Place sugar and 3 tablespoons butter into a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat.
Pour the boiling water over, and stir to dissolve. Allow the mixture to come to a rolling boil. It will boil up in the pot as if it is going to boil over, but it will settle down. Use some of the remaining butter to butter a marble slab.
When the sugar mixture reaches the soft crack stage of 270 to 280 degrees F (132 to 140 degrees C), remove from the heat immediately.
Pour onto the buttered marble slab.
Add peppermint oil and food coloring if desired. Butter your hands, and start pulling up pieces of the sugar blob. Keep stretching so that it will not set up. Continue to stretch until it has lost it's shine and is stringier.
Pull the candy out into one long string, and cut into 1 inch segments using scissors. Store candies in an airtight tin.
