Lets start with an "old-fashioned taffy pull." This is best done when the family is together or you have the neighbors over for a party. If you have never eaten homemade taffy, you are in for a treat.
To make taffy, you have to cook it to a "hard ball" stage. Mix all your ingredients and bring it to a boil, stirring often. To bring to a "hard ball" stage, after your mixture is boiling, hold up your spoon and watch the syrup drip from it. At first the syrup will drop off as any liquid might but as it cooks, you will notice the drops become slower and eventually a fine thread will fly from them as they drop away. Now is when you start testing for the "hard ball" stage.
Get a cup of cold water and drip a few drops of the syrup into the water. Using your fingers, try and roll the drops into a ball. If the ball is soft the taffy isn't cooked enough. It is important not to wait too long to test again. While you were testing the first time, remember, the syrup is still cooking and it is getting close to the exact moment you want to remove it from the heat. When the ball can be rolled into a hard ball, it is ready to pour into a buttered pan. Don't be stingy when buttering your pan.
Now, here is the catchy part...don't let your taffy cool too fast by exposing it to cold. Why? It will get brittle on the outside while remaining soft and hot on the inside. Once it has hardened, you can't do much with it.
While in the buttered pan, turn it to expose the inside to cool and the outside to soften. Too much handling will cause sugar crystals so be careful. Just lift the edges and fold them in like you would if you were kneading bread.
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