Today marks a milestone in my writing for this newspaper. This is the 500th Sunday food article I have written.
I take great pride in the fact that I have never missed a Sunday or repeated an article. That makes not only 500 articles, but over 1,500 recipes!
I must thank Tim Kalich for taking a chance on me almost a decade ago when I asked him if I could write a food article for the Sunday newspaper.
Thankfully, he gave me the opportunity that has allowed me to do something that I never dreamed would give me so much enjoyment, and in retrospect, changed my life.
I also want to thank all the Lifestyles editors I have had the pleasure of working with. Their patience as I have left the Stone Age and entered the world of computers, as well as the camera, has certainly been a blessing to me.
From a weekly newspaper article, I have progressed to book writing, freelance magazine writing, public speaking, television and even the movie business. None of that would have taken place had it not been for my Sunday column.
While all of these opportunities have been wonderful, what I enjoy most is when I receive an e-mail or meet someone in public who tells me that they enjoy reading my article and trying—or just reading—the recipes. For that I am most grateful. I have met some terrific people by computer and in person.
I must admit that occasionally I have had some negative comments. You have to take the bad with the good.
Here are a few of them.
nOne day I was shopping at the grocery store, and a man came up to me and told me he had tried one of my cake recipes and it was awful — so dry they couldn’t eat it. Oops, what did you do wrong? Worked for me.
nOne day a lady told me she had tried one of my casserole dishes for her family. She told me it made her husband so sick he was up all night. I was mortified, until she threw in the fact that he had eaten most of the dish all by himself. Perhaps he had just eaten too much. Thanks for throwing that little tidbit in.
nOne day I received an anonymous e-mail from someone who told me they were sick of hearing about my happy life, friends and family. Sorry.
nOne day, a retired English teacher wrote me a letter correcting a grammatical error I had made. If felt as if I had been sent to the principal’s office. She was right, and I still don’t know how I missed it. I will never make that error again. I kept her letter and her copy of my article that had been correcting in red ink. Thank you.
nOne day I received another anonymous e-mail from someone who told me that my recipes weren’t that big a deal, and my stories weren’t all that good. Gee thanks. My mama told me if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
Today’s recipes are some of the most requested sweets I have had for the past few years.
Everybody loves sweets. You keep on reading and I’ll keep on writing. Thanks to all of you.
SNICKER BAR
FUDGE
3 cups sugar
¾ cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 (12 oounces) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 (2 ounces) Snicker candy bars, cut into pieces
1 (7 ounces) jar marshmallow cream
1 teaspoons vanilla
Melt butter, sugar and milk in a heavy saucepan.
Mix well.
Cook until begins to boil and cook for three minute.
Stir and cook another three minutes; remove from heat.
Add chocolate chips and candy bars; stir and mix well until melted.
Incorporate marshmallow cream in mixture and add vanilla.
Mix well and pour into a buttered 9-x-13-inch dish.
When set, cut into squares and serve.
WHITE CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE
1cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs
3 cups plain flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
8 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate, melted
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Spray a 10-cup bundt pan with nonstick baking spray with flour.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add flour mixture to butter mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Beat until just combined after each addition.
Stir in melted chocolate. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
Bake about 1½ hours or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes.
Cool completely on wire rack.
Delicious served with fresh sliced peaches, strawberries and blueberries
MINNY’S
CHOCOLATE PIE
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 (5½ ounces) can evaporated milk
1 (9 inch) uncooked pie shell
Cool Whip
Bring pie shell to room temperature.
Crimp edges, prick bottom and sides of pie shell with a fork.
Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix sugar, cocoa, and melted butter in a mixing bowl; mix well.
Add eggs and beat for three to five minutes.
Add salt, milk and vanilla; mix well.
Pour filling into prepared pie crust.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until pastry is browned and filling is slightly set in the middle.
May be refrigerated or served at room temperature.
Top each slice with a dollop of Cool Whip before serving.
nContact Lee Ann Flemming at lafkitchen@hughes-.net.
