Simple Chocolate Fudge

This fudge could not be easier to make. Other than buying it from the store, you simply can’t take any fewer steps or ingredients to come up with this delicious result of chocolate fudge. Actually, that might be incorrect: I just looked up the recipe on the website where I thought I found it and only two ingredients were used on the chocolate fudge recipe. This other recipe left out the butter. http://www.redbarncandlecompany.com/2011/12/christmas-chocolate-fudge-never-fail.html

Now that I see that, I wonder where I found my recipe? I am not sure. Anyhow, I used chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk and butter. I did find that the butter was the tricky part, so maybe it would be better left out. Next time I’ll try it that way.

Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

3 cups of chocolate chips (my picture shows semi-sweet but later I added 1 cup of dark chocolate morsels as well)
1 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup of butter

First prepare the pan. Line an 8 x 8 pan with foil. I sprayed it with Pam next. Make sure that your foil comes up over the edges by an inch or so to help you lift the fudge out of the pan later on.

Next, use a microwave-safe bowl and throw everything in. This is the step, with hindsight, that I am questioning the butter. I did not melt it on its own first and it was the last item to blend well with the mixture. Also, the final product did show some white spots from the melted butter. Don’t get me wrong, this concoction was delicious, but maybe there is something to omitting the butter.

Moving on…I put this in the microwave on Power 5 for 2 minutes. I stirred the contents then did the same thing again- another two minutes on half power. The butter still wasn’t cooperating so I gave it all a good mix together by hand. I was concerned that I had overdone the chocolate because it appeared slightly lumpy but the end result was fine.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. I smoothed it out with an offset spatula before placing it in the refrigerator for an hour or two. When you are ready to cut the fudge, pull the sides of the foil and the fudge should lift right out. Small inch-sized cubes seemed to work well for me. This fudge tastes much better than you might think for a 3-ingredient, microwave treat.

A quick note: Today I included in my mom's Christmas card a note to tell her about this blog. I started this blog a few months back so that I could share some recipes long distance with her. I have a small collection so far and hope to add more ideas, recipes and photos in the coming months. Merry Christmas, Mom!

Potato Corn Soup

I started to call this recipe a “chowder” but then read that the official definition of a “chowder” is that it contains fish or shellfish. Apparently the definition has grown to encompass more than just that description, but for now, I’ll leave this title as “soup”. Whatever you call it, it hit the spot on this cold first day of winter.

Winter started off rather loudly here in Denver with nearly a foot of snow. We didn’t venture far from home today, although for most Coloradans, a snow storm like this is not a reason to hunker down indoors. The road we can see from our back windows had plenty of vehicles on it and not just snow plows. Still feeling my east coast roots, I think a foot of snow gives me reason enough to hibernate for the day. I started this soup intending it just for lunch but by the time I had finished cooking, it seemed ok for dinner too.

I didn’t use a recipe, although I did look online for some ideas. Most recipes used milk in which the potatoes cooked and many added cream to the soup near the end of the cooking time. I think I lightened this up a bit by cooking the potatoes in chicken broth and a small bit of water; I happened to have some half & half in the refrigerator so I used that to add some creaminess to the final product. The key to this soup was the bacon-- it’s hard to go wrong with bacon. Although I didn’t go overboard with milk or cream, I certainly would not recommend taking this soup so far on the healthy side that you omit the bacon. It added a nice texture and a salty bite that the potatoes needed.

Here is what I did, feel free to add or take out ingredients to suite your taste. This is really a soup that you make with whatever might be in your refrigerator and pantry on a snowy day, no grocery store trip required.

Ingredients:

A few strips of bacon
4 potatoes
1 small onion
1 can of chicken broth
1 cup of water
1 can of corn (drained)
A splash of half and half (or milk or cream), perhaps 1/3 of a cup at most
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

1. Cut the bacon in small pieces and cook until crispy. Err on the side of well done but not burnt. Flimsy and squishy bacon has no place in this soup!

2. Drain nearly all of the fat and let the bacon rest on some paper towels while you work on the rest of the ingredients.

