The best peanut butter fudge

Y'all, this fudge is perfect. There is nothing nutritionally redeeming about it: it's just butter and sugar and peanut butter. An insane amount of butter and sugar. But it's good. So very very good. I'm sure we're all resolving to eat better in the new year, so let's go out with a bang.

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup JIF (any kind of creamy) peanut butter
1- 7 oz jar marshmallow creme
1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in a heavy 2-1/2 quart saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat. Add the peanut butter, stirring until melted. Add marshmallow creme and vanilla; beat until well blended.

Spread in a buttered 9 x 13 x 2 - inch pan*. Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate. Cut into squares when firm.

*I recommend buttering and using parchment paper. It'll be much easier to get the fudge out later.

Off to bake the cookies

I started at 7 p.m. on the dot. It's 12:07 a.m. Five hours and a quick trip to Meijer later (with flour on my face! People, always do a quick look in the mirror before you leave the house), I still haven't started the sugar cookies. That'll just have to wait.

But I have made peanut butter, oatmeal raisin and two batches of chocolate chip cookie doughs. I even baked some tonight for my uncle to take with him to visit my cousin on Sunday. I've only tasted the chocolate chip (yummy Nestle Tollhouse) because, after awhile, it just gets to be too much. I'm sure I'll have a peanut butter cookie or two for breakfast, though.

So enjoy the pictures and just imagine how good my place smells right now.

Oatmeal raisin cookies

It's snowing outside. I went out to wipe down the car and it's the wet, slushy snow. Yuck. And since people drive like assholes when it snows and I don't have anything pressing that I need today, I'm in my pjs catching up with shows on the DVR and baking cookies.

I bake cookies every year as Christmas gifts. I don't know exactly when it started, I just know that now I can't not do it. I start hearing about the cookies at Easter! But it is nice to know that people look forward to getting them and that they're enjoyed.

I bake chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and peanut butter. In 2005, I added sugar cookies to the mix because that's what my little brother likes. I would do fancier, more adventurous ones, but everyone seems to like the classics, and I have no problem with that.

That being said, I'm always on the lookout for a better recipe. I've tried a few chocolate chip recipes, but, honestly, nothing beats the Nestle recipe.

I have a fantastic peanut butter cookie recipe that I'll never change. It's perfect. But I'm not sharing that one.

I also love my oatmeal raisin recipe. It comes from the lid on a container of Quaker oats. Oatmeal raisin cookies, while nice and simple, vary so much. They can be chewy and soft or crunchy and dry. They can have a lot of spice flavor or hardly none at all. Since it's my personal favorite, I've tried tons of them. I favor chewy and spicy, which is the recipe I generally use.

Martha Stewart, good old Martha, has a recipe I've been wanting to try for a couple of years. Today is as good a day as any. The recipe states that they'll be soft and chewy.

The only difference (and this may make a big difference, I don't know) is that I used quick oats instead of old-fashioned because that's what I had. Other than that, I followed it to the letter.

Edited to add: Looks like the oats do make a difference. Oh, well, next time I'll buy old-fashioned insted of quick. As you can see, the cookies are pretty flat. They are good, though. Chewy and just spicy enough. I took them to work and someone who has had many of my baked goods over the year said they're the best cookies I've brought in. So there you have it. But I'm still going to use old-fashioned oats next time.

FYI: This recipe makes a buttload of cookies.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies: Martha Stewart Living

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together oats, flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add oat mixture; mix until just combined. Mix in raisins.
Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.
Bake until golden and just set, about 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Chicken, lasagna, popovers, cookies and more

So I had people over on Friday and Saturday night. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and catch up. Plus, it was fun to cook and bake.

So what did I cook and bake, you ask? Friday, we had chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, mashed potatoes and popovers that didn't, well, pop over. I don't know what the hell I did wrong, but I was very disappointed.

On Saturday, I decided to try a different recipe for the popovers and it worked perfectly. There was a difference between the baking technique, and this one worked better. I also used milk and eggs that were at room temp. Don't know if this helped or not, but it didn't hurt.

