Aunt Jean's Peanut Butter Fudge

As you can imagine, I got this recipe from my Aunt Jean! Aunt Jean is married to my Uncle Sonny, my mother's oldest living brother. Aunt Jean has put up with a lot over the 50 some odd years she's been married to my Uncle Sonny! lol She's always an amazing cook, as are most of my relatives. Most women from West Virginia, especially the older women. There is nothing more comforting than a big 'ol pot of brown beans paired with homemade, baked in an iron skillet, cornbread. Well, except for Aunt Jean's peanut butter fudge. It is so rich & creamy, and if you make it just right, it will never come out dry. I hate dry peanut butter fudge. ICK!

Aunt Jean's Peanut Butter Fudge

3 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter
2/3 c. evaporated milk
1 c. JIF  creamy peanut butter (it must be JIF)
1 tsp. vanilla
1-7oz. jar marshmallow creme

Combine sugar, butter, & milk. Bring to a rolling boil; stirring constantly. Boil 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter until melted. Add marshmallow creme & vanilla, stirring until well blended. Pour into a greased 9x13" pan. Cool & cut into squares.


Notes: I usually make several batches of peanut butter as well as chocolate fudge around the holidays. I like to give small pans of fudge, along with a tin of cookies, to teachers, neighbors, my hair dresser, our mail carrier, and our friends. Usually, I will grease 4 mini loaf pans, and pour the fudge into each pan, giving me 4 gifts to give. Also, I have only ever used JIF peanut butter with this recipe as well as any other recipe I have that calls for peanut butter. Enjoy!!

Toffee Bars

I'm not sure where exactly I got this recipe. It's one that I go to when I need something to take to a pot luck, holiday party/get together, and honestly, a box of these delicious Toffee Bar squares, makes a nice giftie as well!!

Toffee Bars

1 c. brown sugar, packed
1 c. butter, softened
1 egg yolk
2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lg. Hershey bar

Grease 9x13" pan. Mix all of the ingredients, except Hershey bar, together. Spread dough into pan; might have to use your hands for this. Bake in a preheated, 350* oven for 15 minutes. Melt the Hershey bar, in microwave approximately 1-11/2 minutes, until melted & smooth. Spread melted chocolate over bars, while still warm in the pan. Chill & let set. Cut into bars!!

Enjoy!!

Caramels

This is one of my favorite candies to make for Christmas. It makes a large batch, as it uses a 9"x13" pan as opposed to the 8"x8" pans so commonly used for making caramels and/or fudge. I highly recommend using a candy thermometer is you have one.

Caramels

2c. half & half
2-1/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
1 c. light corn syrup
1 c. butter

Melt butter in heavy saucepan; add brown sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add corn syrup; slowly add half & half. Stir until temperature reaches 245* on a candy thermometer. Pour into foil lined, well greased (I use butter) 9"x13" pan. Allow to cool & set. Cut into small pieces (about 1" squares). Wrap in wax paper squares, if desired.

Makes about 2 pounds of candy.

Notes: Once candy is cool & set, I remove the whole slab of caramel from the pan (with the foil), before cutting. I use a clean pizza cutter to cut my caramel into pieces. I also don't bother with ordering or purchasing those fancy wax paper wrappers available from online or specialty kitchen shops. I just use plain 'ol wax paper, that I cut into about 3-4" squares, to use for wrapping the caramels. These caramels make a wonderful food gift for anyone who has a sweet tooth, your child's teacher(s), the mail carrier, your hair dresser, your neighbor, etc. Enjoy!!!

Holiday Baking anyone?!

I can't believe that it's December 1st already! I mean, I do believe I was just ringing in the new year 2010 only a week ago!! Ahhh...the joys of getting older....the time just flies!! Anyway, I'm making my baking & candy making to-do list this evening, as the snow falls slowly & covers the ground. And first up on my list for this weekend, is what I call Yummy Sandwich Cookies. I actually got this recipe from my mother in law, who got it from a magazine several years ago. I've heard some people call these cookies  Whoopie Pies and Brownie Cookies...I just call them YUMMY!! =) And I hope you do as well!!


Yummy Sandwich Cookies

Cookies:
2 pkgs. Devils Food cake mix
4 eggs
2/3 c. vegetable oil

Filling:
1 pkg. cream cheese (8oz.)
1/2 c. butter, softened
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

To make cookie dough: mix cake mixes, eggs, & oil together in large mixing bowl. Batter will be stiff. Roll into 1-inch balls. Place onto un-greased cookie sheets and flatten slightly. Bake @ 350* for 8-10 minutes. Let cookies cool completely.

To make filling: beat cream cheese & butter until light & fluffy. Add powdered sugar & vanilla & beat until smooth. Spread over cookie & make into sandwich cookies.

Filling can be tinted/colored for various occasions & holidays. For example, for Christmas, I will divide the filling in half, and color 1/2 red & the other 1/2 green.

These cookies are always a huge hit anytime I make them, and are especially good with coffee or hot tea.

I apologize.....

I am very sorry for not posting for several weeks. To say things around here have been crazy & hectic, would be a major understatement!!! The kids finished up their fall season sports/activities, and now we have football equipment turn-ins & the end of season party to attend. Not to mention the untimely arrival of two new born kittens, and then the obligatory Trick or Treating last weekend. Our family is about to lose a beloved brother in law & adored uncle...at any minute. My husband's older brother is about to lose his long & courageous battle with brain cancer. In fact, I am expecting a phone call from my husband at any time to give me the news. Please keep our family, and my brother in law's family in your thoughts & prayers. He will be leaving behind his wife of almost 24 years, and 5 children (ages 23, 22, 18, 12 & 10), not to mention his mother, two sisters, a "little" brother, and nieces & nephews. Thank you.

