Microwave Fudge

I know I put this recipe on before, but I have changed it a little since then.

Microwave Fudge

4 cups Powdered Sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cube of butter cut in pieces (not margarine)
1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla
1/2 to 1 cup peanut butter
nuts (optional)
peppermint pieces (optional)

Mix only the first 4 ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. DO NOT STIR. Microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes. Remove from microwave and mix until smooth. Using an electric mixer is the best way to do this without leaving lumps of sugar.

Add vanilla, peanut butter and nuts (if using them) and mix until well blended. The mixture should be thick and able to hold it's shape. If it is not pulling cleanly away from the sides of the bowl, add a little more powdered sugar and mix until it is thick enough.

Pour into a buttered dish. Put into the fridge to set and cool. Make sure to lick the beaters and the bowl; you won't want to waste any of this. Cut into pieces and enjoy.


Make this once or twice before you give it as a gift or anything, just to make sure you get the right consistancy. It will be a hardship, I know!

Too hot to cook--But I want cookies

Okay, I have a craving for cookies, which seems to happen too often. But I live in the HOT DESERT and its 3:00 pm. I don't want to turn on the HOT OVEN! That would just be helping the outdoor heat come inside!

Need another option.

Cookie dough! Without the eggs!

Cream together:
1/2 cup butter -- softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add and mix together:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Last addition:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Lay out a piece of plastic wrap (about 15-18 inches). Put the dough on to one end of the plastic wrap, beginning about 4-5 inches from one end, and gently form a rectangle. You can make cuts so the dough will break apart or not, your choice.

Bring the long end of the plastic wrap up to cover the dough. Tuck the sides down to close and then fold them over the top. Now bring the 4-5 inch end over to completely cover the dough.

Put wrapped dough into the freezer for a while (as long as your sweet tooth will allow). After the dough has set (it will not completely freeze) open the end and break off your cookie serving.

# of serving this makes depends on the SIZE of the servings.

Mine should be about ready. Gotta go.

This is also great to add to homemade ice cream (after freezing is completed) to make your own "Cookie Dough Ice Cream".

Confessions of the Cookie Dough Monster

Yes, I love to eat cookie dough. Apparently many others like it too, which is why they make so many things in “cookie dough” flavor. But if you are at all worried about eating raw eggs, cookie dough is not the best snack.

UNTIL I FOUND THIS RECIPE – Edible Cookie Dough

This is dough that is not to be baked, but to be eaten as the dough! My kind of snack -- save the eggs and still have dough! So, I made it, and A & I eat it so fast that I have to make double batches just so it will last more than 24 hours!

I share this with you after looking at many recipes for this and putting together my own.

EDIBLE COOKIE DOUGH

½ cup soft butter
¼ - ½ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup milk
½ - 1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup sugar
1 ¼ cups flour
½ - 1 cup chocolate chips (optional – yeah right!)

Cream together first 5 ingredients. Add the salt and flour and mix well. Add the chocolate chips, stir to distribute.

After the dough is ready, you can leave it in the bowl and serve like that. But I prefer to form it into the same shape as the store-bought “break & bake” style. I use a large piece of plastic wrap, place the dough on it and shape into a rectangle. Then I make the cut marks to it will be easy to break off. I wrap it completely and put in the freezer/fridge.

This is also the kind of dough you would use to make your own “COOKIE DOUGH ICE CREAM”. Add it to softened store-bought ice cream and re-freeze. Or add it to your homemade ice cream just before you think it will stop churning so it has time to mix in.

NOTES:
* I have left out the baking powder/baking soda that most of the recipes called for – I find it doesn’t do anything for the flavor and I don’t need the leavening properties.
* Try adding some peanut butter chips or nuts, if that is your preference.
* We have to put a limit on how many sections you can take at once.

Sorry I don't have any pictures. It gets eatten too fast!!

Cinnamon Rolls Please

Don’t’ these look yummy? I was so proud of myself for how these came out.

I found the secret to great cinnamon rolls. DON’T OVER BAKE THEM!! I had been baking them until they were brown, like bread. The secret is to bake them only until they are STARTING to brown. This way they stay really moist inside.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups white flour

2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes

Instead of making loaves, I rolled out the dough (about 16x20).
I spread soft butter over the dough.
I put powdered sugar over the dough.
I put brown sugar over the dough.
I sprinkled cinnamon over the dough.
I sprinkled on raisins (that had been soaking in water) over the dough.
Then I rolled it up and cut it into about 1-1 1/2 inch sections and put these into a greased pan.
I let it rise for the second time this way and then baked it.

The glaze was put on when the rolls were still warm, so it melted down into them. MMM!!! I used ½ container of premade Cream Cheese frosting.

The first batch I made was eaten in less than 24 hours. So I washed the pan and made another batch the very next day! We inhaled these, too!

You realize there are only 3 of us living here. WE ATE THEM ALL!!!!!!!

One of my comfort foods

Tonight, TK is really ready to have me take over the kitchen again! Even if I'm not. So I am making something that EASY and tastes good on a rainy day like this when you feel like death-warmed-over!
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CHICKEN & RICE SOUP

Combine the following ingredients. Amounts will depend on your taste and your fridge.

Water (or chicken broth)
Chicken Boullion
Chicken or Turkey, cooked (frozen, leftovers, canned, anything)
Rice
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
Optional: onion, celery, peas, carrots, any of the usual stuff for soup.

Boil or simmer all together until the rice is over-cooked and the ends have broken so that each little grain looks more like a star than a grain.

NOTES: This is best when slowly cooked all day and starting with uncooked chicken to make the broth. The amount of rice to water added is going to depend on your own taste. I like lots of rice with just a little broth. This also makes a little meat go a long way!
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Mine is ready. Gotta go drink a little bit of heaven!!!