Fudging the Facts

After finally learning after nearly 26 years of marriage that my husband adores peanut butter fudge, I decided to indulge Mr. I-Have-a-Secret by making some.

After verifying that my husband didn't want chocolate in his peanut butter fudge, I set about finding a recipe. I settled on Alton Brown's recipe for Peanut Butter Fudge. As a added bonus, I even had all the ingredients on hand. Here I have powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 cup creamy peanut butter and 2 sticks unsalted butter.

Following the directions, I heated the butter and peanut butter in the microwave. After three and a half minutes, I stirred the melted butter mixture.



Alton Brown's recipe calls for one pound of confectioners' sugar, but I only had an open two-pound bag of sugar on hand, so some research was needed to discover what measurement one pound equals. I discovered that different sources disagreed on the exact measurement, so I opted to go with 3-1/2 cups as an equivalent for one pound of powdered sugar. In the end that seemed to be the correct amount.




Stir with a sturdy spoon until everything is incorporated.



I buttered an 8" x 8" baking dish and lined it with a sheet of parchment paper. I then spread the peanut butter fudge in the pan.




The directions call for another piece of paper to cover the fudge and this went into the refrigerator to chill.





I pulled the fudge out of the fridge a few hours later and cut it into cubes with a large pizza cutter. This is good stuff and my husband loves it. Alton, your peanut butter fudge rocks.

By then it was time to think about dinner. What to make, what to make? Let's see, it's dreary outside, the temperature is dropping and it's trying to rain/sleet. I think soup sounds about right. Potato soup sounds really good, so I set about looking for a recipe.

Hmm, I'm not finding any recipes that are to my liking, so it looks like I'll have to make up my own. What, are you surprised?

My mise en place. Here I have Half and Half, salt, black pepper, hot sauce, Old Bay Seasoning, dried basil, turkey consomme, Yukon Gold potatoes, onion, leftover mashed potatoes, and bacon and sharp cheddar cheese for garnish.

I peeled the potatoes and cut them into cubes, about 1 centimeter in size. They went into a microwave-safe dish and I added a splash of water before covering and microwaving on high for about 5 minutes.

I cut up and sauteed the bacon over medium-high heat in a large pot. I removed the cooked bacon and set aside to drain on a paper towel. At this point I decided to forgo the butter and just use the bacon grease in the dish. I left about two tablespoons of the bacon grease in the pot and sauteed 1/4 cup diced onion over medium heat until softened. I then added 2 tablespoons of flour to the pot and stirred while cooking.

I added 2 cups of turkey consomme to the mix. Stir well.

Then I added about 2 cups of the mashed potatoes, a dash of hot sauce, 1/2 teaspoon dry basil, 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.

The cooked, diced potatoes were added to the pot and then I poured in some Half and Half. This soup slowly cooked over low heat for about 30 minutes while we waited for my husband to come home from work.

I topped the soup with some grated sharp cheddar cheese and crisp bacon. Sadly, I had no green onions on hand, so I had to do without.

My daughter assembled salads for me while I cooked the soup and made my salad dressing. Tonight's dressing was a Raspberry Vinaigrette, made with raspberry jam, honey, white wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of black pepper.

I was right. Soup was just the thing for a cold, grey day.

Excuses, Excuses

Just in case you have been wondering what has happened to me and whether you should send help because I fell down a well... You see, it was like this: my husband came home from an out-of-town trip and got sick. So while he was lying on his death bed, er was sick with the common cold, I was tending to the poor dear while trying to not get catch his cold. During this time our meals consisted mostly of grilled cheese sandwiches and canned soup. Now, I have to admit that my Go-To Comfort meal is a mug of creamy tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, but it's hardly worth blogging about.

And because life wasn't exciting or challenging enough, my husband's desktop computer died. Now this in and of itself is no biggie as my husband can use his company laptop computer to check his emails on, but then my daughter's laptop computer died. Cue the end of the world, please. My husband, being the ever helpful soul that he is, immediately suggested that my daughter take my laptop computer to her college classes so she could take notes. I calmly explained to my husband that one woman without her computer was a bad thing, but two women without their computers? You don't want to go there. No, really. Whew, crisis averted. So, we worked out a compromise: I get my computer when the daughter is at classes or football and she gets it when she is home. Something about college class work being more important than blogging...

Well, now that the excuses are out of the way, on with the show.

A sure sign of the changing of the seasons is the shift back to my lovely sunset views. And what do you know? My favorite tree even has leaves this time of year.

I have been searching for a new salad dressing to make for myself. Unlike my husband and daughter who can quite happily exist on one dressing for the rest of their lives, I like to mix it up and try different dressings for my salads.

I decided to make a raspberry vinaigrette this time. I played around a bit until I got something I was happy with.

1 cup canola oil

1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam

1/3 cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all together and chill. You may want to add more or less honey, depending on your tastes. I have to admit that I like the fact that this dressing is a bit sour and has a bite to it.

Now, I just need a salad for this dressing.

Watching my favorite food sitcom, Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee, I knew I had to make a correct version of the Arugula Salad with pears and Gorgonzola that Sandra Lee semi-ho'd. As a child I hated pears: hated the texture and hated the sickly-sweet taste. Then, I grew up and found out that fresh pears were nothing like their evil canned cousins. Fresh pears have the texture of an apple and are milder in flavor than an apple. In short, they are a delight in a salad. The canned stuff? Don't go there. Just don't.

I opted to use baby spinach in place of the arugula and I added red onion to the dish to give it some bite. I purchased organically grown d'Anjou pears at my regular grocery store. Pecans and Gorgonzola cheese round out the ingredient list.

I don't care if the package says that the spinach is washed and ready to eat. After the recent food scares, do yourself and your family a favor and go ahead and rinse the spinach and pat dry.

Pears are incredibly easy to prepare: wash, cut in half lengthwise and then half again and then trim out the core from each quarter. Slice each quarter into thin wedges.

The finished salads. So easy to make and easy on the eyes. I allowed each member of the family to add their favorite salad dressings at this point. The raspberry vinaigrette lent a nice tart note to this salad, while the crisp pears and the creamy Gorgonzola complimented the mild spinach and the nutty crunch of the pecans.