"Fudging" Cooking Ability

by Amy Alessio

Thanks so much to Evelyn David and the Stiletto Gang for letting me return to guest on this blog. Evelyn told me she loves old recipes, and once started on that topic I find it hard to stop!

I love vintage cookbooks, and own over four hundred and fifty of them. I unleash them on the unsuspecting public when I give talks on themes I notice from my collection, like Jello, pies, cookies and cakes. All the food groups are represented – that is, the important ones. What I’ve learned is that most people have memories closely tied to recipes. I can’t believe how many people associate Jello recipes with certain holidays. In my family every holiday has a Jello concoction and we call it salad when it should be called dessert.

My series of short stories feature Alana O’Neill, a bookkeeper at her uncle’s antiques mall. She has a booth of kitchenalia and does not like to sell many of her cookbooks. She, like me, loves to try recipes from decades past, even if we are not good at making them. In Blast From the Past, Alana tries to make fancy chili chocolates after a professional baker makes fun of her old cookbooks. Alana is distracted when her teen son slams the door and ends up dumping way too much chili powder into the candy. Blast From the Past is one of three novellas featured in Hearts and Daggers, a collection of romantic suspense. Authors Mary Welk http://www.marywelk.com and Margot Justes http://www.mjustes.com provide the other two stories, and all of our characters connect in the stories.

I also included over twenty recipes with my story, though none are for chili chocolates. They are from my collection of handwritten recipe boxes. I do have a few from my own family, and I want to share some with you today.

Here is my Grandma Curtin’s Fudge Recipe. This was handwritten, and lacks some key steps.

5 cups sugar (How can you go wrong with a recipe that begins with this?)¼ lb. butter1 large can Pet Condensed Milk3 pkg. Chocolate Chips (Nestles 6 oz.)1 jar Marshmallow FluffAbout 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Combine sugar, butter & milk. Bring to boil, let boil for 9-10 minutes low. Pour this mixture over choc. Chips & fluff. Beat until smooth. Add nuts, pour into greased pan and refrigerate. Cut in about 1 hour.

Then there’s my Mother’s clipping for Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge. I was intrigued by the note that it “Makes 5 pounds.” Perhaps that is what is gained on your scale after eating this one.

½ cup butter, or margarine2 pounds (4 ½ cups) sugar1 can (14 ½ oz.) evaporated milk½ pound marshmallows2 oz. unsweetened chocolate2 packages (6 oz. each) semi-sweet chocolate pieces3 packages (4 oz. each) sweet chocolate2 cups chopped pecans, walnuts, or other nuts1 tablespoon vanilla

In a large heavy saucepan mix butter, sugar, and evaporated milk. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Cook to boiling, cover, and boil for 5 minutes. Add marshmallows; stir until melted. Add chocolate, one kind at a time, stirring until melted. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Pour into buttered 15-by-10-inch jelly roll pan. Cool until firm before cutting fudge into 1-inch squares. If desired, press pecan half into each square. Fudge freezes well.

Get out your defibrillator. Notice I don’t do shows on “Healthy Vintage Recipes,” as it would not last more than about five minutes.

Do you have a favorite family recipe? Comment with your email address or email me at amyalessio.com and I will send you some Jello recipes.

Amy Alessio is a teen librarian and an author. She is also an adventurous and unskilled cook who is trying to train her young sons to cook dinner. She is obsessed with Vintage Cookbooks and Crafts and you can share that obsession by reading her blog at http://www.amyalessio.com .