Vanilla Caramel Pecan Tools - Della G.

Let's just say a crystal dish was not my best choice for picture taking.  I thought I had cooked both the caramel and the fudge long enough but both were pretty soft so it was hard to roll up.  The nuts would not have helped so I left them off. 
I used White Fudge Nut Roll - Mildred M. on the previous page for the white fudge called for in the recipe. I think this would be a wonderful and pretty candy when cooked long enough.  I will probably add this to my Holiday Candy Making List.  When making fudge or stirred candies, I butter the sides of the pan before adding ingredients. (I added this in the instructions.)

Vanilla Caramel Pecan Rolls - Della G.

1/2  C. Brown Sugar                                        1/2  C. Cream
3/4  C. Sugar                                                   3/4  C. Canned Milk
3/4  C. Corn Syrup                                          1/3  C. Butter
1/8  tsp. Salt                                                    1  tsp. Vanilla

Butter the sides of the pan.  Combine sugars, syrup and cream in heavy saucepan and place over low heat, stirring occasionally until all the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat,  add butter and salt gradually.  Add evaporated milk stirring until well blended.  Continue cooking to a firm ball.  Remove from heat, add vanilla stirring only enough to blend.  Pour into lightly greased pan or cookie sheet to about 3/4" thick.  Make a white fudge recipe. (White Fudge Nut Roll - Mildred M.)  When fudge is cool, beat until mixture thickens, pour on caramel mixture and roll up like a jelly roll.  Roll in pecans and cut.

Sugar-Plum Ring - Maurine G.

I chose to do this during the holidays for it's very "festive" look.  It reminds me a lot of traditional Monkey Bread, made from scratch not with Rhodes dough.  The dough is light and airy and the flavor is good.  I maybe would add a little more salt, but that would be personal taste.  I used candied cherries and pineapple because I had it and it needed to be used.  I also used slivered almonds.  The big mistake I made was I put it in a "tube pan" as called for, which I thought was an angel food cake pan, and the gooey stuff leaked out the bottom.  Luckily it didn't start on fire while baking.  Guess what I am doing today.  Don't do that.  Use a solid bottom pan.

Sugar-Plum Ring - Maurine G.

1  pkg. dry yeast (2 tsps.)                                 2  Beaten Eggs
1/4  C. Warm Water                                        1/4  C. Melted Butter
1/2  C. Scalded Milk                                        3/4  C. Sugar
1/3  C. Sugar                                                   1  tsp. Cinnamon
1/3  C. Shortening                                            1/2  C. Whole Blanched Almonds  (I used slivered)
1  tsp.  Salt                                                      1/2  C. Candied Whole Cherries  (cut in half)
3  3/4 - 4  C. Flour                                          1/3  C. Dark Karo Syrup

Soften yeast in warm water.  Combine scalded milk, 1/3  C. sugar, shortening and salt.  Cool.  Stir in 1  C. flour, beat well.  Add yeast and eggs, mix.  Add remaining flour or enough to make a soft dough. Mix thoroughly and place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease surface.  Cover and let rise until double.  Punch down and let rest 10 min.  Divide dough into 4 parts.  Each part should be cut into 10 pieces and shaped into balls.  Dip balls in melted butter, then in the sugar cinnamon blend.  Arrange 1/3 of the balls in greased 10" tube pan.  Sprinkle with almonds and cherries.  Repeat, 2 more layers.  Make syrup of left over butter and Karo syrup, then drizzle over the top.  Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 1 hour.  Bake in 350o F. oven for 30 min.  Cool 5 minutes, invert pan and remove ring.  (Mine was on plate right side up)

Inexpensive Tamale Pie - Della G.

Once again a recipe I was hopeful for, until I started making it and saw the recipe below it (Party Tamale Pie) and realized I got the dud, if you want this, make the Party a Tamale Pie and add about a 1 t cumin powder and 1/2 tsp garlic powder (I added these seasonings to this recipe and it was still boring) .

