I will have you all know that I made some delicious mint chocolate chip fudge with the correct milk the day after the disaster. My housemates (we are each other's best taste-testers) agreed that I redeemed myself and thoroughly enjoyed a portion of the pan. So, buckeyes and fudge will be taken to the Cookie Exchange tomorrow... here's to hoping no one notices, or at least minds, that they aren't cookies!
CONFESSION: I didn't make cookies for two reasons.
1. I can only think of maaaybe one or two times I've frosted sugar cookies without The Dodge's and it was not nearly as fun.
2. I was/am afraid mine wouldn't be as good as everyone else's. I know, I know, that's pathetic, but I didn't want my cookies to be the last ones on the plate. I'd rather be picked last in kickball. Okay, that wouldn't happen... baseball! I know I'm terrible at baseball, but I like to pretend I'm a good baker. I just don't have that "go to" cookie recipe that half of the rest of the world's bakers seem to have and thus I reverted back to things I know I wouldn't turn down: buckeyes and fudge. If this wasn't an exchange I probably would've even made puppy chow. I just want to be liked.
In other news, I did pilates and abs today and ran four miles on Friday. I had sorta, kinda promised myself that I was going to start to remove the topic of weight/lack of exercise/etc. from this blog, but I'm putting it in here because my goal for this week is to try out a running group. I felt fine during the four miles so I've decided that I haven't completely lost my ability to hold my own. And, I've decided I'm okay with the fact I suck at running regularly without people. There may be a time in my life when that changes, but right now, it is as it is. In addition to those reasons, I was reading Claire's post about friends and I was inspired. Okay, okay, I don't actually know Claire. How I got to her blog is a bit of a long story that begins with how my sister and I like other people's lives. Long story short, Claire runs and Claire has friends. A couple of years ago, Claire also moved to a city where she had a boyfriend. The current situations of either of those two relationships are irrelevant. Claire, unlike Sara, make a conscious effort to make friends. I was so discouraged by my experiences during my first semester freshman year that I decided I wasn't going to "try" to make friends who may or may not just turn me down. Instead I'd be regular Sara day-to-day and hope for the best. And, things have turned out fairly well, but it's time to take some initiative! It's okay if this is not how I make my new friends, but I need to get out of the apartment. I spend most of my time here working on freelance projects. Besides, running is the only time in my life that I leave the house knowing I'm wearing the right shoes.
Showing posts with label Fudge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fudge. Show all posts
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Nom nom ... slurp.
I don't totally botch recipes very often. However, I added Car Talk to my Podcasts yesterday and their semi-recent show that starts off by telling their biggest car "oops" leads me to feel the need to confess to all*** of you other holiday bakers.
So here's the recipe we always use for Foolproof Chocolate Fudge:
3 cups (18 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
Dash salt
1/2 to 1 cups chopped nuts (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
1. LINE 8- or 9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan.
2. MELT chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk and salt in heavy saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
3. CHILL 2 hours or until firm. Remove from pan by lifting edges of foil. Cut into squares.
Can you get much simpler? The recipe is delicious and it has served our Christmas plumpness well. And my friends, there is one word in this entire recipe that can mess up your amazing fudge... SWEETENED.
I went to the grocery store in a bit of a rush and didn't make my self "a list". I also didn't grab a basket when I was there and hurried through the aisles so I could get home, make my fudge, and then try to be productive (I had been lethargic all day). So, it wasn't until arriving home that I took a good look at what I had bought... evaporated milk. What?! How did I end up with that? sigh.
So, I do what any other logical person raised with a computer does... I google how to change evaporated milk into condensed milk. Well, look at this! Evaporated and condensed are the same thing! Wait, wait... I needed sweetened condensed milk. These are NOT the same thing. But, obviously I should be able to make it sweet so I google that and my search tells me I should stir in an enormous amount of sugar while on a low heat. Okay, not a problem. I borrow my roommate's sugar and begin stirring away. Once it was a cohesive mixture I was convinced all was well and I continued on with the world's simplest recipe for foolproof fudge. I had a taste... or a couple tastes before I put it in the fridge and it was- mmmmmmm... delicious! Okay, it was a little sweet, but in solid form it would taste like perfection.
