See's Original Fudge

Tim Dineen

  • 4 1/2 cups sugar
  • 36 oz semi-sweet chocolate (2 1/4 lb)
  • 1/2 pound butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 can evaporated milk
  • 7 ounces marshmallow cream
  • 2 cups nuts

Mix 4 1/2 cups sugar with one (1) can evaporated milk. Boil 7 to 8 minutes, stirring often. (rolling boil)

Cream butter and marshmallow together and add chopped chocolate.

Pour hot sugar mixture over chocolate mixture.

After chocolate has melted, add 2 cups of nuts and 1 tsp. of vanilla, blend well, pour into buttered pans and chill in refrigerator. Cut into squares before firm.

This recipe makes about 5 lbs of fudge.

by Tim Dineen

Cranberry Bread

Victor Martorano

  • 1 orange
  • 1 1/2 cups cranberries
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 top baking soda
  • 1 1/4 cup crisco

Mix by hand.

1 9×5 inch loaf pan or 2 7×4 inch loaf pans (grease and flour)

Cut orange into eighths, discard seeds. Work rind and flesh through blender. Put ground orange into measuring cup and add enough boiling water to make 1 cup.

Sift dry ingredients together in large bowl; In a small bowl beat egg, add to sugar and mix in cranberries. Let stand.

Add crisco to sifted flour mixture and cut until it resembles cornmeal. Pour in cranberry-orange mixture and stir just until ingredients are mixed. It s important not to over-mix! Fold in 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts. Spoon into pans. Let sit for 20 min. Bake at 350 deg. about 55 min. for 9×5 or 40 min. for 7×4.

by Tim Dineen

Blum's Coffee Crunch Cake

Tim Dineen

Blum’s was an institution in San Francisco – it was where mothers brought their daughters – dressed in their Mary Janes and gloves – and where blue-haired matrons held court over tea, and sumptuous desserts. I worked at the downtown Blums in 1966-1967 – and it holds the distinction of being the very first job I was ever fired from… I got this recipe from Helen Kane who volunteered with me at Project Open Hand, April 1995.

Cake:

  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup egg yolks – about 7 or 8
  • 1/4 cup water, cold
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Coffee Crackle:

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup coffee, strong
  • 1/4 cup Karo light corn syrup
  • 3 teaspoons baking soda, sifted
  • 1 1/2 Cups whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Cake:

Angel food cake pan, oven at 350.

Combine sugar & flour. Make well. Add egg yolks, cold water, vanilla. Blend. In large bowl, mix egg whites, salt cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar. Beat until eggs peak. Pour batter slowly over egg whites, folding until blended. Bake 50-55 minutes. Invert pan and hang until cold.

Coffee Crackle:

5 inch deep sauce pan. Stir sugar, coffee and Karo syrup to combine. Put on heat, bring to a boil to hard crack stage. Remove from heat -right away add 3 tsp baking soda free from lumps, Stir fast until thick. Pour into a 9×9 ungreased metal pan. Let stand until cool. Rock out of pan and crush between waxed paper with rolling pin.

Split cake into 3 layers. Frost with whipped cream, cover with coffee crunch.

by Tim Dineen

Peppermint Cheesecake

Kate Kelly Hodsdon

CRUST

  • 1 1/3 c crushed chocolate graham crackers or cookies
  • ½ c margarine, melted

FILLING

  • 1 can Eagle Brand Condensed milk
  • 1 8oz pkg cream cheese
  • few drops red food coloring(optional)
  • 1 c crushed peppermint candies
  • 2c whipping cream
  • 1 c Cool Whip(optional)

Crust: Mix margarine and chocolate crumbs. Press onto bottom and sides of 9″ spring-form pan or 10″ pie plate or 9″ square pan.

Filling: Beat milk and cheese til smooth. Beat in color, if desired. Stir in candies. Whip cream til stiff. Fold into cheese mixture.

Pour into crust and freeze at least 4 hours. Serve frozen. Serve with Cool Whip if desired,

by Tim Dineen

Pecan Baby Food Cake

Marcy Dineen Medeiros

When I travel, I love to buy cook-books from different parts of the country and from all different type sources. If you ever want to know how to cook a whole steer, I have a great recipe from a Montana Cookbook.

This recipe is from Aunt Bee’s Cookbook (Mayberry, RFD). I have made it and it was fantastic. It was a nice change from the usual chocolate cakes and cookies.

  • Vegetable Oil
  • 2 C Flour, sifted
  • 2 C Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 Small Jar Baby Food Prunes
  • 1 Small Jar Baby Food Apricots
  • ½ t Salt
  • 1 t Nutmeg
  • 1 t Cinnamon
  • 1 t Baking Soda
  • ½ C Chopped Pecans

Combine oil and sugar. Add eggs one at at time, beating well after each egg. Add prunes and apricots. Sift flour, measure then sift together with flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, soda and salt. Add to first mixture. Add chopped pecans. Bake in greased and floured tube pan for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

For frosting, mix ingredients and frost cake while it is slightly warm.

Frosting:

  • 1 C Powdered Sugar
  • 3 T Butter or Margarine, softened
  • 1 t vanilla

by Tim Dineen

Peanut Butter Krispies

Ann Stanosheck Galles

Received this recipe from sister-in-law, Bev Galles. Has been a family favorite for many years.

