Grandpa's Home Cooking

Lloyd Pipes Famous Fudge Since 1937

Everyone and I mean everyone, wanted my dad, Lloyd Pipes, to make his creamy and buttery fudge for them. He made it for family, employees he supervised at Western Electric in Indianapolis (a former AT&T company that manufactured phones for Bell Telephone), neighbors, church members, and in colossal quantities for ministers and their guests. Dad never tired of making his candy. He put pure love for people and candy in every batch. Dad was amazing. We always had Dad's fudge for every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day. He was  often in the kitchen  working on his candy while Mom was cooking dinner. Sometimes he finished making his candy and served it to family and guests right before Mom served the dinner(to Mother's dismay)!

Dad passed away in November, 2007 at age 92, but you'll always remember him if you master the art of making his fudge as he did. When properly prepared, it's very special candy. You'll be in the race to clean the platter with everyone whose in the room with you.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups of sugar
• 2/3 cup half and half
• 2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate, grated (Baker's changed the size of the squares!)
• 2 Tablespoons clear Karo syrup
• 2 Tablespoons butter, plus butter to cover the candy platter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup black walnut pieces 
• Heavily buttered platter

Instructions:

Combine the sugar, half and half, grated unsweetened chocolate, and Karo syrup. Heat to soft ball stage.

Use your candy thermometer to determine the temperature required for candy to be at a soft ball stage (240 degrees).  Dad continually tested the bubbling chocolate by spooning a drop of fudge in a cup of ice cold water and working it together with his index finger and thumb to try to work it in a ball. I remember his doing this methodically over and over until the candy reached the desired temperature to form a ball between his fingers.

I use a candy thermometer to determine when the heated ingredients reach the soft ball stage; Dad never did this and scoffed at my doing so. Dad’s fudge was always creamy and he stood by his manual efforts in getting this result.

Now add 2 Tablespoons butter and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Drop a big silver spoon in the hot candy pan to start whipping the hot fudge immediately. Steady motion, not fast.  Dad always beat the candy by hand rhythmically, until the candy was stiff. He used the same heavy pan for years and stirred the fudge with a his big metal spoon. I can see his arm moving now and it never stopped until the fudge was ready. I use to say, “Dad doesn’t your arm feel like it will fall off,” and he would smile and say, “Oh no, I'm fine.” Dad was always fine! I don't know how he did it! To be honest, my arms are not strong enough.

I use a big Kitchen Aid mixer and beat that mixture until it gets stiff. I made a batch today. I used the paddle to mix the hot candy. I set the mixer dial on stir. I turned the machine on and let it stir the fudge until it started getting thick.  On the stir setting, the machine mixed the fudge at about the speed of Dad's arm. It worked perfectly! 

Quickly stir in the black walnut pieces and quickly push the mixture out on a heavily buttered plate with a spatula. Let it set until the fudge is set up. Cut it in squares and take the platter to the family room and start serving the candy to family and guests -- even though Mom may be about ready to serve her Christmas dinner:-) 

Mom used to say, "Lloyd don't be serving that candy now ... no one will eat my dinner." He'd give her a big kiss and she'd look around to all of us ...  smile real big and say ... "I'll never be able to change him ... he's a sweetheart!" 

Lloyd and Charlotte Pipes love never failed. We always had a happy home. 

Mom's Starlight Mint Surprise Cookies

This was the cookie of all cookies for me at Christmas when I was just a lad. Then all of the sudden, Ebenezer apparently quit making the mints and I have not had one of Mom’s Rockwood Starlight Mint Surprise Cookies since. What made the Rockwood mint so special? It had a vibrant mint taste and it was coated with dark chocolate. When you wrapped Mom’s dough around those cookies and bake them, you were treated to a multitude of flavors.

