A Repeat Post - Foolproof Fudge (even I can't mess it up!)

This post was originally shared on December 23, 2010.  During the 2024 holidays, I gave the same Christmas gifts I do every year...Fudge.  Many people ask for my recipe so here it is!

Foolproof Fudge (even I can't mess it up!)

The recipe for microwaved Fantasy Fudge was on the back of a Kraft Marshmallow Creme jar many years ago and is to be used for the microwave only. I’m aware not everyone's microwaves are the same, so I think this recipe should only be used for those who have powerful microwave ovens. I love my Whirlpool and this recipe turns out perfectly every single time!  

I hope you'll enjoy this recipe. My Aunt Bernice Moore made Fantasy Fudge for many years but prepared hers on top of the stove. I was never very successful with the stove fudge, so was very happy to try it in the microwave.

 

This fudge freezes well when sealed in a plastic container.

 

EASY FANTASY FUDGE 

Prepare a 13x9 or 9-inch square pan by lightly greasing it before starting your recipe. You will need a 4-quart microwavable bowl for this recipe.

1 1/2 sticks margarine
3 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk (I use the smallest can)
1 package (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips (or peanut butter chips, plus 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter)
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Microwave margarine one minute or until melted.  
Add sugar and evaporated milk; mix well.  
Microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes, stirring after 3 minutes. Mix well, scrape bowl. Then microwave on HIGH for another 5 minutes and 10 seconds, stirring after 3 minutes. 
Stir in chips until melted. Add remaining ingredients, in order listed; mix well.
Pour into prepared pan. Cool at room temperature before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container. Makes 3 pounds.

If you are making this recipe with peanut butter, the reason for the 1/2 cup peanut butter addition is that the peanut butter chips come in a  10 oz bag and the chocolate chips come in a 12 oz bag.  

One word of warning: I've always made several batches of fudge in a row. I learned the hard way that your spoon needs to be completely dry when you add and stir in the chips and marshmallow creme. I used to stir with my favorite wooden spoon and would wash it in between batches of fudge. The wooden spoon tended to not be completely dry when I'd work with it on the second batch. What happened is that the fudge would suddenly turn grainy and harden much too fast to work with. I learned my lesson...and in the process, realized that an introduction of another liquid such as vanilla flavoring should always be added right at the end of the recipe!

(Remember that if you have a pulse...you have a purpose! Make your life count!)

Common Scents

 A while back, I wrote about certain smells that evoke memories, basing it on my sister's "favorite flavor" candle still brings her to my mind when I burn it.

Our daughter, Hannah, mentioned recently that she remembers when she'd come in from school and smell the Pine Sol scent from when I'd mop my floors and wash my kitchen cabinets.  She told me it brings back nice memories to her.  

Yesterday, after an afternoon with lots of physical outside play, our granddaughter, Ophelia, ran over when she saw Grandaddy and I were leaving.  After a big hug, I kissed her forehead and tasted that salty skin from hard play and the scent from that same play outside.  It brought back memories of Hannah when she was just that age...and I couldn't help but smile for the memories it provoked.  

Our daughter is 39 years old, busy being a wife and mom of three kids - eight, six, and one - and doing contract work as a graphic designer.  Someday, she'll be the one thinking of these things and it'll bring a smile to her face or a tear in her eye.  I likely will be dead and gone but I wonder if she'll think about those long-ago scents and tastes that will have her mind going back in time.

Mother's special use for Dove...

When I was 19, I began using Merle Norman skincare. I'm now 71 and still use it. Oh, I tried different products but always went back to MN. I took good care of my skin because of my mother. Hers was beautiful and very soft even to her old age. She washed it every day with her Dove Beauty Bar and used Oil of Olay. That was even in her later years! You'd have thought she had some complicated beauty regimen, but that was it. I wasn't going to take any chances so I decided I'd count on Mother's good genes and Merle Norman!

My mother used Dove for more than just her complexion. I remember how she’d wash my mouth out after using a word I should’ve known better than to use! I learned my lesson after getting a taste of her Dove Beauty Bar!