This recipe is flavorless and doesn't have much to it.  It is boring.  We finished it, and it was okay, but BORING!

Inexpensive Tamale Pie

2 C ground beef

3 T grated onions

1 C corn meal

3 C water 

1/2 t salt

1 T left over fat (I didn't use)

1/8 t pepper

1 t chili powder

1 C tomatoes

 3/4 t salt

Brown hamburger with onion.  Meanwhile, cook cornmeal in water and salt until it is thick.  Line the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan with half of the cereal.  Add remaining ingredients to the hamburger and pour on top of cereal.  Bake at 375-degrees for 45 minutes.  Serves 6 with a vegetable or salad.

Pineapple Icebox Cake - Mildred M.

You know those recipes you anticipate and think this will be amazing!  I can't wait to try it!  This is one of those.  You also know the recipes you know will be amazing and they completely live up to your expectation?  This isn't one of those.

This is very similar to this Fruit Salad recipe.  First the crust is just crumbs, but by the time I realized I should have combined the crumbs with butter it was too late.  The the top was just tasteless and marshmallowy.  We ended up throwing out the entire 9x13 with the exception of the few sample that were taken.

I also had to call my sister to debate on whether the recipe, which said, 1 pint whipped cream, meant 1 pint cream, whipped, or just a pint of cream, or 2 C of whipping cream.  We went with a pint whipped.

Pineapple Ice Box Cake

1 lb marshmallows

1 C milk

1 C nuts

1 lg can crushed pineapple, drained

1 pint whipping cream, whipped

Crushed graham crackers

2 T butter, melted

Mix butter and crackers and place in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Melt marshmallows over hot water (I used the microwave). Cool.  Add pineapple, nuts, and whipped cream. Pour moisture over graham cracker crust and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs and chill overnight.

Carrot Pudding & Lemon Sauce - Mildred M.

I must admit I was avoiding this one, and now I really wish I hadn't, it was delicious!  I substituted cranberries for the raisins and next time I will just keep them out entirely, and reduce the recipe by 1/2 an egg, otherwise it was delicious.  I cooked it in a 1 1/2 qt glass bowl in my steamer.  Since the steamer only has a timer for 75 min I set my regular timer to come and add time to the steamer and to add water as needed.  I might just place it in the bowl and try it over the stove steamer next time,  to see which works better.  It really was delicious.  I was thinking a lemon sauce would be good on this and mom mentioned she remembered Grandma making carrot pudding with lemon sauce so I looked in the misc section and sure enough, Mildred had a lemon sauce.  It also was delicious.  Most of my kids really liked it and it wasn't soggy like I thought it would be.  It isn't carrot cake, :) but it is pretty good.  One note, I rinsed the grated potatoes to avoid them turning brown and it worked really well.

Carrot Pudding
1 C grated carrots
1 C grated potatoes
1/2 C melted fat, I used shortening
1 C sugar
1 C raisins, opt
1 t soda
1/2 t salt
1 t nutmeg
1 t cinnamon
1 t cloves
2 C flour
2 eggs (1 1/2 if omitting raisins)

Mix together and place over steam for 3 hours.  Serve warm with Lemon Sauce.

Lemon Sauce
1 T cornstarch
3/4 C sugar
Dash salt
3/4 C water
1 egg
1 T butter
2 T lemon juice
1/2 t grated lemon zest

Mix together, bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, until thick.

White Fudge Nut Roll - Mildred M./English Toffee-Della G./Marshmallow Fudge-Lillian G.

I have put off making Carmel most of the year due to high humidity during the weeks we were assigned.  Strange, I know, but Albuquerque has decent humidity in the summer and early fall.  So here are all my candies, except, fondant.  Maybe someday I will make it, but I just wasn't feeling it.

