Two Minute Fudge and Remembering My First Microwave

I can remember when microwaves were first introduced for general home use in the late 70's. The secretary in our office who wore her fur coat and drove her Caddy to work so we would all know that her husband made good money and she was just there for spending money was the first to buy one. She raved about how good reheated coffee was but not much else. They were running about $300-$400 at the time so it seemed a bit pricey to heat water, bake a ham or warm leftovers.

When we moved to Charleston in 1978, I was shopping for an electric frying pan at a local appliance store when they announced a microwave cooking class was beginning. By the end of the class my son and I were hooked and wanted one. The prices were still pretty steep but I found one on sale at J. C. Penney's a few weeks later and bought it ($200).

The woman at the appliance store had taken hot dogs and cut them into one inch lengths and then cut an "X" on both ends. She nuked them in about a minute then added cocktail toothpicks and a small bowl of Heinz 57 sauce to the middle of the dish and passed them around. My son loved them and insisted on making them for years as an evening snack. I had to convince him that he only needed one fancy toothpick each time since he was the only one eating them. He was sure he needed to put one in each piece LOL.

She hooked me with what she called "Dump Fudge". She grabbed a large baking bowl, tossed in a box of confectioners sugar, made a hole in the middle and dumped some milk, Hershey's cocoa, and vanilla into it then tossed a stick of butter on top. She nuked it for 2 minutes, stirred it for a minute and poured it into a square pan and tossed it into the freezer. About 20 minutes later she pulled it out, cut it into squares and passed it around as the class finale. I was sold LOL.

My new microwave came with an excellent cookbook that told me how to make cakes (long before the m/w cake mixes), cookie bars, bread and lots of other things in the microwave. Did you know you could m/w those old aluminum tray TV dinners in most m/w's without having to dump everything onto a seperate dish? Just remove the foil cover and put the tray back in the box. Worked great.

Anyway, it also included this Two Minute Fude recipe that I make almost every year for my NY's Eve treat:

from the GE Microwave Cookbook 1977

1 box (one pound) confectioners sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1/4 lb) butter
Optional - 1 cup chopped nuts or other additives (diced cherries, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, toffee pieces, etc)

In a 1 1/2 qt casserole stir sugar, cocoa, salt, milk and vanilla together until partially blended (mixture is too stiff to thoroughly blend in all of the dry ingredients). Put butter over top in center of dish.

Microwave at High for 2 minutes or until milk feels warm on bottom of dish.

Stir vigorously until smooth. If all butter has not melted in cooking, it will as mixture is stirred.

Blend in nuts or other additives if desired.

Pour into wax paper lined square or rectangle dish. (I don't line - I use butter spray.)

Chill one hour in refrigerator or 20 to 30 minutes in freezer.

Cut into squares.

This one is very, very sweet and a little gritty. For a super creamy fudge, try the next recipe. This is the one I made for church dinners and bake sales:

Two Minute Magic Fudge:

3 cups (18 ounces)semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed (not evaporated) milk
1/3 cup confectiners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup walnut pieces, chopped (could use other nuts or no nuts)

Grease an 8 -inch square pan. Microwave chocolate chips and the condensed milk uncovered in a 2-quart bowl on HIGH 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Stir in sugar and vanilla, then the nuts until well bnended. Pour into prepared pan; spread evenly. Chill until firm, about 1 1/2 ouurs. Cut into sixteen 2 inch pieces. Store tightly covered in a cool place up to 2 weeks (like they will last that long)
*Receipe courtesy of WOMAN'S DAY 12.22.87.
(Thanks to my stepmom, Ellen, for finding this one. I had misplaced my copy.)

Enjoy,
Linda B:)

Orange Ham Glaze

In our house, ham has always been the traditional Christmas dinner. There are lots of great ham glaze recipes around made with maple syrup, molasses, and other flavors of ham glazes. Martha Stewart did a great sounding one using apricot preserves on her show Friday. My mother used syrup and my grandmother used molasses. They both insisted on putting cloves, pineapple and cherries on the ham. I didn't care for any of it so I was hunting for something different when I left home.

In the early 70's I discovered a recipe for an orange glaze. It is simple and I love it. All you need is a small container of frozen orange juice concentrate and some brown sugar.

Mix equal amounts of both in a bowl and spoon it over the ham after scoring it (making light criss-crossing cuts around the outside). I cover the ham and make sure to push it into the score marks before baking then cover with foil and bake following the instructions on your ham. About 20 minutes before it is ready I remove the foil and cover the outside with another thick layer of the OJ and brown sugar.

Hint: I mix the glaze in small amounts. When I put the ham in the oven I put the leftover OJ back in the freezer. When I am ready to put the last coating on, the frozen OJ keeps the glaze thick and allows it to seep into the scoring cuts better before it melts and slides down the ham.

Happy Holidays
Linda B:)