Of course I snagged a Pecan Praline at most every opportunity! They are quintessentially The South and they are beyond description delicious. Several of my fellow passengers and I went looking for The Best Praline recipe and we agreed: this looks like it! But all did agree on this: you must have a candy thermometer for best results.
******BEST Louisiana Pralines Recipe
These Louisiana pralines are the best sweet tooth treat because they're sweet, filling and so addicting. A mix of cream, vanilla, and pecans combine perfectly to make this easy bite-sized candy.
Prep Time5minutes
Cook Time15minutes
Total Time20minutes
Ingredients
1 1/2cupchopped pecans
7tbspsalted butter
1cuplight brown sugar
1 1/4cupgranulated sugar
1tbsppure vanilla extract
1/2cuphalf & half
Instructions
Combine the butter, sugars, and half in half into a large saucepan, then turn the heat up to medium.
Bring the candy mixture to 240 F, and let the candy mixture cook for about 5 minutes without stirring.
After the five minutes, add in the vanilla extract, and stir.
Remove from the heat.
Toss in the pecans, and fold in.
Grab a wooden spoon, and stir the hot candy mixture until it thickens.
On this trip down the Mississippi, I carried a small notebook and scribbled notes furiously. Visiting this national park, I was especially overcome by the enormity of this battle. The notes are mine and the facts as I understood from our guide. Soon after Christmas, 1862, Grant, under orders from President Lincoln, came down personally from Memphis “to get the job done!” His 43,000 man army was on the west side of the Mississippi and it took two days to ferry the troops, horses and armaments, across the river. It did help Grant’s cause that the Confederate generals were in-fighting; Johnston abandoned the town of Jackson as Grant approached. But Pemberton’s troops were well entrenched in a semi-circle around Vicksburg. As well as the Confederate army, there were 3500 citizens there. As the Union forces fought their way to Vicksburg, the net closed around the town, the resistance and battlements repulsing Grant four times. But Grant had way more men and Lincoln was re-supplying hi...
Nearing the end of our 14-day cruise, the fellow that had been presenting talks on Mississippi River and American History talks, gave a genealogy talk (and he was good). Afterwards, he invited us in the audience to share our genealogy stories. I was stuck by the enormous variety! I told my Mathew Potter and the Chicken story..... to howls of laughter. Mr/Mrs Bodmer told how they hoped to find the connection between them and the famous Western American painter, Carl Bodmer, but hadn’t yet. One great-great-grandfather came from Germany, landed in New Orleans, and WALKED up to Wisconsin to live out his life. One Vietnam veteran told how he flew P3s (submarine hunters) during his Navy career. One lady told of her sailor, born in the Pyrenees, who jumped ship in New Orleans, went to Texas with his native wife. When he died, she married another Texas rancher. One man told how his great-grandfather hid his Comanche wife from the census taker. Can only guess what his reas...
Without dams and locks the Mississippi River would be un-navigable to ships and barges and the states along the river would be continually flooded and their boundaries changed by the meandering river. Locks and dams are vital to the Mississippi. There are 28 locks between St. Paul and St. Louis; there are none below St. Louis. The Mississippi River falls 450-feet between those two cities. Most locks are really shallow, under eleven feet. The largest/deepest lock is at Keokuk, Iowa and is 38-feet deep. (The Mississippi is not a very deep river.) The top photo (from Google) shows a dam and lock. As we approached a lock during the night (and this was often the case above St.Louis), the area was flooded with light for navigating into these narrow channels. This maneuver takes knowledge and skill. The ship enters; the gates behind the ship close; the area fills with river water and when the ship is raised or lowered to the desired level, the front gate i...
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