Porch Papers · Page Four

Visit the Candy Kitchen

Come stand by the kettle, taste the season at the bench, and see the ledger where every batch since 1963 is written by hand.

Here is everything a porch visitor needs to find us. Bring your childhood sweet tooth and a little patience — the good batches go to whoever waits for the pull.

The Kitchen Door: 214 Broad Street, Thomasville, Georgia 31792
Kettle Days: Thursday through Saturday, 10 in the morning until 5 in the evening
The Tasting Bench: Opens at noon on kettle days, while the brittle cools on the marble
Letters: pecanhollow.confections@gmail.com
Write Ahead: Allow two kettle weeks for six-tin chests and custom assortments

Praline drops arranged on a doily at the tasting bench — The tasting bench, mid-morning, between the second and third pour

How the Hollow Began

In 1963, Winnie and Dewey Parkman borrowed a copper kettle and a folding table for the Thomas County Harvest Fair, sold out of pecan brittle by Saturday noon, and carried home a blue ribbon and a paper sack of quarters. By 1971 they had the narrow Broad Street storefront with the creaky screen door, the kettle hung over a pecan-shell fire in the back room, and a porch post out front for pulling taffy.

Three generations later, the screen door still creaks, the wooden maple-leaf molds are the ones Winnie carved herself, and every batch still goes into the ledger by hand before it goes into a tin. Stop in and we will show you the page for the batch you are tasting.

Arranging Tin Orders and Group Visits

Keepsake tins, care package sleeves, and tasting boxes are arranged by letter at the address above. Tell us the occasion, the flavors you remember best, and when the tin needs to reach its porch — we will answer with what the kettle can honestly promise.

Kettle-side visits for groups of up to a dozen are welcome with a letter's notice, and October school groups have been known to leave with their own small pulls of taffy. Ask about standing at the bench while a batch comes off the marble; it is the best seat in Thomasville.

Write to the Kitchen

Questions about batches, allergens, gift planning, or the story of Kettle No. 3 all go to pecanhollow.confections@gmail.com. We answer between pulls, usually within two kettle days.

The kettle is warm Thursday through Saturday. The rest of the week, we are cracking pecans — and answering letters.