By: Aisling Bronach of House Shadow Drake

This recipe may be used for citrus peels, watermelon rinds, cucumber meat, thinly sliced fruit, or the meat of the aloe plant. However, caution should be used when using aloe as it will still retain its laxative properties.

Prepare the `meat' by boiling it and removing the bitters. The skin of the aloe, the green of the watermelon, and the white of the citrus peel are all considered as part of the bitters. Next place the meat in a sweet bath. Use a ratio of two parts sweet to one part boiling water. For sweetener you can use honey, sugar, or even maple sugar. Continue boiling until crystals begin to form. Then dry the candy on a rack and store in a dry place.

To the sweet bath, try adding cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves or other flavors. You can also use this same process to candy rose, mint, marigold, calamus root, or other edible flowers.

If the candy you make turns out to be sticky or the crystals never form, this means that you did not get your heat high enough. If you have never made candy before, this can be a bit tricky. However, once you know what to look for it gets a lot easier.