Since you can no longer buy the Rockwood chocolate mint, you can try any chocolate mint you like. The one that has worked best for me is Ghirardelli mint.  This comes in a scored bar and can be broken into squares.  Just wrap some dough around the mint and bake a pan full. Here are the instructions followed by an Internet posting about the history of the Rockwood family.

Mom’s Starlight Mint Surprise Cookies

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Sift and set aside:                             

• 3 cups sifted flour
• 1 tsp soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

In a large mixing bowl use your mixer to cream:

• 1 cup shortening (with at least half being butter)

Then mix sugars together and add gradually to the shortening:            

• 1 cup sugar
•  ½ cup brown sugar (firmly packed)

Mix the shortening and sugars thoroughly.

Now add in:                           

• 2 eggs, unbeaten
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Now beat well into the mix of shortening and sugars

Beat well well into the mix of shortening and sugars.

Now gradually blend in the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Cover, and chill the dough at least 2 hours.

Then enclose each chocolate wafer in about 1 Tablespoon of chilled dough.

Place the cookies on a greased baking sheet about 2” apart.

Top each cookie with a black walnut half.

Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes

Mom's Luscious Apricot Squares

 

Mom made her luscious apricot squares every Christmas. She put them up in cookie tins and then put this tin along with her many Christmas cookie tins on the dining room sideboard for family and guests to help themselves as they wished. She baked as often as she needed to keep the tins full and the family happy.

Ingredients:

• 2/3rds Cup *California Dried  Apricots
• 1/2 Cup soft butter
• 1/4th Cup sugar
• 1-1/3 Cup sifted flour
• 1/4th teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 Cup brown sugar, packed tight
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 Cup chopped walnuts
• Confectioner's sugar

* California dried apricots are smaller than Turkish/Middle East dried apricots but they have a sweeter and much better flavor. You'll need to go to a chain supermarket like Kroger or Harris Teeter. You'll find them in the dried fruit section. They'll likely have two rows of the Middle East apricots and one thin row of the California. (You won't find them at Whole Foods.)

Instructions:

1. Rinse apricots. Cover them with water in a small saucepan and boil for 10 minutes. They should still be whole, but soft. Don't overcook the fruit. Cool and chop. 

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 X 8 X 2 inch pan.

3. Mix butter, sugar, and 1 Cup of flour until crumbly. Press into pan and bake for 25 minutes.

4. Sift 1/3 Cup flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually beat brown sugar into eggs. Mix in flour mixture, then vanilla, chopped walnuts, and chopped apricots.

5. Spread over baked layer. Bake 30 minutes or until done. Cool into pan and then cut into 32 bars. Roll the bars in confectioner's sugar.

Eat one and you may not be able to stop! 

 

Standing Rib Roast

There is nothing to compare with the taste of a delicious standing rib roast. But prime roasts are pricey, so when you splurge make sure you get a good piece of meat. I suggest you go to a good butcher and be specific in communicating your needs. Be generous in ordering a roast to serve your guests and family.

If you want a lean cut, ask for a lean cut. I don't ask for a lean cut and here is why. You really need some fat to get a juicy, tender roast. I tell the butcher I wish to have "a well marbled roast." This should tell the butcher you want enough fat on top and within the grain of the meat for the roast to be tender, juicy, and flavorful. The rest is up to you. Cook it long enough that it fits the taste of the people at your table, but not so long that it is overcooked.

If you demand a lean cut, expect to eat tough meat. 

First decide first on how much roast to buy. A general guideline is that you'll serve two people to a rib. Therefore, a three rib roast will serve about 6 people. 

Chefs like to serve a roast medium rare. However, most people will say they want the meat to be cooked medium, medium well, or well done. You'll often have at least one person who'll say, "Well done." So you might ask, "How can I satisfy everyone?" You may not, but here is my suggestion for coming close.

First. I suggest you not attempt to cook a pricey roast without using a digital meat thermometer. I would cook the roast until the middle is done to a temperature of 145-150 degrees. If more people ask for medium well, roast the meat until the temperature of the middle of the roast is about 155 degrees. 

