It's Not Like After the Risotto...


Let's be honest here: I do not like risotto. I can't actually remember the first time I came to this conclusion, but I do know I came into risotto with an open mind, hoping--nay, expecting--that it would taste good. And ever since then, every time I've tried risotto, I've been disappointed. To me, it tastes like rice that's been cooked with too much water, leaving it bland and mushy and sticky. It tastes like something that you cook to give a baby or someone who doesn't have teeth. It's just gross.

So I was shocked and surprised to try my future-mom-in-law's risotto over the weekend and discover that not only did I love it, I went for seconds, asked for the recipe, and made it for myself immediately after arriving home.



This stuff...is sublime. It's also not really risotto--it is orzo, cooked in vegetable broth, with a little mixed-in garlic and onions. Topped off with a handful of parsley and a dash of parmesan, and it is melt-in-your-mouth delicious, knee-weakening delicious, Seinfeld-moan-inducing delicious. It is taking all my willpower right now not to burst into the kitchen and polish off the extra portion I made for tomorrow night. Must...resist...deliciousness....

What makes it taste so good? How should I know! My mother-in-law got the recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything (my no-holds-barred favorite cookbook) and passed it along to me. It was cheap and simple to make and made my kitchen smell like magic. I paired it with an herb crusted roasted salmon that looked straight out of a Dean & Deluca catalogue, and a chilled glass of sweet, fruity rosé, courtesy my home-brewing coworker. It was awesome, all of it.

Here's the risotto recipe. In a few days, if I haven't--ahem--forgotten my blog again, I'll post the recipe for the herb salmon, which also was quite good, although could have been better (I went with fresh parsley, but forgot to stock up on other fresh herbs, so had to resort to dried rosemary and thyme). Cook some risotto and bask in the glory of deliciousness.

ORZO RISOTTO
INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, minced
4 cloves, garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups orzo
1/4 cup parmesan cheeses
1/2 cup minced parsley
*For smaller portions, substitute 1 cup orzo and 2 cups broth

DIRECTIONS
Saute onion and garlic in oil.
In separate pan, heat stock to boiling.
Add orzo to onions, stir, then add to boiling stock.
Cook covered over medium low heat, stirring every few minutes til liquid is absorbed and pasta tender (about 15 min)
Can add up to 1/2 cup more broth if needed.
Stir in cheese and parsley.

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Take Me Out To the Cupcakes

Mmmm cupcakes...

I like making/eating/decorating cupcakes. But what I really like, truly, is designing cupcakes--coming up with a unique blend of flavors and techniques that make the cupcake less a cupcake and more an experience. Witness: shotglass cupcakes, delicious in their own right, amazing because they are cupcakes hollowed out and filled with booze.

So I jumped at the opportunity again to create some unique cupcakes for the third annual Cupcake Project/Scoopalicious Ice Cream Cupcake Contest!

My little beauties (bum ba bum...)



Pretzel Cupcakes with Sour Frozen Yogurt!

I am so excited for these--they are absolutely amazing! Google tells me they are the first pretzel cupcakes of their kind, which was fun, and I made my first foray into homemade frozen yogurt, with delicious results. I started with a very sweet and buttery pretzel recipe, which I invented by blending recipes for pretzels, butter cake, and sweet rolls. Dipping the unbaked pretzels in baking soda gave them their characteristic pretzelly flavor, and a crisp crust of salt added the right flavor. To offset the saltyness and butteryness of the pretzel, I used a recipe for a tangy, smooth frozen yogurt, which provided the perfect clean contrast to the flavorful pretzel. Amazingness, indeed. And because cupcakes should have frosting of some kind, I topped the whole thing with a very thin, very sweet sugary glaze (another frosting I considered was a lemony or strawberry topping. But, I don't like fruit in desserts, and these are my cupcakes, so straightforward sugar was all I needed).

The results were terrific--even more delicious than I was hoping--and got raves from my guinea pig tester. And because for some reason I was feeling the whole summer/baseball/soft pretzel vibe (and because I am a diehard, 24-years-and-counting Yankees fan), I gave them a baseball name: Take Me Out to the Cupcake.

