Saturday, March 19, 2011

Ohhhh Fuuuuuudge!

Remember in that movie, A Christmas Story, when Ralphie (as played by Peter Billingsley), was helping his Old Man change the tire on the family car? And he accidentally ended up throwing the lug nuts out into the snowy street?

Well, it hasn't been that kinda day for me. Actually, I was pretty productive. Chauffeur kids to outing, go home, clean house, put big pot of corned beef on to boil for tomorrows sammiches, scrub kitchen some more, make bread, do a thousand dishes, order a pizza for dinner, (hey, even I like to indulge at times and allow someone else to cook!), and set about making fudge.

During Christmas, I asked my dear brother-in-law, Jim, to pick up some powdered sugar on the way over to our house for the big celebration. I had made some dessert or other, and had completely run out of the lovely stuff. It usually works that way with me--it either rains or pours. At one point I went through a spate of pie making, so I kept on buying cinnamon...I ended up with about 5 jars of the stuff. But, I digress...

So, I asked Uncle Jim, as he's fondly referred to, to bring some over. He's a really nice man, and he works at a well-known-food-megastore-warehouse-open-to-the-public-wow-I-never-have-seen-such-a-huge-jar-of-pickles-kinda place.

Long story short, I now am the proud owner of a five-pound bag of powdered sugar which now lives in my freezer. I have yet to name it, but I am taking suggestions.

What to do with that much powdered sugar, one may ask...I say, make fudge!

Three Kinds of Fudge
Adapted from a recipe given to me by Sharon H., a loooong time ago. Seriously-the piece of paper it's printed on is hideous looking. But those are the best kinds-used, re-used, folded over and over, jammed into cook-books time and again, coffee rings adorning it. I think my thumbprint in chocolate sauce is on it. You get the picture.

In a saucepan, pour 3/4 cup of milk. Add one and a half sticks of butter, (not margarine, under any circumstances!), and three packages of chocolate pudding mix. While stirring ALL THE TIME, bring to a boil, and boil one minute. Turn off the heat, and add a tablespoon of vanilla, and enough powdered sugar until the mixture starts to become stiff and lift away from the pan. Add nuts if you must, but I prefer not to. This is some good basic fudge right there, but now let's play.

Variation #1 stir in vigorously (it gets kinda thick) one cup of natural peanut butter (unsweetened-no added goop-the kind you have to refrigerate and stir before using because it will separate) just after removing from the stove and just before adding the powdered sugar.

Variation #2 stir in completely one cup of cream cheese just after removing from the stove and just before adding the powdered sugar.

Again, you will know you have arm muscles after making any of these recipes.

Pour into a wax-paper lined 9"x9"-ish pan and set in the fridge. Once it's set firm, cut into squares, and enjoy! I think it's best to keep this in the fridge, just to keep it nice and firm.

Go ahead, you can make it, it's easy! I triple-dog-dare-ya!
Eat well, have fun, and love lots,
Antonia

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