CHOCOLATE ICE BOX PIE

I discovered this delicious pie while living in Tennessee. This pie far far surpasses any chocolate pie I had ever had elsewhere. Chocolate Cream Pie, Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Pudding pie—all these will drop forever off your personal menu once you've tried this pie.

3 eggs, separated

2 cups milk

1-1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 baked 9-inch pastry shell (alternately you may use graham cracker crust)

6 tablespoons sugar (for meringue)

Beat eggs yolks until thick and lemon colored. Combine with milk in a large, heavy saucepan. Stir well.

In another bowl, combine the sugar, cocoa, and cornstarch. Mix well to remove lumps. Add this sugar mixture to the milk mixture, stirring well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened (about 20 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour filling into pie shell. Let cool completely before topping with meringue or alternative (see below).

For meringue: Beat egg whites (at room temperature) until soft peaks form. Gradually add 6 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over filling, sealing to edge of pastry.*

To brown the meringue: Bake at 425 degrees for 5 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before serving. The colder the better, but don't freeze it for heaven's sake. Yield: one yummy 9-inch pie.

* To my taste, meringue should be 1/2 thick or so—throw the rest out. Alternately, you may skip the meringue entirely and top with whipped cream or Cool Whip. In that case, the pie is done once you've poured the filling into the pie shell and let cool. There is no need for it to go into the oven.

LICORICE CARAMELS

Like the fondly remembered—but no longer available—Callard & Bowsers Licorice Toffee out of England.

1 cup butter

2 cups white sugar

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup corn syrup

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon anise extract

black paste food coloring

Line a 9x9 inch dish with buttered foil.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in sugar, milk, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Continue to heat, without stirring, to 242 to 248 degrees F (116 to 120 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a firm but pliable ball. Remove from heat and stir in anise and food coloring. Pour into prepared pan. Let cool completely, several hours. Your patience will be tested, considering what your kitchen smells like at this point.

To cut, turn out of pan and peel away foil. Cut with a buttered knife. Restrain yourself from eating them all if you can and wrap pieces in waxed paper or candy wrappers for later. Makes about 64 of them.

CINNAMON TWISTS

Mother called these "sour cream rolls." Yuck. Fortunately, she was much better at naming her children than at naming her recipes. Otherwise I would be Horace or something. But I can assure you that, whatever they're called, these twists are really really good. This recipe makes about 20 of them. Why not triple it? I would.

1/4 cup warm water (not hot)

1 package Fleishmann's dry yeast

3/4 cup lukewarm sour cream. Stay with me now. Trust me. I guess you can buy the sour cream, or make it this way: Put 1 tbsp vinegar in a cup. Fill cup to 3/4 with cream (not whipping cream) or half & half.

3 tbsp sugar

1/8 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

2 tbsp Crisco (shortening)

3 cups flour (sifted)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1-1/3 tsp cinnamon

Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small container and keep to the side. Keep it away from Ricky.

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in the remaining ingredients (but not the sugar/cinammon mix). Turn dough onto lightly floured board. Fold over several times to smooth.

Roll into oblong shape 24 inches by 6 inches. Spread 2 tbsp soft butter on dough. Sprinkle down long side (24 inches by 3 inches) with the brown sugar/cinnamon mix. Fold other half over so now you have 3 inches by 24 inches. Cut 1-inch wide sections (1 inch by 3 inches). Twist each one once or twice and place on greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Push ends to cookie sheet to secure. Cover and let rise in warm place for one hour or until indentation remains when touched.

Bake at 375 degrees 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. While still a little warm, frost with simple white frosting. See frosting recipe elsewhere here.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)

1 egg

1-1/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Thoroughly mix shortening, butter, peanut butter, sugars, and egg. Blend in the rest. Cover and chill for an hour.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls, 3 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Dip fork in flour and use it to flatten the dough balls into 2-inch cookies. Bake at 375 degrees 10-12 minutes until set but not hard.

MA'S MACARONI AND CHEESE

...and don't forget the little one-inch squares of white bread scattered on top that will turn into toasty goodness.

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour

Salt and Pepper

2 cups milk

2 cups cheese. This would be a nice cheddar, usually sharp, grated or cut up into small cubes.

About 2 cups macaroni

Bake 30 minutes at 350-375 degrees. Are the bread squares on top in for the whole ride or just at the end? I don't know.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

This is my mother's recipe but was not in the recipe book she made me in 1973. I asked her for it about ten years later, after finding any and all gingerbread cookies to be mere pale imitations of this fabulous recipe. There was no egg in the recipe she gave me but I think this may have been an oversight since most similar recipes call for an egg. But maybe not. Let's call it an option.

1/3 cup Crisco

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg (optional)

1-1/2 cup dark molasses

2/3 cup cold water

6 cups sifted flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Allspice (or nutmeg)

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Hand mix shortening, sugar, molasses thoroughly. Stir in water. Sift remaining ingredients together and stir in. Chill dough 2-3 hours (cover bowl). Roll 1/2" thick. Cut out with cookie cutter dipped in flour -- 2-1/2 inches or 3 inches.

Place on lightly greased cookie sheet (far apart). 350 degrees, 15 minutes--until no thumbprint shows when pushed. Underdone here is much better than overdone!

Frost while still a little warm with you know what!

Recipe makes about 20 gingerbread men about 6 inches tall, or about 30 2-1/2 inch cookies.