Theresa's Famous Fudge

Every Sunday night our family made together some sort of treat be it divinity, honey taffy, cookies, or fudge. I loved when I heard the pots and pans began to bang around because I knew there would be delicious smells filling the air. I always went as quick as I could to help my mom make her taste of the day.

Fudge is still my weakness today, I simply can't leave it alone. Consequently I have to be careful not to make it too often; but I think I will need to whip up a batch soon.

Here is Theresa's famous fudge!

Uncle Neal or Myles, My mom and her niece Barbara

Combine in a saucepan 2 cups white sugar, ½ cup old fashioned powdered cocoa (unsweetened), and 1 cup milk. Stir all ingredients together on medium heat. Continue stirring constantly until the mixture begins to boil. Reduce heat and simmer the mixture. DO NOT STIR AGAIN!

Cook until the candy reaches 238 degrees if you have a candy thermometer. But if not, do it Theresa's way and spoon out a small portion of the mixture and drop it into a cup of cold water. If the mixture forms a soft ball, dump the water from the cup and feel the ball with your fingers. It should stay formed and flatten if you press it, rather than fall apart.

When done, remove the mixture from heat and add 4 T. butter and 1 t. vanilla. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Using an electric mixer, mix the fudge until it looses it's sheen. Dump from bowl and knead the candy by hand. Shape the candy into a long snake. Cut the fudge into desired pieces and ENJOY!

Homemade Soda Crackers

Crunchy homemade soda crackers

It was always fun when we had homemade soda crackers dripping with my Grandpa's, and later on, my Uncle Ken's "Hansen's Honey" right from the hive. In this picture, Theresa is dressed and ready to work in the family honey business. Because she was allergic to bees, Theresa worked in the cannery (the back porch of the family home) with her mother. This was a hard and dangerous job. Her mother Effie once received serious burns from a honey can exploding on the stove. This accident had Effie bedridden for a period of time. I am sure this canning job of Theresa's youth was the foundation of her tireless, hard-working lifestyle that would follow her through her life.

When I think about the food of my childhood I think about all the preservatives my mom kept me from eating. In these days of a gluten-free rage, I can't help but think, is it the gluten or the mass quantities of preservatives we put in our bodies? Thanks mom for making everything home-cooked right down to the crackers and hamburger buns!

Homemade Soda Crackers

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

2 t. yeast

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. baking soda

1/4 t. cream of tartar

2/3 cup hot water

1 t. sugar

2 T. shortening

2 T. butter

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, combine the hot water and yeast. Stir well and sit for a minute or two. Mix in the sugar, shortening and butter. Sit for another minute until cooled to room temperature.

Mix in the baking soda and cream of tarter and 1 cup of the flour. Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes.. Then add the remaining flour to make a workable dough. Knead the dough by hand for about 5 minutes until it becomes soft and elastic. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Punch the dough down and then roll the dough into a large rectangle as think as you can get it without tearing the dough. Rest the dough as you roll occasionally and it becomes easier to roll. (Make sure your counter is well floured so the dough will not stick.

Prick the dough all over with a fork and then cut into squares. Transfer each square to a baking sheet leaving space between each.

Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for about 12 minutes (watch closely because time really depends on the thickness of your dough). When crackers are lightly browned, remove from oven. Brush the crackers with melted butter and then sprinkle lightly with salt. Cool!

When completely cooled, store in an airtight container.

Theresa's Meatloaf

Theresa and Ed in their early days on the farm.

Living on a farm, one simply had to be thrifty. My mom knew how to stretch a pound of meat while making the most delicious dishes. 

I know one of the families favorite of those meat stretching meals was meat loaf. Here is my mom's version of meatloaf. (Note. Theresa also used this exact recipe to make hamburgers, simply make into patty's grill or fry). Enjoy!

Theresa's Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (small bits)

1/4 finely chopped onions

2 tsp. mustard

2 beaten eggs

1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup tomato juice

salt and pepper to taste.

