Karen's Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2-1/2 cups broken pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 24 pecan halves

Combine sugar, soda, buttermilk, and butter in a large, heavy Dutch oven; cook over high heat 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add broken pecans; cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until candy thermometer registers 230°. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Beat just until mixture begins to thicken.
Working rapidly, drop mixture by tablespoonfuls onto lightly buttered waxed paper. Place a pecan half on each praline; cool. Store in an airtight container. Yield: about 2 dozen.