Grandma Ann's Fudge

Today I'm going to do something I seldom, if ever, do...post a recipe I haven't made myself.

Here's why: I am not a fudge maker. Anything that has to "set up" causes me great distress. (Need proof? Ask me to make some No Bakes/Cow Patties).

Anyway, these 2 fudge recipes are my Grandma Ann's (Livi's Great-Grandma on my Dad's side). I KNOW they are delicious & I KNOW they set-up if you are a fudge maker & the "set-up" gods do not hate you like they do me. So, even though I haven't personally goofed up made these, I can attest to their goodness.

Grandma Ann's Chocolate Fudge

4 cups white sugar
1 can (12 oz) PET milk
1 bag (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bar German Chocolate
1/2 stick butter
small jar of marshmallow creme
2 tsp. vanilla
Tblsp. of peanut butter (optional)

Boil sugar & milk for 8 minutes.
Melt chocolates.
Remove from heat - add other ingredients.
Stir & put in a 9 x 13 pan.

Grandma Ann's Peanut Butter Fudge

3 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 can (12 oz) PET milk
3-1/2 Tblsp. butter (stick)
small jar of marshmallow creme
2 tsp. vanilla
1 small jar of peanut butter
2/3 of a big jar of peanut butter

Boil sugars & milk for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat - add other ingredients
Stir & put in 9 x 13 pan.

Buckeyes

This recipe was given to me years ago by Toby's sister-in-law. Although they are super yummy, unless you have a small village to help you roll the peanut butter balls, I'd recommend you drastically cut this recipe down. I don't remember exactly how many it makes, but it's gotta be somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 million...ok, I exaggerate...it makes about 900,000 ;)  However, if you are making candy for a lot of people, this is great recipe for making lots of candy on a budget.

Buckeyes

Photo from
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/
buckeyes-i/detail.aspx

3 lbs. powdered sugar
2 lbs peanut butter
1 lb. soft butter

1-1/2 package of chocolate chips
1 stick paraffin

Mix powdered sugar, peanut butter & butter. Roll into small balls & chill.

Melt chocolate chips & paraffin in sauce pan.

Dip rolled balls in to chocolate by stabbing peanut butter ball with toothpick & then dipping.
Cool on wax paper.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I enjoy Christmas baking (when I have the time) & I have an absolute FAVORITE Christmas goodie: Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Years ago, Crisco came out with Crisco Sticks & on the packaging was a recipe for the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies. You can still find a similar recipe here.  These quickly became known in our house as the best chocolate chip cookies ever. I've given them as gifts to teachers at Christmas time & had them request them again even after they no longer had Livi in class LOL! And, in case your wondering, Santa LOVES them! :)

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup (3/4 stick) butter flavored Crisco shortening

1 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 Tblsp. milk

2 Tblsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 oz)

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, optional (I've never put nuts in my chocolate chip cookies)

Heat oven to 375. Place sheets of foil on countertop for cooling cookies. 

Combine butter flavored Crisco, brown sugar, milk & vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended. Beat egg into creamed mixture. 

Combine flour, salt, & baking soda. Mix into creamed mixture just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips (& nuts if using). 

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls approx. 3 in. apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake one sheet at a time at 375 for 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11-13 minutes for crisp cookies. DO NOT OVER BAKE!! 

(This I can not stress enough!!! We prefer chewy, gooey cookies. I usually bake mine for 8-9 min. Take them out & let them sit on the cookie sheet for approx. 1 min. Then I take a spatula & literally slide them off onto the foil on the countertops. They are still squishy & appear to not be done. You could not pick them up at this point. When they cool completely they are perfect!)

Makes about 3 dozen cookies. 

**If nuts are omitted, add an additional 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips...let's be frank, I just dump the whole bag of chocolate chips in :) 

Fluffy Hot Chocolate

I don't know about you, but this time of year I always crave hot chocolate. It's just the perfect drink for curling up & watching Christmas movies, IMO. 


Anyway, this wonderful recipe comes from an old Taste of Home sister magazine, Quick Cooking.  It's really delicious & doesn't take much longer to make than heating up water for hot chocolate in a packet. I especially love that it's made from ingredients I usually have on hand!  Enjoy! 

Fluffy Hot Chocolate

8 tsp. sugar

4 tsp baking cocoa

4 c. milk, 2%

1-1/2 cups miniature marshmallows 

1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, combine the 1st 4 ingredients. Cook & stir over medium heat until the marshmallows are melted, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Ladle into mugs. 

Makes 4 servings. 

Frosted Pecans & Cow-Patties

Lastly tonight, something for your sweet tooth...


Livi's Grandma King made these a couple of Christmases ago.  I'm not much of a nut eater, but I couldn't get enough of these.  It's not hard to make, but because it uses pecans it's not necessarily cheap to make.  However, as a once-in-a-while special treat...it's awesome!

Frosted Pecans

1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1# pecans (chopped or bite-size pieces)


Mix sugar & sour cream & bring to a boil. Boil for 5 min. stirring constantly.
Remove from heat & add vanilla & pecans.  Stirring until pecans are well coated.


Spread mixture out onto wax paper to cool.  Separate after cooled. 

Cow-patties (aka No-Bake Cookies)

I grew up calling these cookies "No-Bakes" but Toby's family always calls them "Cow Patties".  Let me preface this recipe with a few things:

#1) I think most people already know how to make these.  However, since this blog is for Livi, I'm adding them to it because they are a family favorite.