Start roasting the meat at 425 degrees for 15 minutes to sear the roast and then drop the temperature to 325 degrees. I start taking temperature readings when the meat has been in the oven for about an hour. Take frequent readings. I've discovered that if the center is cooked to medium, the end pieces will be cooked to medium well or near well done. Cut and serve to your guests accordingly. Give end slices to those who prefer well-done meat. 

This plan usually works for me and it may or may not work for you. It is a challenge to meet everyones wish. It's much easier for a chef at a restaurant who can selectively heat portions of roasts to the desired doneness. 

If you want some more precise instructions and don't mind wading through a lot of detail, you might wish to refer to  http://whatscookingamerica.net/Beef/ClassicPrimeRib.htm. This site provides some nice charts to help you select your meat and determine how long to cook the meat.

Here are some do's and don'ts.

• Do rub the meat with olive oil.

• Don't salt the meat because salt draws the moisture out of meat when you roast. You don't want that. You'd like a juicy roast. Let your guests salt and pepper their meat to taste at the table.

• If you're tempted to trim fat off the roast, I'd wait until after the meat is roasted. The roast needs to be roasted with fat to make it juicy and delicious. 

• Do stand the roast bone on the rack above a pan containing about an inch of water or white wine.

• Buy roasts when they are on sale and freeze them to thaw and roast for special occasions. 

I roasted the meat pictured to medium well and was enjoyed by all. I like to roast enough meat for everyone to have their fill. If some is leftover, that's fine ... it can be sent home with guests or served at a second or even a third meal. My preference is to serve the whole roast at the table. Slice half or more than half of the roast and leave the knife on the platter. 

I like to serve mashed potatoes, green vegetable, and a nice salad with this meal.

Nancy's Healthy & Delicious Homemade Granola

Grandma Nancy makes her own granola because it is good stuff! She makes it with ingredients she selects and buys individually to insure she'll have the best granola for her breakfast.

Nancy eats cereal for breakfast. Period. Oh yes, now and then she likes to have a plate of Grandpa's bacon and eggs and sometimes she likes to prepare and eat pancakes, which daughter Marta loves. But typically, you can expect to see Nancy sit down at breakfast with her big bowl of cheerios or wheat flakes, her homemade granola, and fresh blueberries and/or bananas, chopped fresh dates, peaches, or strawberries. Nancy brings a bountiful bowl of goodness to the table nearly every morning.

Here's Nancy's recipe for homemade granola that is out of this world. Nancy regularly makes granola on Sunday afternoon.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups Oatmeal (Old fashioned Quaker Oats--no quick oats!)
• 1/2 Cup Wheat germ
• 2/3 Cup Flaxseed meal
• 1 Cup Almonds, slivered
• 1 Cup Pumpkin seeds
• 2/3 Cup Coconut
• 2/3 Cup Walnuts or pecans, chopped small
• 1 Cup water
• 1/2 Cup brown sugar
• 1/3 Cup Canola oil
• 1/2 Cup molasses
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. 

2. In a large bowl combine oats, wheat germ, flaxseed meal, coconut, pumpkin seeds, and nuts and mix well.

3. In a large saucepan, combine brown sugar, water, oil, honey, molasses or sorghum, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla.

4. Heat until thoroughly mixed; do not boil. 

5. Pour syrup over the dry ingredients and gently stir until coated well.

6. Spread onto large cookie sheets.

7. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

8. For a crunchier texture, bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

9. Stir in an airtight container in a dry place.

10. Granola will keep up to 6 months but it's gone at our house so fast that you can expect Nancy to sometimes make it twice in a month (unless more than 2 people are it daily). 

Fill airtight tins of granola and give goodness for Christmas. This would be an especially nice gift for a person living in an independent living facility.