On to the tips and tricks
Make sure the cupcakes are cool before putting on the ice cream--you want them just warm enough to still have that rich, bready taste, but not too warm so they melt the ice cream. I made my frozen yogurt without an ice cream machine, and it turned out pretty well, if a little gloopy. To give my fro-yo the characteristic Pinkberry swirl, I stuck it inside my Wilton Dessert Decorator Pro. This thing is awesome, and I was stoked for the opportunity to use it. Dave was stoked for other reasons...


I should also note, he was an excellent helper, hardly batting an eye when I told him I wanted to take fancy pictures. "With props!" So I pulled out my beloved old-school Yankees gear and my little plastic Yankees cap and set about taking fancy food pictures. It did not go well.

And so my career as a food stylist ends not with a bang, but with a t-shirt covered in fro-yo.

PRETZEL CUPCAKES*
INGREDIENTS
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 stick softened butter
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and butter.
Add in yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, until browned.

*Adapted from AllRecipes


FROZEN SOUR YOGURT
INGREDIENTS
3 cups plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla until the sugar is dissolved
Freeze in a large, shallow container for one hour
Whisk until all the ice crystals are broken up, refreeze
Repeat freezing and mixing for 4-6 hours, or until it's reached desired texture


SIMPLE SUGAR GLAZE
INGREDIENTS
2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons milk
1 tablespoon honey
vanilla extract (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Blend all ingredients together

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Rumors of My Blogging Demise Have Been Greatly Exagerated

Hello everyone out there in Internet land!

Yes, I am still alive, and yes, I am still eating (although I seem to increasingly be falling on the dual crutches of homemade pizza and nutmeg roast chicken. mmmm....). Life, travel, and work having sapped nearly all my creative energy, I've mostly been spending my dinner times eating as fast as possible (mac n cheese may or may not have featured prominently). And while this solitary foray back into the blogging world may not be a sign of things to come (check back in around December), it's at least fun to cook delicious food and then write about it for an audience of my peers and/or future in-laws (hi guys!).

And what could rouse me from blogging silence? Nothing other than a cupcake and a contest.



I'm a big fan of the Cupcake Project, Stef's imaginative, novel cupcake blog, wherein she combines unusual ingredients with delicious cupcakey results (when she was preggars she made pickles and ice cream cupcakes, which supposedly were amazing. Not being pregnant, or liking pickles, I wouldn't know). Last year, for the second year, she teamed up with the folks at ice cream blog Scoopalicious to hold an ice cream cupcake contest. I entered my chocolate-peanut-butter ice cream cupcakes and won a wonderful bread dough. And while winning was exciting, I was more thrilled to experiment with ever new and unusual cuppycakes (I tried smores cupcakes and fried ice cream before settling on the peanut butter ones).

When this year's contest rolled around, with the grand prize of an ice cream maker, I knew I had to bring it.

Bring. It.

So, for the past few weeks I've been brainstorming, trying out new recipes, experimenting. I have finally settled on my final recipe/concoction, and let me tell you, I am excited. Really. Really. Excited. As soon as I come home tonight I plan to whip up the little beauties and feed them to my roomies/fiance. Can't wait. Hopefully, if I don't get sidetracked by tomorrow's Yankees game or the wedding we're going to on Sunday, I should have the next post up, wherein I detail the whole cupcake experience, within a day or two.

Check back soooon!


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GET LOST (cookies)!!!!

Ok, so, did you all just watch that? Yeah, awesome. Even more awesome than a Lost season premiere? Cookies based on a Lost season premiere. I had tentative plans to go a Lost party tonight and offered to bake some cookies, and while the party plans didn't quite work out, I still decided to make me some geeky fandom cookies. Enjoy (after the jump)!

The doctor says "Eat your cookies!"

Time travel bunny rabbits!

These were a pain and a half to make (which is why I only focused in on one: the Orchid)

I tried to go for terrifying, but they sort of just look like sleepy polar bears...

Vincent! How is that dog still alive? Who knows!