3. Chop the onion and add it to the pot. Let this cook for a few minutes before adding the diced potato.

4. Brown the potatoes slightly then add the can of chicken broth. I also added approximately a cup of water which helped to barely cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil then lower the heat so the potatoes simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

5. At this point I wanted to thicken the soup so I used a hand blender to puree about half of the soup. I hoped to leave some of the diced potatoes in tact so that you could recognize them in your bowl later.

6. Pour the drained can of corn into the soup. Let the corn warm for at least 5 minutes.

7. The final touch for me was to add a small bit of half and half. I liked the creamy touch it added.

To serve, crumble a bit of bacon on top. Enjoy!

Reindeer Christmas Cheer

This is not a recipe as usual...in fact, technically it could be called "The view from Holly's kitchen" since I can see it from there. I enjoyed making these reindeer and wanted to share it, so here it is. Enjoy!

Reindeer Christmas Cheer

I made these reindeer to add a little life to our mantle. I wanted to make something my six year old son would like to create with me and this mantle display is what happened next. I found this idea in a magazine, maybe it was Family Circle? I will double check the source. Anyhow, they were showing these adorable reindeer made out of balsa wood I think and they were priced under $5 each. I went right to the company’s website (again- sorry, will have to double check the source) and I was not able to find the reindeer for sale on their site. I thought why not make my own?

You don’t need many supplies: sturdy craft paper, scissors, and polyester pillow filling for the snow

I cut the same design out for each reindeer but it would also be fun to have some reindeer with their heads lower to the ground for a little variety. First I copied the design on the craft paper and cut it out. The legs each get a small slit so that they can support the body. I found that a slight “v” shape cut rather than a simple straight slit cut made the reindeer more likely to stand.

The trees weren’t complicated either. I cut two tree shapes from the green paper. Then I cut one slit from the bottom of the tree to the top, stopping about an inch short from the top.  The second tree then was cut from the top, only about an inch down. Try to assemble the tree by overlapping the two cuts, so that the tree takes on a 3-D shape and stands on its own.

 Add some “snow” and your reindeer herd is ready for display! Don't forget to add a red nose for Rudolph!

My favorite application of this reindeer idea is that I made a few small “herds” to send to my grandmother and my great aunt. I am going to bake up a storm and send this reindeer Christmas cheer and some goodies along to them this week, hoping the delivery might brighten their days and their homes!

PS. I haven't tried this before but I linked up to Skip To My Lou: here it is
http://www.skiptomylou.org/
This is one of the blogs I follow regularly and she always has great ideas.

Sour Cream Coffee Bundt Cake

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

Streusel
1 cup walnuts finely chopped (I used pecans, that is what I had at home)
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c packed brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon

Cake
2 cups of cake flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 TB baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup sugar
¾ c packed brown sugar
12 TB butter (1 ½ sticks) at room temperature
3 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract

Source: http://myrecipes.com/sour-cream-coffee-cake-10000001940820

I came across this recipe online as I was searching for something to make with the extra sour cream I had in the refrigerator. I had just purchased a bundt pan and thought this was as good as any reason to try it out. A few weeks earlier I had enjoyed a piece of birthday cake from the store called Nothing Bundt Cake. It was delicious! I was hoping that I could pull off something that might compare…and this did!

Directions:

I made the streusel first. Combine the streusel ingredients and set aside. I thought this made at least twice as much streusel as needed. I froze the extra and still plan to use it next time or for another muffin recipe topping.

The cake didn’t take long to come together either. Mix the flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy then add in the eggs one at a time. Add the egg yolk as well. Incorporate half of the flour mixture, then fold in the sour cream and the vanilla, finally adding the rest of the flour mixture. This makes a thick batter.

Put two thirds of the batter in the well greased pan. Layer the streusel all over the surface then add the remaining batter. I found that it was tricky to spread such a thick batter. I had better luck if I spooned mounds of the batter around the bundt pan and then only had to spread each mound a bit side-to-side.

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 F degrees. Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then make a wish and hope it turns out easily-- mine did! That result is always a nice surprise.

I ate some of this cake right away and wasn‘t disappointed. I froze about three quarters of it in segments wrapped in foil and put in a freezer zip loc bag. About a week later I took it out and let it defrost at room temperature. The cake was just as good this way as it was on day one. This recipe is a keeper for sure.