One hour and fifty-five minutes later...
and a couple of times before that I checked my fudge. The top had solidified, but the inside was still wushing around. Hmph. That's not right. In two hours it should have hardened. 2 hours was the minimum, but still. I didn't have time to ponder it too thoroughly, I had one last email to write before I sped off to work. After work I came home... still wushy.
It wasn't until this morning that I thought maybe I should look up other ways to make evaporated milk into sweetened condensed milk. Perhaps, I did something wrong. I think there are probably quite a few of us who have tried to make-up for this grocery store mess up because most of the world tells you to just put it back on the shelf and go on another errand. The shelf life is long enough that it's not worth trying. But, if you must try you should... add a zillion tons of sugar, stir it over low heat and then LET COOL. Ah, that vital step I was missing.
So, here I am at 7:37 am. It's my 3rd time waking up in the middle of what was supposed to be a nice night's sleep and I'm taking it as a sign. Okay two signs...
1. Drink more water before bed so you don't feel so dehydrated all night
2. Throw out the damned half-solid, half-liquefied fudge and go to the store to start anew. Yes, it's a bit of a waste of money, but one must redeem herself.
Foolproof... sigh.
***Luckily only 4-5 of you read my blog so I don't imagine this confessional will have too big of an effect on the great public's view of me.
So here's the recipe we always use for Foolproof Chocolate Fudge:
3 cups (18 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
Dash salt
1/2 to 1 cups chopped nuts (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
1. LINE 8- or 9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan.
2. MELT chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk and salt in heavy saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
3. CHILL 2 hours or until firm. Remove from pan by lifting edges of foil. Cut into squares.
Can you get much simpler? The recipe is delicious and it has served our Christmas plumpness well. And my friends, there is one word in this entire recipe that can mess up your amazing fudge... SWEETENED.
I went to the grocery store in a bit of a rush and didn't make my self "a list". I also didn't grab a basket when I was there and hurried through the aisles so I could get home, make my fudge, and then try to be productive (I had been lethargic all day). So, it wasn't until arriving home that I took a good look at what I had bought... evaporated milk. What?! How did I end up with that? sigh.
So, I do what any other logical person raised with a computer does... I google how to change evaporated milk into condensed milk. Well, look at this! Evaporated and condensed are the same thing! Wait, wait... I needed sweetened condensed milk. These are NOT the same thing. But, obviously I should be able to make it sweet so I google that and my search tells me I should stir in an enormous amount of sugar while on a low heat. Okay, not a problem. I borrow my roommate's sugar and begin stirring away. Once it was a cohesive mixture I was convinced all was well and I continued on with the world's simplest recipe for foolproof fudge. I had a taste... or a couple tastes before I put it in the fridge and it was- mmmmmmm... delicious! Okay, it was a little sweet, but in solid form it would taste like perfection.
One hour and fifty-five minutes later...
and a couple of times before that I checked my fudge. The top had solidified, but the inside was still wushing around. Hmph. That's not right. In two hours it should have hardened. 2 hours was the minimum, but still. I didn't have time to ponder it too thoroughly, I had one last email to write before I sped off to work. After work I came home... still wushy.
It wasn't until this morning that I thought maybe I should look up other ways to make evaporated milk into sweetened condensed milk. Perhaps, I did something wrong. I think there are probably quite a few of us who have tried to make-up for this grocery store mess up because most of the world tells you to just put it back on the shelf and go on another errand. The shelf life is long enough that it's not worth trying. But, if you must try you should... add a zillion tons of sugar, stir it over low heat and then LET COOL. Ah, that vital step I was missing.
So, here I am at 7:37 am. It's my 3rd time waking up in the middle of what was supposed to be a nice night's sleep and I'm taking it as a sign. Okay two signs...
1. Drink more water before bed so you don't feel so dehydrated all night
2. Throw out the damned half-solid, half-liquefied fudge and go to the store to start anew. Yes, it's a bit of a waste of money, but one must redeem herself.
Foolproof... sigh.
***Luckily only 4-5 of you read my blog so I don't imagine this confessional will have too big of an effect on the great public's view of me.
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