COCONUT DESSERT

1 cup all-purpose flour or can use self-rising but pat out good 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 1/2 cup cold butter or marg. 1/2 cup chopped pecans Filling 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 cup confectioners' sugar 1 (12 ounce) container Cool Whip, thawed and divided 4 cups cold milk 3 (3.4 ounce) packages instant coconut cream pudding mix 1/2 cup flaked coconut, toasted Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in pecans. Press into prepared baking dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth; fold in one cup Cool Whip. Spread over the crust. In a separate bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft set. Spread over cream cheese mixture. Top with remaining Cool Whip. Sprinkle with coconut. Refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving. This can be made with Blueberry pie filling or apple pie or cherry pie filling leaving out the puddings and coconut and milk but using all the other ings.

ORANGE DREAM FUDGE

3 cups white sugar 2/3 cup heavy cream 3/4 cup butter 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme 1 (11 ounce) package white chocolate chips 3 teaspoons orange extract 12 drops yellow food coloring 9 drops red food coloring Directions: 1. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. 2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cream and butter. Heat to soft ball stage, 234 degrees F (112 degrees C). Remove from heat and stir in marshmallow creme and white chocolate chips; mix well until the chips melt. Reserve 1 cup of mixture and set aside. 3. To the remaining mixture add orange flavoring, yellow and red food coloring. Stir well and pour into prepared pan. Pour reserved cream mixture on top. Using a knife, swirl layers for decorative effect. 4. Chill for 2 hours, or until firm, and cut into squares.

MAPLE NUT CREAM FUDGE

24 Oz. Almond Bark 2 Lbs. Light Brown Sugar 2 Sticks Of Butter 1 Large Can Of Carnation Cream 1 1/2 Tablespoons Maple Flavoring 1 Large Jar of Marshmallow Cream 1 Cup Chopped Nuts Mix the butter, brown sugar and cream together. Cream this good. Bring to a boil. Boil to a soft ball stage. Remove this from the heat.Then add the maple flavoring and the almond bark and marshmallow cream. Stir until this is thick. Then add the nuts. Put into a buttered pan and let cool . Cut.

SHUCK BEANS POPPING

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I had fixed some Shuck Beans for my brother-in-law. Here in the mountains it is a favorite during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.We sat and had a good laugh at what I had done with them in the early years of my cooking.
 Now if you don't know what Shuck Beans are, they are dried garden beans. Most of us in the mountains have gardens during the summer. We take White Half Runner, Peanut Beans and the best ones Greasy Beans and dry them. You let them get full, pick them and wash them and let them dry good. Then you string them and break them up and spread them in a thin layer  on a piece of wood or sheetrock , etc.and put a sheer curtain over them to keep the bugs out and you lay them out in the sun for around 5 days to dry. They will change color from green to light tan and dry up to hardly nothing. You put them in zip lock bags and put them in the freezer until ready to fix. If you have garden beans that have dryed on the vine pick them off and make sure they are good and dryed and add to the ziplock bags. The more lose beans the better it makes them.
Now how to fix them. You take around 5 handfuls of them and put in a kettle over night and let them soak. This brings them back to the regular size. You wash them three times then put more water in them and put on the stove to cook. Let them cook around ten minutes and take them off and rinse them and then put back in the kettle to continue cooking. This takes around 5 hours or more until done and well worth the trouble. I put a big piece of jowl meat or salt bacon in mine with some cooking oil or lard. You have to watch them and not let them dry down and have to add more water to them until they are done cooking on medium heat. Don't put salt in them or any type dryed beans until almost done or they WILL NOT get done. Trust me. lol.
Now the part of what I done when I was first married.
We were having a church homecoming and everyone loves Shuck Beans so I decieded to fix some. I did not know much about them them so I put the whole bag full in the kettle because I thought that sure was not many beans. I put the water in them and then went in the living room and sit down. In a little while I saw smoke so I went in the kitchen to see where it was coming from. There was shuck beans all over the stove, in the floor and they just kept popping over the kettle. What a mess. lol. When I got finished I had enough beans for two big kettles.They have never let me live that down. That has been around 20 years ago and we still sit and giggle about it when I fix them. So make sure you know how many to put in that kettle.........Wish I had some now with a big piece of cornbread and a big onion.

SAUSAGE APPETIZERS

1 Roll of Bob Evans sausage
1 Pack of won-ton wrappers
1 Bottle of Ranch Dressing
1 Pack of Montanery Jack  or Chedder Cheese,  finely shredded

In a muffin pan put the won-ton wrappers in it. You will have to pleat them to get them to fit right. Bake until crispy. Let cool. In a pan fry and crumble the sausage, drain. Take the won-ton wrappers and put back in the muffin pan and put a spoonful of the sausage in them. Then add the ranch dressing. Next put the cheese on top. Put in oven until the cheese melts.

VANILLA WAFER SANDWICHES

1 Can of crushed pineapple, drained
1 Pack of 8oz. cream cheese, softened
1 Box of Vanilla Wafers
1 Medium container of Cool Whip
1 Bag of coconut
1 Cup of crushed pecans

In a bowl mix the drained crushed pineapple and cream cheese together. Add half of the pecans to this.Add about three Tablespoons of cool whip to this mixtue. Take and put a spoonful of this mixture between two vanilla wafers and then freeze them. Take them out of the freezer and roll them in cool whip and the coconut and rest of the nuts. Freeze this until ready to serve. You can also put all of the pecans in the mixture if you like.

CREAM DROP PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

12 oz Old Fashioned Crème Drops 3/4 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy) In the microwave, melt the crème drops by running on high for 30 seconds and then heating at 15 second intervals until the candy can be stirred completely. Stir in peanut butter. Pour into an 8 or 9" pan which you have greased lightly. Allow to cool. Cut into squares.