Oh, fudge!

Now that we're quickly slipping into the holidays, I can't help but think about the wonderful homemade goodies that accompany this wonderful time of year. One of my favorites is fudge. MMmmmmmmm, fudge...

I wanted to share a great recipe I found -- a truly simple recipe. And when I say simple, I mean really, really easy. I am not a cook; in fact, I think I could burn water.

1/2 cup butter

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups white sugar

1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk

10 large marshmallows

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Spray an 8x8 inch dish. Place the butter, chocolate chips and vanilla in a mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium sauce pan, combine sugar, milk and marshmallows over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

Reduce heat to low and cook for 6 minutes, stirring constantly.

*Note: When I reduced the heat, it took several minutes for my marshmallows to melt. And even though it's on a lower heat, I still had bubbles the whole time. Just make sure to keep stirring and it will turn out great!

Pour mixture over contents of mixing bowl and beat until it thickens and loses its gloss. Quickly fold in nuts if you want to include them, and pour into prepared pan. Refridgerate for a few hours before serving.

I stirred it with the butter and chocolate chips for probably about three or four minutes; it's a very subtle change when it loses its gloss. It reminds me of when soup sits for a bit and gets that kind of skin on the top -- I know, that sounds kinda gross when we're talking about delicious fudge. But you keep stirring until the fudge seems to set a bit and hold its wrinkles where you've stirred it.

This is what it looked like right after I poured it into the dish. See how it was pretty firm and held the wrinkles and ripples? Then just pop it in the fridge for a few hours and done!