Old Christmas Day, Epiphany, Three Kings Day, Nalujuk Night … Is it your tradition to end the Christmas festivities on the 12th day – January 6th? Many people use this day as the time to take down the tree and put decorations away for another year. For some there will be a special family meal, while others may let the day go by without any particular notice. Not me! Not this year!
I don’t usually take down decorations until at least the end of January. Sure, it’s too busy to enjoy the quiet beauty of it all until after you ring in the new year and the rush of the season winds down. This year was a bit different. You see, during Christmas week, I picked up a bit of a ‘cold / bordering-on-flu’ bug and spent several days between sleeping and coughing. I had already booked an appointment to get the “Flu” shot during the first week of the new year so I figured I’d just find a way to sweat it out until then.
By Monday, January 5th, I was so contrary! I was fed up with the isolation; fed up with feeling tired; fed up with feeling icky. So I decided I’d figure out an old fashioned remedy to fix it all. Tylenol Complete move over!
I kept thinking back to what my grandmother would do when we had colds. I remember one concoction that involved Minard’s Liniment. And then, there was her homemade molasses candy/cough drops that would soothe the very worst sore throat and help the coughing subside. I distinctly recall her adding a drop or two of kerosene or was it turpentine, or maybe it was Minard’s Linament.
Surely, it states somewhere that those substances are NOT to be ingested!
It’s a wonder that any of us survived to tell the tale!
I often wondered where in the world she would have come up with the idea that her remedy was safe or even made sense. And, then on the morning of January 5th, 2026, I finally figured it out. I started my search for her old candy recipe. Enlightenment was just by chance really! I picked up an old publication, The Old Time Songs and Poetry of Newfoundland (November 1927) which was right by the side of the old Cook Book.
Tell me, have you ever made molasses candy? It’s quite a process and such fun. The best part is lathering your hands with butter and pulling and twisting the candy to make the most delicious little treats.
Old Time Molasses Pull Toffee
1/2 cup Fancy Molasses
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp white vinegar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
NOTE: You will need more butter for greasing pot, tray and hands.
Line a large flat cookie or jelly roll tray with parchment paper (grease paper with butter). Also grease 3 qt cooking pot. Add molasses, water, sugar, and vinegar and stir. Bring to a boil on medium high (stirring constantly). Add cream of tartar and continue cooking until the mixture is brittle when tried in cold water.
My grandmother didn’t use a candy thermometer but I remember her telling me that you knew it was ready when there were little puffs of blue smoke coming from the mixture.
Remove from heat and add butter and baking soda while stirring constantly. This is when my grandmother would add the drop or two of kerosene or turpentine, or was it Minard’s Liniment. Continue stirring until the foaming action stops (about 2 minutes). Pour on the tray and allow to cool slightly. (It needs to be cool enough to handle).
The Fun Part – Pulling the Toffee: Generously grease your hands with butter. Lift two corners of the candy and fold it on to itself about halfway and let it drop. Continue folding the candy until you can handle it with your hands. Cut it into 3 or 4 sections and start pulling and twisting into rope strands. It will become shiny and almost translucent. During the process you should cut it into foot long sections for easier handling. When it’s ready, cut in ¾“ pieces and roll in wax paper. Allow to cool (not in fridge)
January 6th Traditions
- In Labrador, January 6 is celebrated as Nalujuk Night in Inuit communities. Scary figures known as the Nalujuit chase children and reward them if they’ve been good.
- In Newfoundland, it is usually the final night for mummering. Some families celebrate with a feast. Others take down the decorations.
- In Spain children fill their shoes with straw or grain for the three kings’ horses to eat and place them on balconies or by the front door on Epiphany Eve. The next day they find cookies, sweets or gifts in their place.
- In some European countries, such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, children dress as the three kings and visit houses. In their roles as the kings, or wise men, they sing about the Jesus’ birth and pay homage to the “king of kings”. They are rewarded with praise and cookies.
- In many Latin American countries, it is the three wise men and not Santa Claus who bring gifts for children. Children write letters to the wise men telling them how good they were and what gifts they want.
In my little corner of the world, perhaps I will start a new tradition
~ making Candy / Cough Drops
“Should I use kerosene, turpentine or Minard’s Liniment?”
On January 6, 2026, I ventured out to get that Flu shot.
It’s really all about little things!
Today’s Quote
“There comes a time to create our own traditions and not be bound by the past or things no longer part of our reality.”
~ Beulah Peyton Bouzane
from The BoBo Collection
Your writings are always such a treat! Thank you for sharing. ❤️
PS….
I remember it being kerosene. Also Minard’s Liniment. But not sure if those would be two different batches or both added to one batch. No memory of turpentine.
Mom and I were talking about Minard’s Liniment earlier this week and how Nanny Peyton always had a bottle of it under her pillow in case one of the Peyton clan came down with an ailment over night. As well as she always had Vicks on hand.
Your Today’s quote hit home this Christmas season.
Enjoyed your story this morning. Hope you’re feeling better now. I remember making molasses taffy as an older child, with my mom. No kerosene though!! lol
As usual you made me smile. I think it was kerosene for a sore throat and cough that Nan would put in that molasses mixture!
I kept wondering as I was reading, “ did she add kerosene?” I will warn Dee incase you tell him you have the perfect remedy if he starts to cough!!
Vicks was always used when we were young and I still use it. Great read Beulah.
Ahhhhh Beulah – once again you transport my thoughts to a time…. a place….a feeling…. that now only exists as wonderful memories. Thank you for the journey back to the good ole days in KC south and time spent with my beloved grandparents. 😊
I remember making molasses candy but never thought of it as a remedy for anything only my sweet tooth. My mom would have us help her in the pulling and folding part oh and the buttered hands to keep it soft and silky. Thanks for bringing back that memory for me.
Hope you’re feeling better and hope to see you soon!
As usual your stories make me smile. I am glad you are feeling better and be careful making kerosene cough candy, keep the matches in the drawer!
Happy New Year Beulah!
As always, it’s a delight to read your stories! Hope you are feeling better now!
Growing up I don’t remember the kerosene or turpentine for fighting of a nasty bug, but, Minards liniment & Vicks Vapour Rub, were two items we definitely had as remedies to fight whatever was ailing us!
Molasses Taffy sounds real good, I might have to give it a try! Maybe molasses helped soothe the throat or stifle the cough 🤔
Our Moms & Grandmothers were quite smart as they nursed us back to health ❤️🩹! Lovely story Beulah! 👍❤️
So glad you are on the mend and it was a blessing to see you on Sunday…..What a lovely reflection, that allowed we to sit and do the same this morning. I heard of the kerosene from parents/grandparents but cough medicine and Vicks were the norm in the family by the time I came along. My maternal grandfather, however, had a bottle of Minard’s Liniment always at the ready. I can see him now plugging one nostril with his finger and pressing the bottle tightly under the other and inhaling hard to clear his sinuses. He swore by it and, when he died, I quickly took and kept his half-used glass bottle as a keepsake. First thing I read on the label…? “Do not expose to mucous membranes!” Oh dear….I also have the tiny piece of red flannel, which is now 85 years old, that my paternal great-grandmother would lay on my father’s chest when he was a baby and prone to colds/chest infections. She would rub his chest in the goose grease and then put the flannel on top. She was midwife and healer on their tiny NL island and my Dad believed in that little piece of red flannel until the end of his life. Thank you so much for prompting me to pause and remember this morning…..