#2) I can count on one hand the times that I've made these blame cookies & them set up right, but my family is use to this & still requests them...even if they have to be eaten with a spoon :)

Lastly, my father-in-law requested these cookies for Christmas this past year.  Now being a diabetic he didn't need me to make a double batch for him. However, I have come to realize something about my dear FIL:  He is not necessarily overly-impressed with my cooking or of the mindset that I am a fabulous cook, BUT he has learned that I AM the pushover in the family & have the hardest time telling him "no".  

So, when I said, "You know I can't ever get those cookies to set-up.  You'll be eating them with a spoon!"  And he replied, "I'd eat 'em through a straw if you'd just make me some. *insert sweet smile here*"...yeah, I made 'em for him.  See what I mean?  PUSHOVER :) Still, these will probably always be "his" cookies from here on out...

The recipe I use is actually from Livi's Grandma Snell (my mom).  For whatever reason the one I use to use had the ingredients added in the wrong order & NEVER set up.  This recipe does work if you boil it just right & the weather cooperates & the cookie gods are on your side that day - LOL! 

So, without further ado...the recipe: 

1 stick of butter (no substitutes)

1/2 cup milk

2 cups sugar

2 TBSP peanut butter

Heat in a saucepan.  Mix well & boil for 1 min. Remove from heat & add 1 tsp. of vanilla.

In a separate dish, combine 3 cups of quick oats & 2 TBSP of cocoa. Stir into heated mixture & drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper.  

** Pray they set up like they're suppose to :) **

Mom's Ham Glaze

My mom's a good cook.  Her's is the first kitchen I stood in & the first recipes I learned to make.  So saying that I have a great recipe from my mom is kind of no big deal.  However, with this ham glaze recipe she completely outdid herself. It's nothing for mom to make 4 or 5 or more hams during the holiday season because of special requests for her incredible hams. This recipe results in the greatest ham you will ever sink your teeth into.  Not to mention, the phenomenal smell in your house as it bakes.  The smell of this ham has become one of my family's favorite holiday smells.   

Mom's Ham Glaze

Before baking

After baked...

Brown sugar - approx. 1 cup
Pineapple juice (off pineapple slices) - enough to make a sauce with a brown sugar
1 tsp. cherry juice (off maraschino cherries)
1 tsp. spicy brown mustard
1/2 tsp. ground cloves


Combine all the above ingredients. Lay ham in pan with aluminum foil under it (enough to wrap and seal it).  Score ham lightly, lay pineapple
rings & cherries on top of ham (for decoration ... and because, according to Toby, they are super yummy after the ham is baked :)


Pour the above mixture over the ham.  Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pan (do not pour it over the ham). Seal aluminum foil over ham. 


Bake at 300 for at least 4 hours (I sometimes bake mine for 5-6 hours depending on the size of the ham).


Note: The above measurements are for enough glaze to glaze a 6-9 pound ham & all the measurements are approx. Use more or less for larger/smaller hams & to taste. 


Also of note:  We always use Kentucky Legend Hams.  These are our families favorite.  I've made other brands with this glaze & it's still good, but it's not the same. 

Christmas Baking

No, I'm not wishing it was Christmas yet, even though this the 2nd blog this week about a Christmas recipe! haha! My mom (Grandma Snell to Liv) recently emailed me 2 of her recipes along with one of her favorite kitchen memories: our annual bake day.  So, even though it's not Christmas time, I thought I'd go ahead and share them. I'm sure they're just as tasty any other time of the year too! 


The first of Dec. each year mom and I would take one day and do nothing but bake. Mom remembers, "We baked dozen after dozen of cookies, peanut butter, chocolate chip, pineapple, and chocolate cherry.  We made batches of candy, peanut butter fudge and chocolate fudge."  We laughed, made a mess, and enjoyed each other's company.  One thing that sticks out in my mind is the HUGE coat boxes we filled with cookies and candy.  We would take the majority of what we made to the church who used baked goods from the church members to make baskets to take to the elderly and shut-ins. I wish I had a pic of one of those boxes.  Most people wouldn't believe how big they were and how much food you could put in them!  Still, even after we had filled at least 2 of those boxes, mom would make a smaller box for the mailman, my bus driver, maybe a teacher or two, for dad to take to his office, for her to take to her work, and yet there'd always be some left for us to eat on too...yeah, we made THAT many goodies! 


Anyway, mom says her favorite was always the pineapple cookies and I always thought the chocolate cherry cookies looked so festive. Don't take our word for it though...try 'em out! 

Pineapple Cookies

Old recipe from Granny Moore (Liv's great-great grandma)

2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup nut meats
1 tsp soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup strained crushed pineapple
½ tsp salt
3 ½ cups flour

Cream shortening, sugar and vanilla. Add pineapple and nut meats. Sift salt, baking powders and flour together and add to other ingredients. Blend and drop on greased baking sheet. Bake @ 350 degrees until brown. Drop with spoon on cookie sheet.

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

(The recipe came out of a paper called Grit dated Nov. 30-Dec. 6th, 1986)

2/3 cup butter or margarine
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 ½ tsps vanilla
1 2/3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
6 tbsps unsweetened cocoa
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
18 maraschino cherries, well-drained and halved

Cream butter, sugar egg and vanilla until fluffy. Stir together dry ingredients: add to creamed mixture (dough will be still). Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on increased baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Press a cherry half into center of each cookie. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on wire rack. Prepare Chocolate Glaze. Frost each cookie, leaving top of cherry showing. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Glaze

Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons water in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat: immediately add ½ cup chocolate chips, stirring just until melted. Cool until glaze is of spreading consistency.