Hello

...and Happy Holidays to all of you dear, lovely people!

My guides have been having a little bit of fun with me, and it's too jolly not to share with my dear friends here on Spirit Guides. 

So Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Joyful Solstice, Happy Kwanzaa, and heartfelt love to anyone whose holiday I haven't mentioned!  Here's my Holiday gift to all of you:

For many years -- decades, actually -- I've been trying to develop the PERFECT fudge recipe.  Now, I only actually bake at Christmas time, when I scramble to make about 120-150 dozen cookies for all my friends, neighbors, and extended family -- but every year for many years, I have spent the weeks before Christmas trying to come up with a fudge recipe that is both delicious and so foolproof that I can make enough batches for everyone to enjoy.

Now, fudge is pretty difficult stuff to make.  It has to come to the "soft-ball" stage, ingredients have to be added in just the right order at just the right times, and then it has to be beaten vigorously for long enough to "lose its gloss", or it won't set properly.  And if it hasn't been cooked quite enough, it will never set properly...  and if it's cooked a tiny bit too long, it comes out hard and dry.

So, for many years I've messed around with candy thermometers, stood at the stove stirring hot fudge for hours, carefully written down every ingredient I used and when, dropped countless spoonfuls of fudge into cold water to check for the "soft-ball" stage, beaten and beaten and beaten the cooked fudge till my arms were sore...  and STILL some batches turned out gloppy and runny, or crumbly and dry.

This year I'd given up on fudge.  I wasn't even going to try.  Instead, I made peanut-butter bars with chocolate on top -- and to make sure that the chocolate would hold up to the heat of baking, I used the simple recipe that goes with "Chocolate Revel" bars.  I made too much, though, so I had a lot left over in the pot...  and when it set up, I discovered that it was the smoothest, most delicious fudge I've ever tasted!

I couldn't believe it.

I've used the recipe again and again over the last few days, and it's 100% reliable every time.  Best of all, it's incredibly, unbelievably EASY!!!  There's no candy thermometer, and no cooking other than just enough to melt everything together and mix it smooth.  No boiling, no bubbling, no "soft-ball" stage...  Just heat, stir together until the chocolate pieces melt, and it's DONE!  You can drop it by spoonfuls onto waxed paper and put a whole nutmeat in the middle of each, or you can pour it onto a rimmed cookie sheet lined with waxed paper and cut it into squares when it has set a bit...  or you can mix in walnuts or whatever you wish, flavor it with a bit of orange extract...  and everyone will think that you spent hours and hours and HOURS working on it!

I hope you love it as much as I do, and I hope you have lots of fun with it!

Christmas Miracle Fudge  (Semi-dark chocolate version)

1 12-oz bag of semisweet chocolate chips
1 12-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp butter (1/8 of a cube)

Melt everything in a saucepan on low heat, stirring until it's smooth.  Remove from heat; stir in 1/2 tsp of vanilla, if you wish.  (I don't.)   Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper and garnish with a single nutmeat, or pour into pans and allow to cool slightly before cutting into squares.

For a sweeter milk-chocolate fudge, only use 1-1/2 cups of chocolate chips (about 3/4 of a 12-oz bag.)

For larger batches, just double, triple, or quadruple everything.  It will still come out fine.

Love and Light and Blessings and a VERY Happy Holiday season to all of you!

Claudia

[COLOR="Green"]Today truly is a day for miracles...I had one today too. My husband and I buy a half a buffalo for meat every year or so...today we went to the rancher to pay for our meat for this current order (still at the meat wrappers)...when I was there I asked him about what it would take to get a processed buffalo hide (cape).  It is a big deal..he has to send it off to a processor and it takes a long time to get one processed, for quite a hefty chunk of change..anyway. My beloved drumming partner has a Tipi, and she sees buffalo when she meditates, and she has a buffalo hide head pow wow drum, and she makes lovely rattles out of buffalo rawhide, so I wanted to get the buffalo hide for her and her Tipi...--the rancher just so happened to have two prepared buffalo hides that he just received, and he had one promised for someone else, and I was able to buy the other hide..for cost. and I got to pick the best hide.  The angels are real busy right now..and I really like it..  -- isn't it cool that it is Jesus birthday, but we get all the presents..

smile
dawnel[/COLOR]

Hello, Lovely People!

Hi, Lynda!  Welcome back!  How was Maui?  And I hope you had a honeymoon to end all honeymoons!

Echohawk wrote:

Hi everyone,
   Claudia, I love your fudge recipe! I melted the chocolate chips in my microwave, then stirred in the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Next time, I'm going to try peppermint extract, or maybe some Kahlua!
   Merry Christmas, sweetie!

I'm glad you enjoyed the fudge!  Kahlua, eh?  Let me know how it works out!  I've had so much trouble with other fudge recipes over the years that I'm a little bit afraid to dink around much with this one...   although I did find out that if I got the least bit nervous about it "setting up", an overnight in the fridge would take care of it fine...  (I always run nervous around cookie-baking time, because if something goes wrong, I usually don't have time to do it over.)

Oh, I'm so happy you're back!

Love and Light and Blessings to you and to all of you,

Claudia

[COLOR="DarkRed"]That is the coolest Claudia...I love stuff like that.  [/COLOR]

Hi Claudia,
   My honeymoon was awesome! It was almost unbelievable, sipping a mai-tai in the Jacuzzi, while watching the sunset over Molokai and Lania.
   I woke this morning to 11 degrees, and snow. Yep--unbelievable!
   P.S. I did try the peppermint-delish!
  Lynda