Years later, I reminded her about washing my mouth out with soap. She insisted she never did that!! I told her I remembered distinctly how awful it tasted. She’d wet a washcloth, rub it all over the soap, then proceed to wash the inside of my mouth with it! But she would still say she didn’t wash my mouth out with soap!  

The very last time I ever brought it up, she said, “I never washed your mouth out with soap! It was Dove…and that’s not soap!”

Remember...if you have a pulse, you have a purpose.

Yankee Candle Company...thank you!

The fall before Vangie went to Heaven, she found a “new favorite candle ‘flavor’ for us” and bought two so she could share with me. Called White Christmas, it's made by Yankee Candle.  I fell in love with it just as she did.  

That fall, while in Ohio, my sister and I went to the Yankee Candle outlet and stocked up on big and small ones because we were just that crazy over the scent!  

After Sissie died, I felt a little closer to her each time I’d burn them.  Pretty soon there was nothing left but a little wax in the jars.  I froze them so I could easily pop out what wax was left, then break them into pieces to use in a melting pot.  

And then all of it was gone.  Looking for it, a Yankee Candle associate told me the scent had been discontinued.  Still, I would check stores to see if one might be on a shelf somewhere.

On the way to our nephew's home in Indiana, I shopped at a Yankee Candle outlet on the off chance that maybe they had that scent I loved so much.  They didn't, but the store manager made a call finding three in stock at the factory!  I paid and they mailed them to me!  Made me so happy!!  Now those are all gone and all I had was a little circle of wax to break up into a melting pot once again.  

I told a sales clerk at my Yankee Candle store in Knoxville about that scent. She smiled and told me it was back and it’s only sold at Christmas time, of course…but she called a store in Sevierville and found some still in stock! 

That night after a no good, very bad day at the office, Joe took me out for dinner in Sevierville and we then went shopping for Vangie’s ‘favorite flavor’ candle!!  I bought several and right now, that scent is wafting through the room and I’m happy!

All that to tell you this...

As you can tell, certain things can invoke lots of memories and I'm so glad my sister gave me something lovely to remember her by among so many other things!  This month will mark eleven years since she went away.  

Still miss the girl. 💚

If you have a pulse, you have a purpose.  Make your life count!

 

  

Is it time for Life Alert already?!?

Picture a narrow space between our bed and the wall it sits close to.  I sleep on that side of the bed and when I get up in the dark I'm very aware that the wall has always been there and it isn't going to move.  I must tread carefully.  (By the way, I just stopped composing this long enough to measure the space between the bed frame and the wall.  22½ inches.  Seriously.)

Now picture me finishing a phone conversation while stretched out on my stomach across the middle of the bed.  I hang up and begin to wonder where my glasses disappeared to last night.  I knew they'd been on the nightstand but I had knocked some things off about 3 a.m. and figured the glasses were under the bed where I found the other stuff.  Still lying on my stomach across the middle of the bed, I lean over to look for the glasses.  Can't see anything so I stretch a little farther.  And a little farther.  Farther still...

Now picture this grown woman who slid off the bed...head first...into the baseboard of the wall next to the bed that is 22½ inches away.  A big part of my body weight was pushing my head into the wooden baseboard and floor's 90-degree angle from the wall.  Yes.  That's a lot of weight.  And a lot of pressure on my neck which hasn't been in the best condition in years!   

I couldn't get out of that position!  I couldn't roll over on the bed.  I couldn't use my arms to push myself up from that awkward place.  I also couldn't use my arms to push myself back onto the bed.  That ship had already sailed!  I was stuck.  So I called out to my husband.  Several times.  He finally realized those muffled calls were coming from the bedroom and rushed in.  

First question.  "Hey, Beth!  Whatcha doin'?"  

It looked obvious what I was doing...or unable to do...but at least he was thoughtful enough to ask before laughing at me.