Directions

In a large bowl combine all ingredients and thoroughly but gently mix all ingredients.

Grease a baking dish (My mom preferred a flat pan rather than a loaf pan). Press the beef mixture tightly in the pan.

Cover with special topping: Mix together 1/4 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup mustard 3 Tbs. brown sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes until done.

Spudnuts

Nowadays, if one is looking for a treat, it is easy to run to the local market to pick one up! Or in my case, run to the local frozen yogurt shop or even better, LOPS, the local soda shop.

That is not what life is like growing up on a farm in a rural area. If we wanted a treat, (aside from the occasional bag of penny candy from Lucians Corner Store), we made it. One of my favorite treats were Spudnuts! I loved when we had mashed potatoes for dinner, because what usually followed within the next day or two were Spudnuts.  Now how my mom made these treats perfect every time is a mystery to me; perhaps it was the cup of love for her family that she put into each and every one. Enjoy this great recipe.

Spudnuts

Ingredients:

3 T. (1 package) yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup scalded milk

1/2 cup shortening 

(or butter if you prefer)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 beaten egg

1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

About 5-6 cups flour

Directions:

Add yeast to lukewarm water, stir, and set aside.

Scald milk. Add shortening (or butter), sugar, and salt. Cool to room temperature and add yeast mixture. Stir and let set for a few minutes. Add the beaten egg and mashed potatoes to the mixture. Add flower until the dough becomes stiff and leaves the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough lightly for about 1 minute to form a ball. Place the dough in a greased bowl and let rise for 90 minutes under a covered cloth. Roll our the dough about 1/2 thick and cut with a donut cutter. (Theresa used a class cup and a salt shaker lid to cut the hole in the center. This is still my favorite method)! Let donuts rise for about an hour. Heat vegetable oil in a large pot (You must stay close to this pot, at all times. Theresa told me how oil jumped out of the pan one time and started a towel on fire. Keep a close eye on it!.

When oil is heated, place the doughnuts a few at a time, cook to golden brown on both sides and then place on a paper towel. Then, dip the doughnut is a power sugar glaze or in granulated or powdered sugar. YUM!

Cinnamon Rolls

Honestly I have no idea how i am going to make it through this post without running to the kitchen and making a yummy pan of cinnamon rolls. My mom's cinnamon rolls are always a special treat even for the most ordinary of days.

Forty years ago when I brought my then boyfriend (now husband of 40 years) home to meet my parents, he was greeted with homemade cinnamon rolls. When he proposed a few short weeks later, he told me flat out that the cinnamon rolls sealed the deal. "I am hoping that you cook like your mom!" He said. 

Of course nothing can compare with cinnamon rolls made by mom's hands, but here is the recipe so we can all try!

Theresa's Cinnamon Rolls

To make Theresa’s special cinnamon rolls, make her basic roll doll. Let rise for 60 minutes and then roll the entire amount of dough in a large flat circle.

Melt 1 square of butter in a small dish. Mix 1 cup sugar and cinnamon to taste in another small dish or shaker.

Rub desired amount of melted butter over the entirety of the dough, and then sprinkle with desired amount of sugar/cinnamon mixture. (Or you can substitute brown sugar for the sugar mixture. Theresa made it both ways). 

Add raisins and/or chopped walnuts.

Begin rolling the entire circle of dough to make a long loaf. Using a string (or very sharp knife), cut into individual rolls; placing each on buttered baking sheet. Let rise 45 minutes.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet.

Cool and ice with delicious buttercream frosting (1 cup powder sugar, 1 T. heavy cream, 1 tsp. melted butter, 1 tsp. vanilla).

Theresa's Homemade Rolls

I have tried to make my mom's delicious rolls now for 40 years. Try as I might, they just are not the same as those delicious rolls that my nose smells at this exact moment!

My mom had the touch. She knew just the size of dough that would make the rolls perfect size, they were done to perfection and tasted light and fluffy. Oh well, I guess I will just keep on trying because luckily I have her recipe for homemade dinner rolls right from the oven. Maybe you will have the touch to make them just like moms!

