Oh Fudge!

It has been many, many years since I've had the time and inclination to bake at home.

For my single years, all the Christmas baking I did was in the Atascadero kitchen of my sister Christy. I would escape my landlady from Hades for as many as 10 days and indulge myself to my heart's delight in my sister's well appointed kitchen. Since I never got to cook or bake for anyone and my sister ALWAYS had to cook or bake for a lot of people, we were both blessed by the arrangement.

Now sister Christy is GRAMMA Christy and I am at long last married to my dear husband Bob. With the felicitous change in our arrangements, I find myself in a cozy home with a spacious kitchen. Even so, I have not done a bit of Christmas baking since Bob and I were married 3 and a half years ago (but who's counting?). Bob's mom Nellie was able to spend a week with us right before Christmas the past 2 years, and we relied heavily on Trader Joe's delicious delights while we lolled about enjoying each other's company.

This year USAir no longer flies out of Oklahoma City, Express Jet is kaput, and Nellie stayed safe at home. With that large expanse of extra time, my thoughts turned to...SLEEP. But after that, they turned to baking.

I think Christy was a bit shocked (in a good way) when I called her out of the blue and ran down a list of cookies and other goodies I would be providing this year.

I found this recipe online while checking the directions of a recipe I already had. This one looked even better and had a catchy name:

Killer Crack Peanut Butter Fudge

3 cups sugar (I used the organic sugar from Trader Joe's and it worked great)

3/4 cup butter

2/3 cup (160 mL) evaporated milk

1 cup peanut butter (I used Skippy extra crunchy from Costco and liked the added little crunch of the extra nuts)

1- 7 oz (198g) jar marshmallow creme

1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in a heavy 2-1/2 quart saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat. Add the peanut butter, stirring until melted. Add marshmallow creme and vanilla; beat until well blended (I used a hand mixer for this step). Spread in a buttered 9 x 13 x 2 - inch pan. Cool at room temperature. Cut into squares when firm, then refrigerate (it's MUCH easier to cut before it is refrigerated.)

This fudge definitely lives up to its name. Bob is not much of a sweets eater (I find it impossible to relate to that), but even HE was unable to resist the siren call of Killer Crack fudge and has indulged in more than one silky piece.

Tomorrow (or whenever I get around to it), comes another recipe from our home to yours.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to come down off a serious sugar high...