Just a nibble . . .

Today I made a big batch of fudge. Next time I make fudge I am not starting until late in the day. Then I will not have eight hours to nibble the fudge while I package it up, bit by bit. I'm not sure how much fudge I ate, but I'm pretty sure it was too much. And the measly 3 miles I did on the treadmill barely made a dent in my fudge calories. Oh well! 'Tis the season. I heard a few weeks a go that the average American gains 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years. I've already proved I'm not average by losing 2 pounds since Thanksgiving. I guess there's still time to gain seven, though. Nah, I think I'll skip it this year.

The fudge turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I got the recipe from my neighbor Amanda. I think it's her dad's recipe. She was more than willing to share it with me, so I will share it with you. Since I can't deliver fudge to most of you, and shipping anything costs an arm and a leg these days, you will have to make your own fudge and pretend it is from me. I did plain with walnuts and mint. But I thought of a great idea I might try next: almond joy fudge. Dark chocolate with coconut and almonds. Some people I was making the fudge for have a strong dislike for coconut, so I couldn't try it with this batch, but I might try it with my next batch. I'm definitely going to make it a darker fudge. I love dark chocolate. LOVE it. And Kara seems to be tolerating it better too; she's not spitting up when I eat it. That, my friends, is a Christmas miracle!

Next on my Christmas goodie list is gingerbread cutouts. They are less time-consuming than sugar cookies because you can skip most of the decorating. But you can do some. The kids are going to help me make them for their primary teachers and bus drivers.

Please vote in my poll and help me decide what to do about my Christmas card dilemma. Enjoy the recipe!

***Fudge

4 ½ cups of sugar

1 can of evaporated milk

½ lb of butter

3 cups chocolate chips

1 pint of marshmallow cream or 20 large marshmallows

1 c of chopped walnuts (optional)

1 t of vanilla

Melt butter in heavy bottomed kettle. Add milk and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium to medium-high heat. Boil over low heat, stirring constantly, for 10 min. (I don’t do any temperature test – I really just do 10 minutes. ) Pour into mixer, add chocolate chips and marshmallows, and beat until creamy. (10 minutes?) Add vanilla and nuts. Makes about 5 lb. Spread in a smaller sized cookie sheet (or larger to use cookie cutters –makes fudge shallower).

Note: for darker fudge, use some bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao or higher) in place of some of the semi-sweet chocolate chips. I packaged the fudge in little boxes that look like Chinese takeout boxes. So cute!