I also made Giada's butternut squash lasagna. So.Very.Good. I highly recommend it. And it tastes even better a couple of days later. The only change I made to the recipe was using 1% milk instead of whole. I also didn't use as many lasagna noodles, but my layers would have been too high for the pan. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly.

I baked your standard-variety brownies (there are a million recipes online) and Brandied Cranberry, White Chocolate Chip Cookies. I also had some of those chewy ginger cookies left that I froze, so I served the rest of them. And I made a pear tart. It was based on different recipes I've read, but I guess it's closet to this. But I used pears instead of apples.


40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken: myrecipes.com

2 (3-pound) whole chickens
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
40 garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
24 (1/4-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut French bread baguette
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Remove and discard giblets and neck from chickens. Rinse chickens with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat; remove skin. Cut each chicken into 8 pieces. Combine butter and oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over chicken. Add half of chicken pieces to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken.

Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic; cook 1 minute or until garlic begins to brown, stirring frequently. Arrange chicken on top of garlic. Add broth and wine; cover and cook 25 minutes or until chicken is done.

Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Increase heat to medium-high; cook 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced to about 1 cup. Serve sauce and garlic with chicken and bread. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Perfect Popovers: Martha Stewart

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing tin
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a popover tin.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and 1 tablespoon melted butter. Pour over flour mixture, and fold until just blended.
Fill the popover cups two-thirds to three-quarters full.
Transfer tin to oven, and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees, and bake until well browned and crusty, about 20 minutes. Remove popovers from the oven, and unmold onto a rack. Puncture the sides with a sharp knife to let steam escape, and serve immediately.


Butternut squash lasagna: Giada De Laurentiis

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (1 1/2 to 2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup water
3 amaretti cookies, crumbled
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups whole milk
Pinch nutmeg
3/4 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the water into the skillet and then cover and simmer over medium heat until the squash is tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly and then transfer the squash to a food processor. Add the amaretti cookies and blend until smooth. Season the squash puree, to taste, with more salt and pepper.

Melt the butter in a heavy medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the nutmeg. Cool slightly. Transfer half of the sauce to a blender*. Add the basil and blend until smooth. Return the basil sauce to the sauce in the pan and stir to blend. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce over the prepared baking dish. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the squash puree over the noodles. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. Drizzle 1/2 cup of sauce over the noodles. Repeat layering 3 more times.

Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and bake the lasagna for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the lasagna. Continue baking uncovered until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15 minutes longer. Let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.

*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

Thin French Apple Tart (with pears): myrecipes.com

(I suck at crusts. I admit it. So I bought a frozen one from the health food store. It doesn't have all the trans fats and preservatives.)

1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 425°. Place dough on a lightly floured surface; roll into a 12-inch circle. Place on a 12-inch pizza pan. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar mixture over dough. Arrange apple slices spokelike on top of dough, working from outside edge of dough to the center. Sprinkle apple slices with remaining sugar mixture. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Brandied Cranberry, White Chocolate Chip Cookies: simplyrecipes.com

1 cup of brandy (to soak the cranberries in, then saving 1 1/4 teaspoons of it for later)
1 cup of dried cranberries
1 cup (two sticks) of butter, room temperature
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of lightly packed brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup of white chocolate chips

Put the cranberries in a wide and shallow bowl, pour in a bit of brandy. Enough so they're surrounded by it, but not drowning. Cover and place in the fridge for an hour or more. Afterwards, place a colander over a bowl and pour the cranberries and brandy through, putting the cranberries and the brandy they soaked in aside. Preheat oven to 375 F.
Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and beat again until light, fluffy and well incorporated.
Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and add 1 1/4 teaspoons of the brandy that the cranberries soaked in (as for the rest, I suggest popping it in a glass and topping it off a bit for yourself). Beat well until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl midway through to ensure even mixing.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt, then add to the mixture a bit at a time, beating until just mixed. Fold in the brandy soaked cranberries and white chocolate chips. Let chill for 15 minutes in the fridge.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (a baker's best friend) and place rounded spoonfuls down on the sheet. Bake at 375°F for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a minute, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.