English Toffee - 3 1/2-stars

Now I realize it doesn't look like English Toffee, but that is because it needed to cook about 2 minutes longer.  That said, the flavor is pretty good, it tastes like English toffee, my only issue was it didn't call for vanilla and it would have made a big difference.  The other issue with the recipe is that it says to use two cookie sheets because it makes a big batch.  So I halved it and did it on one, except, her cookie sheets must have been significantly smaller than mine, because it only covered about 1/3 of the pan.  So note to self, use a full recipe and use the smaller size cookie sheet.  Also. It says to tour it over and put chocolate on both sides.  I wasn't planning  on doing that since I like it better with chocolate just on the top.

English Toffee

2 1/2 C sugar

1/2 C water

1/4 C corn syrup

1 lb butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 lb chopped pecans

2 lbs milk chocolate

Spread pecans on one buttered smaller-sized cookie sheet, and sprinkle pecans on the pan.  Cook sugar, water, corn syrup, and butter on a pan.  Stir constantly, bring to a soft crack (don't go look for the cookbook to define soft-crack at this stage, it will go to sugar, not that I did that...  Soft crack means it makes pliable strings when dropped in cold water).  Add vanilla.  Pour over pecans.  Let top set just a bit and place chocolate on top to melt.  Sprinkle chopped nuts.  Once cool, bang cookie sheet on counter to break up the toffee and store in a dry place with wax paper in between.

Marshmallow Fudge - 3-stars

This is your basic marshmallow fudge recipe, it is fine, but not as good as mom's.  Some of the measurements are a little different than the recipe you find of the container, but it tastes like marshmallow fudge.

Marshmallow Fudge

4 1/3 C sugar

1 lg can evaporate milk

1/3 C butter

1 pt marshmallow cream (this is two containers, if you think it is one you will have to run to the store when it is partially mixed up.  Once again, not like that happened...)

12 oz chocolate chips

Chopped nuts, if desired

Combine sugar, milk, and butter and, stirring constantly, bring to a boil and cook to soft ball stage (about 5 min on med heat).  Pour over remaining ingredients and stir together.  Cut into squares.

White Fudge Nut Roll - 4-stars

Seriously, this is one of the best things I have ever had.  I loved it so much I put some in a small bowl to keep just as white fudge, and the dipped the remainder.  The only complaint I had is that I should have frozen the fudge in a roll first before dipping, and I should have waited for the chocolate to cool a bit more so the fudge didn't melt.  Oh, and I really wish I would have doubled it!   It is divine!!!!

White Fudge Nut Roll

2 C sugar

2 T light syrup

3/4 C cream

Dash salt

1 t vanilla

Cherries and nuts, chopped (didn't use)

Combine sugar, syrup, cream, and salt.  Bring to a boil on med heat, stirring constantly.  Cook to soft ball stage, stirring occasionally.  Cool, and beat until it loses it's gloss.  Add nuts or cherries, if desired. Roll into snakes and freeze then roll in melted chocolate and then nuts.

Tossed Salad (Chicken) by Romaine F.

Following directions

The title made me think this is a green salad, but it isn't.  This is a pasta salad.  We liked it, but we thought the dressing could use something more.  I left out the pimientos because I don't have any and adding them severely decreases the number of people willing to try this.  I don't think they add much flavor, just color, so I added some carrots and olives instead, for color (and flavor).

With added carrots and olives

Tossed Salad by Romaine F.

4 c hot water
2 T granulated chicken bouillon
1 qt salad dressing
1 1/2 lbs cooked elbow macaroni, cooled but not refrigerated
1 1/2 qts frozen peas
3 lbs cooked, diced chicken
7 c diced celery
16 hard boiled eggs
1 small jar pimientos

Dissolve bouillon in water and beat into the salad dressing.  Stir everything together.  Refrigerate for a few hours.  Serve in lettuce cups or scooped out tomatoes. (Presentation meant a lot more to these ladies.  I just put a scoop of the salad on the plate.)  Serves 50.