Packages out the door….Fantasy Fudge

Well, as of tomorrow morning, all my packages, that have to be mailed, will be out the door. Yea!!! The ginger bread cookies are stacked nicely in their pretty tins and all the gifts are wrapped and snuggly packaged in there boxes. The packages to Hawaii, Virginia, New York and Maryland are packaged in those “flat rate” (no weight limit/anywhere in the USA) packages. You can mail them for $ 7.70 each Priority mail. I should save a ton on postage this year. The package to Florida is in a much larger box and will be taken to the UPS office for shipping.

I can’t believe it’s only 10 days till Christmas. Where has this month gone too…I just know that I will blink my eyes and it will be New Years Day. TF and I have been watching one Christmas show every night now since the start of December. Tonight we watched the Santa Clause movie with Tim Allen. We also saw part of a movie about a man who went back to his home town to find his real parents. We saw Miracle on 34th street , but we haven’t seen It’s a Wonderful Life yet.

Someone ask me if I had a good fudge recipe. I use the one on the back of the Kraft Marshmallow Crème bottle. It’s the only one I can get to set up properly. So here it is with a few helpful tips:

Fantasy Fudge (Makes about 36 pieces)

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup margarine (1 1/2 sticks)
2/3 cup evaporated milk (1 small can)
1 12-oz. (340 g) package semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
1 7-oz. (198 g) jar Kraft Marshmallow crème (store brand is OK)
1 cup chopped nuts
1 tablespoon vanilla

Traditional method:Combine sugar, margarine and milk in heavy 2 1/2 qt. saucepan; bring to full rolling bail, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate until melted. Add marshmallow creme, nuts & vanilla beat until blended. Pour into greased (foil lined) 13" x9" pan. Let cool and serve.

Helpful tips:
1) I have read several versions of this recipe. Last night I used semi-sweet chocolate chunks instead of the chocolate chips, because I was trying to use up what was left in the jar. So it doesn’t matter if you use chips, chunks or squares as long as they are semi sweet.
2) I used butter instead of margarine. Either one will work.
3) Make sure you have everything measured out and the nuts chopped when you start cooking. You will need to stir constantly and you won’t have time to be measuring while the fudge cooks.
4) Make sure you let the fudge cook at a rolling boil for five full minutes to make sure your fudge will set up. This is important.
5) I have discovered that my fudge sets up better if I cook it on a day when the humidity is down. If it is raining outside and the humidity is up, you will have a hard time getting it to set up.
6) Pour you fudge out on to a foil lined pan. It makes clean up so much faster.
7) Make sure it is completely cool before you cut it.
8) Store your fudge in an air-tight container with waxed paper between the layers.

The fudge I made last night is probably the best fudge I have ever made. It set up perfectly and I’m sure it was because I made it while the humidity was down. Give it a try.

Christmas Trivia: http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/xmastrivia.html