Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Posted by: Maggie

Fudge is one of those desserts that has always scared me.  All that candy thermometer/soft ball nonsense, plus the very high probability that one misstep will result in a ruined dessert and wasted ingredients, has caused me to never attempt fudge making before.


When I saw this super easy recipe on How Sweet It Is I knew my fear of fudge would soon be but a distant memory. Not only does this recipe not require a candy thermometer, it is cooked in the microwave and comes together in 3 minutes flat.


I'm bringing this into work later today - I hope my coworkers like it as much as I do! (For those of who noticed the time this was posted, yeah, yeah, I get to work insanely late.  I'm sooo not a morning person and am insanely lucky to have a flexible schedule.)

If you're planning on doing any kind of Christmas dessert platter this year, this would be a great addition to it - I always associate fudge with Christmas for some reason. 

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened, condensed milk
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 T water

Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, and nuke for 30 seconds on full power.  Stir, and microwave for 30 more seconds.  Mixture will probably be smooth at this point, but if it's not continue microwaving in 30 second increments until it is.  Pour mixture into a foil lined 8-inch square baking dish, and refrigerate until solid.  Mine took about 60 minutes to be hard enough to cut.

12/20/12 [UPDATE]: I now make this in an 8x4 loaf pan to get thicker fudge. You may need to refrigerate it a bit longer. The photo shows fudge made in an 8x8 pan. 

Makes 16 pieces


Source

Turkey and Brie Sandwich

Posted by: Maggie

This sandwich barely even merits a post, but I thought I'd add it in case you're looking for a different way to finish up the last of your Thanksgiving turkey.   It was delicious, and half of it made for a very filling Saturday night dinner.  I think that if you wanted a sweeter twist on this sandwich, omitting the honey mustard and spreading the bread with leftover cranberry sauce would be fabulous as well.

What you'll need for one very large sandwich:

1 demi-baguette
Honey Mustard dressing (I'm a big fan of the Ken's brand)
Leftover turkey
Several slices brie
Salt and pepper

Cut the baguette in half lengthwise, and spread with a thin layer of honey mustard.  Layer the turkey and brie, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and top with the other baguette half.  Open mouth wide, and try not to eat the entire scrumptious thing.

Thanksgiving 2010

Posted by: Maggie

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all stuffed yourselves silly with delicious food and had a great time with whoever you spent the day with.


Annie and I (and our 18 year old sister Emma) spent Thursday at our Dad's place where we had a traditional dinner of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cornbread casserole, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cranberries, rolls, and "heavenly hash." For those of you not familiar with heavenly hash, it's what some families call "ambrosia." To me, that just sounds like a cleaning product, so I prefer the alternate name.  It's basically a combination of sour cream, whipped cream, marshmallows, pineapple, and shredded coconut.  It's awesome, trust me.

Annie made pumpkin pie bars for dessert, and I made the cornbread casserole and sweet potatoes.  Unfortunately, in our eagerness to sit down to dinner I quickly snapped what turned out to be very poor photos of both those dishes.  I'll probably make both of those recipes again this winter, so I'll wait to post them when I have a decent photo. 

Friday morning we had a delicious brunch at my Mom's place.  She made baked french toast, bacon, potatoes, biscuits and sausage gravy, egg casserole (it was almost like a quiche but without crust), and an amazing cranberry coffee cake.  I'm a huge fan of breakfast food so this was right up my alley.  It was my Mom's first time making sausage gravy and it turned out awesome.  After I recover from the two massive meals I ate on Thursday and Friday I'll definitely be getting the recipe to make for Jeff and post it here! 

Also, since no good brunch is complete without cocktails, we had bloody mary's and mimosas.  No, I was not drinking both of these at once...how dare you suggest such a thing.  *Ahem*

 I hope you all enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!  Check back soon for new recipes!