A Delicious & Juicy Roasted Turkey

There is a lot you can do to insure you turn out a delicious, juicy Thanksgiving and/or Christmas Turkey. Here are the things I think one must do to set a delicious and juicy turkey in front of your family:

1. Buy a premium turkey at an quality meat or poultry market, Whole Foods, or a Fresh Market. Can you buy a good turkey at the Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Kroger, Lowes, or another supermarket? You certainly can. I would chose a premium organic turkey. The one thing on my holiday menu that I want to make certain is done right is the turkey. Therefore, my preference is to buy my turkey at a store well known for the quality of its meat and poultry. The turkey pictured was purchased at Whole Foods.

2. However, the way you prepare your turkey will be the biggest determining factor in whether or not you serve a delicious, juicy turkey. Scary? Yes. None of us is perfect, including Grandpa, but if you properly thaw the bird, prepare it well, keep your eye on the bird, take its temperature, and do not under or overcook the bird you're likely to fix a delicious, juicy bird.

3. If you don't have one, buy a meat thermometer and spare batteries. Use the thermometer to determine when the bird is done just right. You want the temperature of the middle of bird's breast to be 170 degrees (the thermometer should not be touching the bone). If you'd like take another reading, take one in the middle of a thigh (the thermometer should not be touching the bone) and the temperature ought not to be more than 180 degrees.

 4. Roast the turkey for 12-15 minutes per pound. If you look at a lot of recipes you're going to see recommendations of anywhere between 12 and 20 minutes per pound for an unstuffed turkey. Sure, there are variances in oven temperatures and this is a darn good reason to own and use a meat thermometer. The turkey in the picture was 12.38 pounds. The breast temperature was 170 degrees in 2 hours and 45 minutes which was very close to 12 minutes per pound (unstuffed). This was a delicious, tender, and juicy turkey!

Why does a turkey turn out to be dry? Probably because it was overcooked. Start taking temperature readings when your bird has been roasted at something close to 12 minutes per pound. 

When the center of the turkey breast registers close to or at 170 degrees, pull the bird from the oven and let it rest for a full 15 minutes before you start slicing it. (Be careful. Don't let the turkey fly off the platter:-)

It is your choice, but I don't recommend stuffing the bird. I bake dressing in a casserole dish.

Ingredients:

• A great turkey:-)
• Duck fat and butter (or olive oil)
• Rock sea salt
• Coarse black pepper
• Fresh rosemary
• A good white wine

Move the turkey from the freezer to the refrigerator to thaw 2 to 3 days before the day you cook the bird. Two days is usually enough for a small bird. Move a big bird 2 1/2 to 3 days before you want to cook it. The turkey must then be cooked within 24 hours after it is thawed. Check the bird the night before you cook to make sure it is close to being thawed. If not, run cold water over it for an hour or so (preferably while it is still tightly wrapped in plastic). Of course, one should also read and heed the USDA recommendations for cleanliness (aka the Poultry Police).

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees

1. Remove the giblets and neck from the cavity of the bird and save these parts in the fridge to make juices to use in preparing a nice dressing (used to be called stuffing but since some of us no longer stuff as a result of warnings from the Poultry Police, we now bake a dish that we call a dressing). Truthfully, I prefer eating dressing baked in a casserole. Refer to my dressing recipe which explains how to cook the giblets to make turkey juice.

2. Wash the bird thoroughly and pat it dry with paper towels. Oh yes, wash your hands with hot soapy water, the counter, cabinet doors and drawers, the walls, the seat of the car, your spouses arm, or anything else that might have come in contact with the raw bird, as recommended by the Poultry Police. Sure, if you like, get out your Clorox wipes and give the counter an extra good cleaning. Then get out that fancy bottle of that soft and soothing Hand Sanitizer, pour a dollop in the palm of your hands and rub your hands tenderly as you would in the old days with hand lotion:-) 

Now comes the fun part.

Use your lovely clean hands to tenderly rub duck fat (or olive oil) all over the cavity of the turkey (the inside the bird). 

