn’t the same, she said. Mrs. Evatt, now 87, still lives there, and her son Marshall now lives with her.
Another son, Rickey Evatt, lives in Oconee County, and daughter Sybil Reece and her husband Stanley live in Newry, not far from her.
Mrs. Evatt, who grew up in Georgia, has been a member of Lydia Baptist Church in Newry almost 60 years since she, her husband, and daughter Sybil were baptized at the same time. The current pastor is Glenn Kelly, and Lydia Baptist is part of Beaverdam Association.
Mrs Evatt is in good health and laughs when she tells the story that several months ago she had a problem that sent her to the hospital for the first time in her life.
Mattie Evatt
“The nurse asked me if I had brought all my medicines with me, and I said, ‘Oh, I forgot my Tylenol!’ She couldn’t believe I wasn’t taking a bunch of stuff,” Mrs. Evatt added.
Since that little bout, she has had to drop out of the choir a few weeks, but hopes to get back soon. In the past, she has taught a Sunday school class and helped with the bereavement and benevolent service of the church. She enjoys crocheting – making caps, afghans, etc.
She has had both these recipes a long time. Her brother-in-law, who lives in the peanut country of south Georgia, gave her the recipe for the Sugar Peanuts. These are really good, and they won’t last long.
The Pecan Candy is similar to pralines and would be, later in the day with a cup of coffee, a good mid-afternoon snack after … Sunday Dinner.
Pecan Candy
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups pecan halves
Put buttermilk, sugar and baking soda in a large pot, and stir to dissolve. Cook over medium heat until the mixture bubbles up, stirring constantly.
Continue to cook and stir until mixture turns medium brown and forms a soft ball when a drop is dropped into a cup of cold water. Remove from heat and add butter, vanilla and pecans, stirring the mixture until it becomes glossy and starts to crystallize. Spoon onto waxed paper to make 2-inch-wide patties. If mixture becomes too sticky, return to heat until of right consistency.
Sugar Peanuts
1 cup sugar
1½ cups water
2 cups raw peanuts
Dissolve the sugar in the water in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the peanuts and continue to cook until the peanuts are completely coated and there is no sugar left in the pot.
Pour peanuts onto an ungreased cookie sheet, spreading so that the peanuts are separated as much as possible. Bake at 300 degrees about 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so.