I will get back to posting about my kitchen activities ASAP!! Thank you for your patience!!

Going to Aldi today

I am going to run into town, and pick up a few essentials at one of my favorite stores; Aldi. I am planning on making homemade potato soup this evening for our supper, and I'll either serve burgers or grilled cheese sandwiches along with the soup. It is one of my favorite soups. I actually have a recipe for Zuppa Toscana that is almost dead on for the soup that is served at The Olive Garden, which is my all time favorite homemade soup. I'll have to make that over the next few months and share it with you all.

Anyway, as I was saying, I am going to Aldi today. I need some green onions, celery, and a few other things for my soup. I plan to share with you, my awesome deals, because as I've said before, you simply can't beat the prices at Aldi on almost everything. Hope you all are having a wonderful day!!

Grilled ribeyes, green beans, & baked potatoes

This is one of Brian's favorite meals that I make for our family. Like I said before, he's a red meat & taters kind of guy. Over the past few years, I've come to prefer Laura's Lean Beef products. They are lean cuts of beef, and organic, with no added growth hormones. However, I don't like the price, so I usually stock up whenever my local Kroger store has this brand of beef marked down for quick sale. As long as you cook it right away or immediately freeze it when you get it home, this is a fantastic way to save of good quality cuts of beef, as well as pork, chicken, etc. 

Whenever I am going to grill beef, whether it be indoors or out, I usually use a steak or beef herb & spice run on the steaks, like McCormick's.  And I almost always let the steaks come to room temperature before I slap them on the grill or into my grill pan. It always makes for a more tender & juicy steak.

When grilling, I always let my grill pan or the grill get nice & hot before I place the steaks onto the heat. Not only does it seer the meat really well, but it also makes those lovely grill marks that we all like to see on our steaks. Brian & I prefer our steaks cooked medium well. Depending on how thickly cut the steaks are determines how long I grill the steaks on each side. These particular steaks were about 3/4" thick, so I grilled them for about 10 minutes on each side. After grilling, I let the steaks sit on our plates for about 3 minutes or so, to allow for the natural juices to settle throughout the steaks. This makes for a much more flavorful, juicy, and tender steak. You'll be tempted to just cut right into your steaks, but have patience, and let the juices just flow back into your steak. You won't be sorry!!

Another tip on canned veggies. I buy most of our canned veggies at a store called Aldi. You simply can't beat their prices, and they have a large selection of many canned vegetables. I've never had any issues with their brand of products, and no complaints from the kids or the hubster! I generally season our green beans with seasoned salt. I prefer Penzey's 4/S: Special Seasoned Sea Salt on our green beans, but Lawry's, Accent, or any other brand of seasoned salt will do. My mom always added bacon grease to our green beans when we were growing up, but no one in my family will eat them that way.

To round out this meal, is the simple baked potato. Generally, I prefer to rub some olive oil all over the potatoes, and then add some sea salt, and actually bake them in the oven, but like most moms these days, very rarely do I have the time to wait that long for a few baked potatoes, even if they do have that wonderfully crispy seasoned skins, that you get from your favorite restaurant! So, most of the time, they get popped into the microwave for 8-10 minutes (depending on their size & how many potatoes I'm making). Brian & Andy, our son, prefer their baked spuds with butter & seasoned with salt & pepper. Sarah won't eat them, or even try them. Me? Well, I like most carb lovers, like my spuds loaded with butter, sour cream, shredded cheddar, and if there is any available, a few real bacon bits on top!

Enjoy!!

I love to cook!!

One of my most favorite things to do in this world, is to cook. Especially for my family & friends. I've been cooking and baking since I was about 8, maybe 9 years old. My childhood best friend, Debi, has the most amazing parents. Her mom, Judy, taught me how to cook & bake. My earliest childhood memory from the kitchen, was Judy & me baking homemade brownies with homemade frosting. Since then, my love affair with food has only deepened. I love cookbooks, and have many (too many if you ask my husband) to choose from at any given time. I love to try new recipes as well. Which, is sometimes difficult because I am happily married to one of the pickiest eaters I've ever known in all my 40 years on this earth! He is what you call a "meat & taters" kind of guy. And when I say meat, I mean red meat. However, as he & I both get older, we are both realizing that healthier foods are a must. So I try very hard to limit the amount of red meat we consume to just 2-3 meals per week. The rest of our meals will be pork, venison, salmon/seafood, & chicken/poultry.

I must confess one thing about the salmon I make for our meals. 95%  of the time, the salmon I prepare I will have gotten from Market Day. It's a grocery fundraising company that our school uses. The 6oz. salmon fillets come individually vacuumed sealed, and already marinated. I try to fix these at least once a week, or 3 times per month, as 1.) they are such a healthy food source, and 2.) everyone in the family enjoys them, especially my daughter, who's just a tad on the picky side!! Anyway, I also get salmon from Sam's Club from time to time.

I will try to take as many photos of the foods I prepare for my family, or other family gatherings. I try to make as much of our meals from scratch as possible. But I do enjoy using the occasional "convenience" foods that are readily available. Especially since our schedules are becoming more & more busy as our kids get older. I hope the recipes I share with you are hits with your family as they are with mine. I am really looking forward to blogging about one of my passions in life!! Hope you enjoy it as well!