Ah, Divine Divinity!

I must confess, this time of year all I want to do is bake! I'm not afraid to tackle "the impossible", to me nothing is impossible! I'm not saying EVERYTHING I bake or cook comes out as cuisine refinement, I just don't let those trivialities stand in my way. Take yesterday for an instance, if you could have been a fly on the wall in my kitchen, you would have thought I was cooking for a show named Catastrophe Kitchen, or maybe, Cooking Catastrophe! I was making divinity. Now I feel I must give myself some justification here, I have only made it once before. Yep, just once. I believe that the lively lips of several ladies I know has kept me in fear of ever being able to make a good batch of divinity. I hear the horror stories ranging from "it just won't stick", "you can't make divinity on a cloudy or rainy day", to "I overcooked it." Well yesterday I conquered my fear! That's right, I charged into my kitchen like Wonderwoman (minus the outfit) and got my baking on. Now, I decided to make this divinity for my husbands office employees. Yes, they were to be the ginuea pigs. I searched through my lofty recipe box and found that secret of secret recipes, yep, the one I copied from the church cookbook a decade ago! You must stay with me here! There is NO deviating from the sacred divinity recipe! Once you get a tried and true one, stick with it! Mine was tried and true from that sweet little church lady. I decided since I was making a vast amount of this culinary confection, I would triple the recipe. I gathered all of my ingredients and pre-measured each one into seperate bowls. I followed the directions and used the candy thermometer as a back-up precautionary method. This little gadget really is a handy tool and in my book, essential if you are making candy over the stovetop. Now, is where you must use your inner visionary skills and imagine you are the fly on the wall in my kitchen.
The candy has started boiling, I am eagerly awaiting for the temperature to reach 245 degrees, which it seems in no hurry to do. I have my handy candy thermometer in my syrup as it is steadily boiling. I also have the cup of water for the hard ball testing, which I do several times. Now, I do not recommend tasting the syrup, for not only does it scold your mouth, but also will temporarily glue your teeth shut! Yes, this happened to clumsy little ol me! When I tried to walk away from the boiling candy pot, I also realized I was glued to the counter by my shirt. In my haste to unstick myself I knocked over the candy thermometer onto my hand, which I might say burned like the dickens! So, here I am teeth glue shut, stuck to the counter with a nasty burn on my hand. So, I did what any self-dignified Southern lady would do....I cried! I kept telling myself, "This is why I don't make divinity!" It is dangerous! Then, God's sweet voice came into my thoughts and told me not to give up. I trudge on, and to make a rather long story somewhat short, It turned out to be some of the best divinity I ever have had!

What did I take with me from all this you might be asking. Well, in one afternoon's cooking experience I was reminded of how we may go through what seems a disasterous experience at the time, but if we perservere and refuse to give up, we will reap the rewards. It might even hurt. I love how God opens little windows for us to peer through, He taught me such a valuable lesson that day.

I even am going to pass along this Devine Divinity recipe and will pray that your cooking experience will be far less catastrophic than mine was!

Devine Devinity

4 cups Sugar
1 cup Karo syrup
3/4 cup Water
3 egg whites
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 cups. chopped Pecans (You can toast if you like)

* Cook sugar, syrup and water in a broiler over medium heat. Stir until clear. Cook without stirring until mixture forms a hard ball when dropped in cold water, or if using a candy thermometer, it reaches 245 degrees. Beat egg whites until they are a soft stiff consistency. pour hot syrup mixture into egg whites while beating at high speed. Be careful, mixture is scalding hot! Beat until mixture is stiff. Stir vanilla and pecans into candy. Drop by teaspoons onto waxed paper.

I tripled this recipe, which I was made to fear I couldn't do! Don't be afraid to make divinity, if I can do it so can you!

Praise is God's plan for making our character more like his.