Homemade Dinner Rolls

1 cup water

3 T. (or 2 pkg.) dry yeast

3/4 cup scalded milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 t. salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter

5 cups flour

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Add the yeast to 1 cup of lukewarm water, stir to dissolve and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, scald milk (following instructions on the homemade bread recipe).

Add sugar, salt, butter to the milk and cool to room temperature. When cooled, add the yeast mixture and two eggs. Let set for about 5 minutes to form a sponge.

Add flour a cup at a time, stir, mix and then knead as the instructions on the homemade bread recipe). Let dough rise in covered, buttered dish for 60-90 minutes (until the dough has doubled). Punch dough down.

Divide dough into fourths. Taking one forth at a time, roll the dough to be about 1/2 inch thick. Using the top of a glass cut circle shapes from the dough. Take each circle and fold in half; place on a baking sheet about 1/4 apart from one another.

Cover and let rolls rise for 30 minutes.

Bake rolls in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from over and brush gently with butter. Cool slightly and eat with delicious homemade jam and butter.

Mama’s Delicious Homemade Bread

Who wouldn't love coming home from school greeted with a delicious smell of homemade bread in the air. Well that is how it was for me, a childhood filled with fresh home-baked bread.

I remember occasionally we had store-bought bread for a treat and I remember thinking it was terrible. Still to this day I prefer a slice of the home cooked delicacy.

Of course the bread was usually topped with homemade jam or honey straight from Grandpa Hansen's honey farm. Yum.

Here is her delicious recipe

Ingredients: 

2 3/4 cups of lukewarm water

2 pkgs. (or 3 T.) active dry yeast

1 cup scalded milk

1/4 cube butter

1 T. salt

2 T. Sugar

7-8 cups sifted flour

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water; stir to dissolve. 

Place the cup of milk in saucepan and turn to medium-high. Stirring frequently, heat milk until bubbles form and a light froth form around the edges of the pan. Add in the butter, salt and sugar. Mix. Cool to room temperature.

Only when milk is cool, add the dissolved yeast to the milk mixture.

Add about 3 cups flour to the mixture and stir to mix. Add 3-4 more cups of flour, one cup at a time until the mixture becomes solid and becomes difficult to stir.

Sprinkle a small amount of flour on a clean surface. Rub a slight amount of butter on your hands.

Work the dough with your hands forming it into a ball, press and then reshape. Continue this process until the dough is no longer sticky. (If the dough does not lose it’s stickiness, add more flour).

After dough forms a ball that will not fall apart, begin punching the dough by pressing the heels of your hands into the dough, pushing forward and gathering back to punch once again.

Throw the dough by gathering the dough, raising it, and then throwing it on the counter (this can be quite therapeutic).

Continue to knead, punch and throw the dough for about 10 minutes or when the ball of dough shows a shiny and smooth appearance and is tacky to the touch (having an elastic feel). 

Place the ball of dough in a covered, buttered bowl for 60 minutes. At that time, punch the down to make it flat. Divide the dough in have; shape each half into a loaf. Place in two greased bread loaf pans. Cover and let rise for 60 minutes. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.

Remove from pans; turn loaves over and rub the tops with butter. Let cool.

The Chester Ward

My mom was the best cook on the planet! Everything she made was delicious; the smells still remain with me to this day. And some of my best memories? The delicious food that she prepared for the weekly Chester Ward Banquet. The food was delicious!

My mom would cook all day long. At days end she and my dad would then load up the family in the old green station wagon and head for the Chester Ward building. Once there we had the privilege of eating that delicious food after we paid, the dime a dip! Why? Because these weekly banquets were fundraisers for the building of our little church in our tiny town in central Utah. A church everyone in the community loved, because it was our home away from home.

My mom is now gone (and unfortunately so is that little church), but her delicious recipes and passion for the wonderful home-cooked meal live on. This blog is dedicated to her.
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