It took more than five minutes for me to get out of that position.  I couldn't let Joe help me because there wasn't enough room for both of us in those 22½ inches!  All this time, my head and neck are holding me hostage against that wall and the pain is getting worse!  But Joe explained that I needed to let the rest of my body relax and slide off the bed in the same direction my head was.  I still cannot figure how I got this figure folded up on the floor and on top of the throw rug so I could back myself out!  But I did!  Who knew a girl built like me could be a contortionist?!?!  

My neck hurts.  The headache lasted a long time.  But seeing my Osteopath in the morning should make everything feel better!  Sure glad I already had the appointment!

When I was texting with my daughter, Hannah, I told her a little bit about this morning's  adventure.  First thing she texted back was, "Oh my word!  Is it time for Life Alert already?"  

Could be, kiddo...because we both know your mom's just a few more moves away from becoming Lucy Ricardo!  

Remember: if you have a pulse you have a purpose.  Make your life count!

Best Ice Cream Ever

I believe it was introduced in 1985.  I was pregnant with our daughter at the time and needed my dairy intake for the day.  Not much for drinking milk, I relied on other ways to get my calcium.  The flavors of white and milk chocolate flavored mousse ice cream had me at "hello" when I walked into the ice cream shoppe.  The "hello" came from the person behind the counter, welcoming me to Baskin Robbins.  I tasted that particular flavor and have enjoyed it for 38 years now.  World Class Chocolate!!! 

Baskin Robbins...or BR 31.  What's significant about the number?  The number represents the number of flavors that are offered at most of those particular ice cream shoppes at any given time.  That day in 1985, an innocent young salesperson holding an ice cream scoop helped me embark on a lifetime commitment to find this flavor in every Baskin Robbins I entered.  No matter what state I was in, if there was a BR, I would check to see if my favorite flavor was there.  If it wasn't, I was more determined than ever to find it at the next one.  

There are no artificial dyes in this decadent treat.  There are calories.  Plenty of calories.  But with every bite I allow myself to enjoy of this heavenly taste, I tell myself I will do better next time.  I'll deny myself other sweets to make up for what I've done as I lick, pushing the last of the ice cream down to bite into the cone and finish it off!

And in the last few years...joy of joys!  Baskin Robbins ice cream is offered in my favorite Food City store!   And usually my World Class Chocolate is sitting in the freezer section just waiting for me to purchase and eat at home after it's had a few minutes to soften enough for me to enjoy.  

For two days in a row, I've enjoyed this creamy frozen treat.  Do you know how many promises I have to keep in my walking shoes just to work off the joy I've experienced?!?   Never mind.  I don't want to think about that.  I'll think about that tomorrow...(thank you, Scarlett O'Hara for that excuse)!

If you have a pulse, you have a purpose.  Make your life count!

Pretzel Legs

I found it in a meme and knew it needed to have some music to go with it. Here's the line I wrote into a song I use in my comedy show: 

"And when I sneeze or cough, my exhaust backfires..."

Way too many women understand this line better than any of us want to admit. I have contorted into more positions than a Barnum & Bailey acrobat when I feel a cough getting ready to erupt!  My nickname should be Pretzel Legs because I cough so much!  And the sneezes can be even more powerful, so I not only contort my body, my face looks like I'm giving birth to an elephant!

(Maybe I need to explain the reason for the pre-sneeze/cough contortion of the body to any of the males reading this.  Nah!  They understand, except they 'air' out their problems in a different direction. I don't think I need to explain that.)

As women mature, things change.  That's one reason it's called The Change. During puberty, people say, "you're becoming a woman!"  When you're going through the change no one tells you what you're becoming.  For a while, I thought I was becoming a man!  Okay, I'm kidding!  But those hairs on my chin?  Seriously?!?  

I'd like to leave you with this little tidbit of wisdom...    

Just know, when it comes to 'the change' and all that 'goes' with it - 'Always' have the 'Assurance' and 'Poise' to deal with those things.  And remember to relax and not worry about it.  Do you think I relax and don't worry?  Well, it all 'Depends' on the situation.  

If you have a pulse, you have a purpose.  Make your life count!