  • 1 C white Karo Syrup
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1 ½ C crunchy peanut butter
  • 5 C Rice Krispies

Bring Karo & sugar to a rolling boil. Pour over peanut butter and blend. Add Krispies and stir. Drop by teaspoonful on wax paper. Makes 60-70 cookies. Freezes well.

by Tim Dineen

Malt Shoppe Pie

Kathleen Dineen Kelly and Kate Kelly Hodsdon

  • 1 chocolate flavored prepared crust
  • 1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
  • 1 8oz cool whip
  • 8oz whoppers malted milk balls candy, crushed

Combine ice cream & whipped topping. Add one cup crushed candy and pour into pie shell. Top with remaining candy. Freeze.

by Tim Dineen

Marguerite's Lemon Pie

Colleen Gentleman Minturn

Some of the Dineen Girls (Marne, Elizabeth and Claire) and their husbands and families spent summers in Minnesota at a place called “Bert and Hatties”. This pie was served there and my mom (Marne) passed it on to me. As newly married’s, my husband complimented me on it, so for a whole year I baked it every Sunday for him, ’til he finally got the courage to ask me if I had any other recipes for pie!

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 rounded tablespoons flour
  • 2 egg yolks
  • juice and grated rind of one lemon
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • Baked Pie Shell

Meringue:

  • 2 room temperature egg whites
  • dash of cream of tartar
  • 3 tbsp sugar.

Bake pie shell and cool. Mix sugar and flour. Add water, yolks, juice and rind. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it thickens. Add butter and cool somewhat. Pour into shell and top with meringue. Brown in hot oven a few minutes.

Meringue:

Beat whites until foamy – add cream of tartar and sugar gradually until peaks form.

by Tim Dineen

Ice Box Cake

Kate Kelly Hodsdon

This dessert comes in handy if you’re trying to impress someone!

  • 1 C milk
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • ½ t salt
  • ½ C pineapple juice
  • 1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
  • ½ C flour
  • 1 C sugar
  • 1 T unflavored gelatin
  • ½ C orange juice
  • 2 pkgs jelly roll cake (6 sm jelly rolls in the 2 packages, use only 5)

Cut each jelly roll into 4 slices. Soak gelatin in pineapple and orange juices. In spring-form pan, line jelly roll slices, first the sides of the pan, then the bottom.

To make custard, combine milk, flour, sugar, salt, and egg yolks. Heat until thick, stirring constantly. Add juice with gelatin and boil until thick. Add crushed pineapple. Cool.

Add 3 beaten egg whites to which 3 T sugar have been added. Pour all into pan. Cover and chill at least six hours. To serve, remove sides of spring-form pan and garnish with whipped cream.

by Tim Dineen

3-2-1 Almond Roca

Debbie Barnett Dineen

I made this recipe for a women’s meeting I go to, only brought half of the recipe with me because I was sure each would take only one bite to be polite. Well these women emptied the container and all asked for a copy of the recipe.

  • 3 cups raw almonds
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup butter
  • 6 oz chocolate chips

Cook first 3 ingredients over medium heat in large heavy pot, stirring constantly with metal spoon until candy stage (first it is separated, then thick and light, then thin and caramel colored). This takes 15-20 minutes. Spread on ungreased cookie sheet as thin as possible.

Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and when melted, spread evenly. Refrigerate until firm, then break apart.

by Tim Dineen

Brownies In A Jar

Tim Dineen

  • 2 wide mouth canning jars
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup butter, or margarine
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Sterilize, two 1 pint straight-sided wide-mouth canning jars lids and rings by boiling for 10 minutes (keep the lids and rings in the hot water until ready to use) and set aside. In a small bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside. In a medium saucepan combine butter or margarine, water and cocoa powder; heat and stir until butter or margarine is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat; stir in flour mixture. Add buttermilk, egg and vanilla; beat by hand until smooth. Stir in nuts. Pour mixture into the prepared canning jars; place jars onto a cookie sheet.

Preheat oven to 325-dcgrees. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a pick inserted deep into each cake comes out clean. Remove cakes from the oven, one at a time. Place a lid then a ring onto the jars and screw down tightly. Place jars onto counter to cool. You’ll hear a “plinking” sound. If you miss the sound, wait until the cakes are cool and press on the lids, they shouldn’t move at all, that means they’ve sealed. They should last up to a year–l don’t know, they’ve never lasted that long around here!

If you’d like to decorate them, place a wad of cotton in the center of each lid, then place a piece of decorative cloth, about 3-inches larger in circumference than the lid, (cut with pinking shears) on top of the cotton. Screw the ring back on (by this time the rings can be removed as the lids should be sealed). Use your imagination when decorating — a hot glue gun works wonders (dried flowers, ribbon, etc). These make WONDERFUL Christmas gifts!

by Tim Dineen

Aunt Ruth's Brownies

Colleen Gentleman Minturn

  • 1 stick oleo or butter
  • 3 heaping tbsp cocoa
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 scant cup flour
  • ½ cup nuts (or raisins or chocolate chips)

(I always double the recipe and bake in a 9×13 pan.)

Melt oleo in saucepan – stir in cocoa, then sugar, vanilla & eggs. Add flour and nuts and put in greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350°F about 15 minutes or so. Don’t overbake. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or ice with chocolate frosting.

Frosting:

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp cocoa
  • 2 tbsp oleo
  • brewed coffee to moisten

by Tim Dineen