Claire with baby Aaron
(my roommate ate the first baby Aaron because she thought I was baking extra cookie dough)

Locke. The bald head made him so easy to make. I coulda done a baker's dozen

Sawyer, in an extremely masculine mint-green shirt

Jin and Sun, together, where they belong

Hugo cookie. I didn't even know he'd be wearing a big red shirt tonight!

Richard and Miles. Notice Richard's copious eyeliner

Cookie Kate with frosting freckles!

I tried to give Sayid little frosting handcuffs, but just didn't work out

Ilana. Does anyone really know who this person even is?
Whatever, she is now a cookie.

The whole gang!

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Booze-Free Bourbon Chicken

Oh, what panacea of earthly hunger is the mall food court. The malls in my area being too strip-y (it is New Jersey, after all) or fancy (you could never call it Short Hills Mall) for food courts, I really first discovered them in college, when I hopped the Wave to the Cambridgeside Galleria. There I spent many happy lunches among cheap Indian food, glistening pretzels, barrels of bright and beautiful sherbet, and, of course, free samples. I like free samples, even though I am aware that they are mini food traps, designed to lure you in with one bite, so that the tiny chocolate-chip-studded bite from Mrs. Fields eventually morphs into an $8.99 "chocolate deluxe" cookie monster. Still, free food=good deal.

Usually I am shameless about free samples (there is a cheese shop in Cambridge Dave refuses to enter with me), and I rarely end up buying what's offered, but a few weeks ago I fell head over heels for a sticky, sweetish, deliciously fattening and flavorful morsel--bourbon chicken.

Bourbon chicken is what you would get if Chinese food and Southern food exploded together. It is rich and tangy, completely coated with a sweet, dark glaze. Although the name suggests otherwise, there's no bourbon in it (at least not the recipe I use), making it safe to feed to infants and recovering alcoholics alike (what do people who can't drink do when confronted with vodka sauce? or beer-battered chicken? or chicken marseilles? hmm...). I found this recipe online, and the delicious result, simple ingredients, and no-fuss directions make it a keeper in my (recipe) book. I served it over white rice, Uncle-Ben-style since I don't have a rice cooker. Still good.

BOURBON CHICKEN
INGREDIENTS
chicken thigh and leg meat, cut into bite-size pieces
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a large skillet.
Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.
Remove chicken.
Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium
Heat until well mixed and dissolved.
Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve over hot rice Read more!

Anti-Vampire Food, or Twihard with a Vengeance*: Lemon Alioli Sauce

Discovering a food in a restaurant that I love and crave for is a wonderful and terrible experience. Wonderful, because eating food that's so good that I fantasize about it more than my fiance (sorry puppy) is nothing less than a gift. Terrible because I don't live in that restaurant and/or can't visit regularly and/or am too poor to subsist solely on my ideal meal.

Occasionally, for foods that truly capture my heart, I will try to recreate them at home. Sometimes this turns out wonderfully, like the shrimp ravioli in tomato veloute sauce (adapted from a lobster crepe I had at Basso 56), sometimes terribly, like my desperate imitation of Border's sublime pastelitos, about which no more should be said. Every now and then, though, I'll skip the hard work and simply ask for the recipe, which is precisely what I did for Iron Hill Brewery's distinctive and flavorful sweet potato fry sauces.

Generally when it comes to my s.p.f.'s (woah! I just got that!), I stick to ketchup, tried and true. A few weeks ago, though, Dave and I visited his home town and got some lunch with his (and my) dear friend, Chris, at the Iron Hill Brewery. The fries were on the menu and I pounced, but when they arrived I was surprised to find that rather than ketchup, they were surrounded by three bowls of different sauces: a spicey, liquidy lime; a smooth and sweet vanilla; and a lemony, creamy garlic. Although I leaned more towards the vanilla and garlic, all three nestled in the hearts of my tastebuds (weird mental image), and on our next visit to Dave's home I lobbied, successfully, for a repeat visit to Iron Hill.

