A Family Favorite Recipe

This week, we Word Quilters will share some old family recipes. We shared a few favorites last week, so here we go again. Karen, tempted us with the goodness of the store bought dough. It is good, even raw. I have a cookie dough story. You know how you're not supposed to take your own goodies into the movies, well one night some boys did. Now, I'm not boasting that they broke protocol, but their food choices did amuse me.

Later in life, my son told me about when he and a friend ran into another two friends at the movies one holiday weekend. My son's favorite bought holiday treat is Borden's egg nog. He and his friend bought two pints and had them in their letter jackets. They showed their buddies, who then opened up their jackets--they had two rolls of cookie dough to eat during the movie!

The Old Recipe: My Grandmother Dora Covington used to make an "Ice Box Cake" at Christmas, meaning it was refrigerated, but never saw the inside of a baking oven. Hey, Karen, maybe you could make this for your family.

I've made this two different ways with candied cherries and with chopped dried apricots. The latter has more of a tart flavor.

This cake can be made way prior to the holidays and stored in the fridge or freezer and sliced when needed. Its sweetness makes it go well with a bold cup of coffee (preferably free trade coffee, Sam's Club carries some).

1 box vanilla wafers crushed
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 large can coconut (or bagged equivalent)
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
8 ounces candied cherries, chopped or 8 ounces chopped dried apricots
2-3 Tbs. melted butter

Mix ingredients thoroughly, press into a medium size loaf pan, sprayed with Pam.

Enjoy this old recipe passed down through four generations of women in my family: Dora to Sylvia to Cathy, and I've passed it along to my daughter Sheryle. Enjoy!

Do you have a favorite family recipe that you make during the holidays?