Grandma's Recipe Box (Crazy Crunch and Boiled Raisin Cookies)

When I was going to Rick's College, now BYU Idaho, I had the opportunity to stay with Grandma Bullock during the summer. I worked during the day and in the evening I would come home and copy the recipes that she had collected over her lifetime. She was the best cook I knew. I wrote down all of her favorite recipes and put them in my own box. I still treasure that recipe box today. Here are a few of my grandmother's favorite recipes:


Crazy Crunch
There is a story that goes with this recipe. My grandmother found this recipe in a newspaper years ago. She loved candied popcorn! She made this recipe so much that she had it memorized. She also made this recipe so much that she gained a lot of weight. Because she had gained so much weight, she decided to throw away her newspaper clipping and stop making crazy crunch for a while. She felt confident that she had memorized this recipe and would never forget it. Well after a few years, she had lost the weight and had a craving for candied popcorn. She tried over and over again to make it, but could not replicate the recipe. To her dismay, she had forgotten it. She ended up writing to the Karo Syrup company and requesting the recipe from them. The lesson she passed on to me was to never throw away a recipe, even if you think you have it memorized.

1 1/3 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup light karo syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 cups popped corn
2/3 cup toasted almonds (I usually don't add the nuts)
1 1/3 cup toasted peanuts

Combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a 2 quart saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Continue boiling for 10 to 15 minutes-- until the temperature reaches 290 degrees (hard crack stage) If you don't have a thermometer you can get a glass of cold water and pour a small spoonful of the hot liquid into the water, the candy is ready if the cooled candy cracks when you take it out of the water.
Remove the candy from the heat and stir in vanilla. Pour this syrup over the popped corn and nuts Toss with spoons and spread out on a cookie sheet to cool. Break into pieces and stor in a tightly covered container. Makes 1 3/4 pounds.

(Caution.. eating too much of this can make you gain weight)


Boiled Raisin Cookies
This recipe is very old fashioned. I am sure it was developed before the chocolate cookie.

1 cup water
1 cup raisins
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
3 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 cup nuts--optional
4 cups sifted flour

Add water to raisins and boil for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool Cream together shortening and sugar until light. Add beaten eggs then vanilla. Sift flour and spices and stir into dough. Add nuts and cooled raisin with the liquid. Drop by spoon onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes in a 400 oven or until light brown. Do not over cook. Makes 60 cookies