Mincemeat Pecan Pie

Phoebe Wilson Dineen

In a small saucepan, combine

  • 1 package (9 oz) condensed mincemeat, broken up
  • 1/2 cup Karo light or dark syrup
  • 1/4 cup margarine

Heat, stirring constantly until boiling. Gradually stir mixture into

  • 3 slightly beaten eggs

Add

  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
  • 1 tablespoon grated orange peel

Pour into 1 unbaked (9 inch) pie shell. Bake in 350°F oven 45 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched with finger.

Pour

  • 1/4 cup dry sherry

over pie. Cool.

Serve with

  • whipped cream, if desired.

by Tim Dineen

Margaret's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Margaret Dineen Prendergast

This recipe is the one I take to all our family gatherings because everyone is always looking for “Margaret’s Cookies”.

  • 1 cup melted margarine
  • 1 cup crisco
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp soda
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 – 2 pkgs chocolate chips

Melt margarine in large bowl in microwave. Add shortening, mix well. Mix in sugars then stir in vanilla and eggs. Add dry ingredients and chips.

Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until brown.

by Tim Dineen

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Margaret Dineen Prendergast

  • 1 cup melted margarine
  • 1 cup Crisco
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp soda
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 6 cups oatmeal

Melt margarine in microwave, add Crisco, mix in sugars and vanilla and eggs. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in oatmeal and chips. (Can use some butterscotch chips or raisins, also.)

Bake at 350� for 10 minutes or until spread out and browned.

by Tim Dineen

Texas Sheet Cake

Rita Dineen Stovie

Sift:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar

In saucepan:

  • 2 sticks butter
  • 4 tablespoons cocoa
  • 1 cup hot water.

Bring to rapid boil and add to flour and sugar, mix well and add:

  • 1/2 cup of sour milk (1 tbsp of vinegar)

Add:

  • 1 tsp soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon

Mix well and bake at 350° oven for 20 minutes in a 15 by 10 cookie sheet.

FROSTING

Make frosting 5 minutes before cake is done.

  • 4 tablespoons of cocoa
  • 1 stick butter
  • 6 tablespoons of milk

Bring to boil and add

  • 1 pound of powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts.

Let cake cool 1 minute and frost.

by Tim Dineen

Peanut Brittle

Margaret Dineen Predergast

(Double)

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 cups raw peanuts
  • pinch salt

Mix together, cook until amber color – 300°F hard crack.

Add 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tbsp soda. Mix and spread on buttered jelly roll pan. Cool.

by Tim Dineen

Biscotti

MaryBeth Stanosheck Furno

Some twenty years ago, right after Bob and I moved from Detroit to his hometown of Iron Mountain, my mother-in-law and I wanted to make Biscotti. She asked her neighbor for the recipe. But writing down “amounts of ingredients” and how to make this biscuit was an impossible task. So Helen Caviani came over to Traci Furno’s kitchen and “showed” her and her daughter-in-law how to make Biscotti. It has been a favorite in our home for years to serve with coffee, tea or our own Choke-Cherry Wine. I send them regularly to our children in New Jersey and California. And at Christmas time I make about 40 dozen to give as gifts to neighbors and friends.

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp lemon extract
  • 1 tsp Anise seeds (crushed)
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • sugar-cinnamon mixture

Beat eggs until light in color. Add sugar, beat well. Add oil, beat well. Add salt, lemon extract, and crushed anise seeds.

Mix flour and baking powder. Add to egg mixture. Dough will be soft and slightly sticky. (If eggs are very large, add 2 tbsp more flour.) Flour hands to form two loaves or strips on ungreased cookie sheet – each approx. 12″-14″ long and 3″ wide. Sprinkle tops with sugar-cinnamon mixture. bake in 350 oven for 15-20 minutes, until slightly brown around edges. Remove from oven and slice each strip into 1/2″ pieces. Return to 400 oven to toast – 5 minutes on each side. watch carefully. Cool on rack. Store in airtight container. May freeze. Enjoy!

by Tim Dineen

Apricot Macadamia Nut Fruitcake

Tim Dineen

We make a score of these every year – in October – for Christmas gifts. It is by far, the best “fruitcake” I have ever eaten… and the best I have ever made!!

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons apricot brandy
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 3/4 cups flour, sifted twice
  • 1 cup dried apricots, chopped
  • 1 cup golden raisins
  • 1 cup macadamia nuts, lightly chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 275F. Grease and flour a 6 cup Bundt pan and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat yolks in small bowl and add to butter mixture. Mix well.

Combine milk, brandy and vanilla and add alternately with flour in 4 batches, mixing well after each addition. Stir in apricots, raisins and macadamia nuts.

Whip egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and continue beating until stiff but not dry. Gently fold into batter. Spoon into prepared pan and bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean (about 2 1/4 hours). Cool completely in pan.

Sprinkle a bit of apricot brandy on top and serve. Cakes can also be made in advance, wrapped in apricot brandy-soaked cheesecloth, wrapped in plastic and aged. YUM!!

by Tim Dineen

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