Nancy's Kitchen

Nancy McWhorter - For The Record

You probably will recall how I have told you about “Hurricane Ike” in October, 2008 and our Bridge City, Texas home flooding, ruining many of our possessions. Among all our many losses I lost a large portion of my cookbook collection. My daughter, Carol Farley, was very active in a Red Hat organization. When she told her Red Hat members about my loss, word quickly spread throughout other Red Hat societies. Soon I was receiving cookbooks from Red Hat members throughout the U.S. and even one as far away as England.

One of the cookbooks I received came from a Red Hat Society located in Moss Bluff, Louisiana; they call their selves “Fluff in the Bluff.” The book was compiled by their members and besides recipes it contains tidbits of wisdom, poetry and humorous antidotes. I feel touched and honored that it was a project inspired by my story and then dedicated to me.

The KEEPER recipe I am sharing with you this week was taken from that book. No name was given of the person who submitted this recipe.

CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES

2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar

¼ cup butter or margarine, softened

1 Tbsp. milk

½ tsp. almond extract

2 (8 oz.) jars maraschino cherries, with stems, well drained

2 (12 oz.) cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 Tbsp. shortening

1. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, butter, milk and almond extract; mix well.
2. Knead into a large ball.
3. Roll into 1-inch balls and flatten each into a 1-inch circle.
4. Wrap around cherries and lightly roll in hands.
5. Place with stems up on waxed paper-lined baking sheet.
6. Cover loosely and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
7. Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in a double boiler or micro-wave in a micro-wave safe bowl.
8. Holding on to stem, dip cherries into chocolate; set on waxed paper to harden.
9. Store in a covered container.
10. Refrigerate 1-2 weeks before serving.

QUOTE: “The candy just gets better as it is stored, with the centers becoming even juicer.”

Yields: about 3 dozen cherries.