Home made Salt Water Taffy

Sunday night is our "treat night". We don't do many desserts during the week, but Sunday is our day to splurge. Tonight we decided to do something really fun and "pull" taffy with the girls. This is something I remember doing a lot as a kid. And after tonight I have to give my mom a lot of credit for keeping 6 kids (and sometimes friends too) all pulling taffy without getting it everywhere. My girls gave up after a few minutes, and just ate the taffy that had stuck to their fingers. The hubs did pretty well, but had me finish it off when my portion was pulled and done. Taffy is so easy to make, pretty quick too, but the most time is spent pulling,and pulling, and pulling to get the air into the taffy and change it from clear to opaque. Just make sure you have plenty of butter on your hands, and some extra to replace it as you go, get comfy and pull :)

Home Made Salt Water Taffy
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup white vinegar*
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
In a heavy saucepan (I use a 4 quart saucepan) combine all six ingredients. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cook it on medium high heat  until it reaches hard ball stage (determined with the water test*).  Remove from heat and stir in flavoring of choice, we used 1/2 tbsp root beer extract and it was so yummy!.  Pour it onto a well buttered cookie sheet and let it cool until it is luke warm, or cool enough to handle.  Divide the taffy into 4 pieces and stretch/pull until taffy turns from dark and clear to light and opaque (it will still be a bit shiny).  Form it into ropes and cut into pieces with scissors.  Wrap in wax paper squares or caramel wraps.  Enjoy!

*for a less strong vinegar bite use 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup water.