Sugarpalooza 2011

       

            As the mother of boys, I feel like I spend an awful lot of time in the role of enforcer: “do your homework”, “no horsing around in the living room”, “flush!”, “eat with your mouth closed”. Sometimes it seems like I am so busy setting boundaries and doing what needs to be done that I forget to enjoy time with them and just have fun. And really, what’s the point of having little boys if you don’t get to have fun?

            Some time ago we hatched an idea of making dessert pizzas with my best friend Julie. Children will forget to wear a hat when it’s 10º out, they’ll forget to wash their hands, and they’ll forget to put their toys away. They will not, however, forget the promise of a giant sugar fest. After being hounded reminded a few times, I set a date, invited Julie and started preparing for “make your own dessert pizza night”.

            First I made giant cookie dough “pizza crusts” using Nestlé’s Toll House cookie recipe (without the chocolate chips). I divided the dough into five large cookies and baked them for about ten minutes. Don’t over bake because they’ll be going back in the oven later. Then I gathered “sauces” (raspberry jam, strawberry jam, and caramel), “cheeses” (white chocolate chips & mini marshmallows), and toppings such as pepperoni and sausage (mini peanut butter cups & Rolos), and anchovies (Swedish Fish).

The chefs at work.

            After each of us made the perfect pizza I popped them back into a 250º oven until they were all melty and gooey.

Their creations.

            Then we argued briefly about how much pizza each kid could eat. Fortunately, this is serious sugar and the boys surrendered after a half a pizza each.

A not-so-flattering picture of all of us.

            I’m posting this today to remind myself to spend some time having fun with my kids as we have yet another snow day. How many days until spring?

Oh Fudge!

            I had my annual physical this morning. You’ll be happy to know I seem to be in excellent health. I don’t even need blood work this year because last year’s tests results were so good. I’m thrilled because of the fasting involved in blood work—skipping breakfast makes me VERY cranky. Unfortunately, I was informed that I need to drop 10-15 pounds—which wasn’t really a surprise. I have not been getting my butt to the gym as obsessively as I was last year and I haven’t altered my diet to account for the drop in exercise.

            So I did what anyone else would do after getting news like that. I went home and made a few pounds of fudge. It’s not for me! I make “goody” baskets for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and their families at Christmas. Today was the day I set aside for making all the treats. I made Cookies & Cream Fudge (aka crack—only tastier) and Chocolate with Walnuts both from the Nestle website for the second year in a row. Last year I made Alton Brown’s recipe for peanut butter fudge and the flavor was pretty good and it was ridiculously easy—but the texture was somewhere between chalk and paste. So I decided to try something new. After perusing a number of Peanut Butter Fudge recipes I cobbled together this one I want to share with you.

One of my famous care packages from a previous year.

Vickie’s Fabulous Peanut Butter Fudge

You will need:

3 cups confectioner’s sugar

2 1/4 cups of brown sugar

1/2 cup milk or evaporated milk**

1/2 cup butter

1 1/4 Cup of Peanut Butter*

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment or foil.

Place confectioner’s sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and set aside.

Combine milk, butter and brown sugar in a saucepan and mix over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir constantly for 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla extract.

Pour over confectioner’s sugar and mix until thoroughly combined.

Spread in pan and chill for about 2 hours or until set.

*I use all-natural chunky peanut butter from Trader Joe’s. Don’t groan! Even if you don’t like the natural stuff in a sandwich, it makes WAY better fudge. Think of all the sugar and fat we’re going to be adding.

**I prefer evaporated milk because I keep low-fat milk in the house and I certainly don’t want anything low-fat going in my candy!

            Now I know a lot of bloggers include step-by-step photos with their recipes. But I didn’t know that this fudge was going to so tasty that I’d want to share it with you. Plus, I’m not so sure I’m skilled enough to cook and click at the same time. Next time I’ll show you the pretty way I package up the fudge. Enjoy!