Now rub the cavity of the bird with sea salt and coarse black pepper.  If you have a rosemary bush, cut a wad of it off the bush and stuff the cavity of the turkey with the rosemary.

Rub the skin of the turkey with duck fat (or olive oil) and sprinkle salt and pepper on the skin.

Set a wire rack in a baking dishing. Taste the white wine to make sure it is good stuff. Pour about an inch of white wine in the dish below the baking rack. Set the turkey on top of the rack. Make a foil tent and set it over the bird. Put the turkey in the pre-heated 450 degree in the oven.

Then wash your hands in hot soapy water and rub them with some more of your soothing Sanitizer!

In 15 minutes, reduce the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees. Do not forget to do this or you're going to burn the bird!

When there is an 45 minutes to an hour of roasting time left, remove the foil tent and baste the bird with butter. Return the turkey to the oven without the tent. Start checking the temperature of the turkey's breast when there is 30 minutes of baking time left. Follow the instructions above for taking the temperature of the turkey. Now that you know the temperature, you'll have a good idea of how much longer you need to roast it. Take the temperature often enough to get the bird from the oven at 170 degrees. Pull the bid from the oven and follow let the bird rest before slicing it.

Mom's Thanksgiving Sage & Celery Dressing

Mom's Thanksgiving and Christmas Sage & Celery Dressing and Sage and Celery Dressing with Oysters is so good there is none left by the end of the day (and each was a double recipe). One dish was just her great dressing and the other dish was her great dressing with oysters. The kids just wanted the dressing. Mom, the grandmothers, and the great grandmothers wanted Mom's dressing with oysters. Mom learned this recipe from my great grandmother, Margaret See. Grandma See always bought a big refrigerated jar of oysters from the grocer the day before a holiday and the whole jar went into a batch of dressing. I made a batch on just a regular old day, a month before Thanksgiving to go with an apple stuffed pork loin roast.

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf of stale bread, cubed (I use an equal amount from a bag of cubes purchased at the Whole Foods bread department.)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• Oysters, from a jar of fresh refrigerated oysters (optional)
• 1/2 stick of butter, melted
• 8 sage leaves, sauted in butter (or 2 tablespoons dried sage)
• Juices from chicken or turkey giblets
• Chicken broth
• Salt
• Pepper

Instructions:

Mom always laid out fresh slices of artisan bread on cookie sheets to sit out the night before she was to make dressing to let the bread "get stale" (or dried). I just go to the Whole Foods bread department and ask for a bag of large bread cubes.   

Use butter to grease the casserole bowl you'll use to bake the dressing. Do not forget to do this or you're going to have dressing sticking to the bottom of the dish. 

Save chicken or turkey giblets. Cook the giblets in a quart of salted water just before making the dressing. I like to use a mix of water and chicken broth to cook the giblets. The reason you're cooking the giblets is to get the benefit of a big infusion of poultry taste in the dressing.

Put the stale bread cubes in a large mixing bowl. Add beaten eggs, salt and about 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Mix gently with a wooden spoon.  Add the hot melted butter and juices from the chicken or turkey giblets a bit at a time and mix gently with a wooden spoon. You want to get the bread nice and wet (but you do not want liquid on top of the bread).

If you want oysters in the dressing, mix them in now.

Transfer the dressing from the mixing bowl to the buttered casserole you'll use to bake the dressing. Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour and a half. Check the dressing now and then. Add poultry juice or chicken broth if the dressing is getting dry. Remove the lid about 20 minutes before the dressing is done so that the dressing will brown nicely.

Double the recipe for a large crowd or if you have folks like me that eat this stuff like it is going out of style. Which it does after Christmas until the next Thanksgiving (unless you're like me and make a dish on a regular old day just because you love Mom's sage and celery dressing). Here's a 1942 picture of my mom, my brother, and me (the pudgy little guy).