Since I am shy when it comes to those things, I asked Chris (a studying doctor and future McDreamy) to charm the waitress into getting me the recipes. "It'll be my Christmas present!" I said, and he replied with the kind of look that said "Was I going to get you a Christmas present?" Chris prevailed, of course, and our waitress returned with all three recipes, plus their technique for making the fries, written out on a little piece of paper. I was grateful until I realized the recipes were for restaurant-sized portions (seriously, one called for a *gallon* of mayo). Luckily, I remembered my grade-school proportions equations (one of the few forms of math I use on a regular basis), and managed to reduce the recipes to human size.

This weekend I tackled the easiest, the lemon alioli sauce. Alioli, which basically means "more garlic than you can safely ingest," is one of my favorite sauces, being a garlic-phile, but this one added the sharp tang of lemon with a little extra bite of paprika. It was easy, cheap, and turned out exactly like I remembered, earning it the seal of approval. Plus, it required roasted garlic, which is absolutely heavenly to make.

I paired the sauce with some fries and a nice piece of salmon, but I could see it working well thrown over some pasta or tossed in a salad. The only problem was my unfortunate blender failed to adequately chop up the garlic slices, so I had little chunks floating around, but it was still good. Plus it repels vampires! Hooray!

LEMON ALIOLI SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
dash paprika
4 1/2 tbsp mayo
3 1/2 tsp lemon juice
3 1/2 tsp roasted garlic puree
3 1/2 tsp minced garlic

Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor

To make roasted garlic:
Cut off the tips of the garlic cloves while still keeping them in the head (see image)
Place on tin foil and coat with olive oil
Roast at 400 degrees for 40 minutes

*Against my better judgment, I did read Twilight. For those of you who haven't read it, let me sum it up here: "I'm so awkward! Who's that gorgeous guy? He's a vampire! And god-like in his beauty! But I love him! Because he's perfect! He loves me! Wow I'm lucky! Oh no evil vampire, ok, he's dead. I want to be a vampire!" Fin. (I hope I don't get mowed down by 800 tweens in "Team Edward" tshirts for this...)
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Welcome Back, Blogger

Hello food fans! It has been a long, cold, dreary time without you... A time filled with ramen noodles (15 cents a package!), dried-out steaks (au vin), and hamburgers, hamburgers, hamburgers (no shake shack attack). As Dave pointed out, I posted all but once in October and my previous posts were uncomfortably close to that xkcd comic. But, I am back, with a vengeance (and an appetite!).

As I reheated my second bowl of ramen noodles last night, I pondered the meaning of food blogging. Was it to record my recipes? Share them with my devoted reader(s)? Gain a small but rabid group of followers a la Joss Whedon (BTVS 4eva)? No! It was for my own selfish gain, to explore and try out new recipes so that my poor, wasted body might wring out a few new nutrients from the exotic foods I'd sample (like lettuce!). In the past few weeks, as I returned again and again to grilled cheese sandwiches and sweet potato fries (my conquered foe), I realized that my semi-quasi-maybe healthy diet was nose-diving into a pile of cheese and sugar (mmm...). With that in mind, I'll be focusing on more health-conscious fare ("more" meaning "any"). But we can't all rely on tomatoes and sprouts to get us through the day, so more cakes, I say! Truffles, cookies, cuppacakes! I can dream...

I've also taken my first shaky but exciting steps into the world of bridal registry, by which I mean, the world of working kitchen appliances. I have some bold ideas (all white china! no lemon zesters!) and I also found THE BEST THING EVER!!! during my last trip to BBB (that's Bed, Bath, and Beyond to you) that is deserving of a blog post all on its own. So, an exciting November, yes? Yes. Read more!

Chicken that Warms You to the Korma

Mmmm, Indian food (or let's be specific, folks: South Asian cuisine). I love it so although Dave likes to point out that I don't love it so much as I love chicken tikka masala, naan, paneer pakoras, and sweet lassi. I love these things so much that I order them each and every time we go out to an Indian restaurant, snarling over the bowls that, ostensibly, are meant for sharing ("But you can have some of mine if you let me have some of yours!" yeah no). It's not that I'm against other kinds of South Asian food, it's just that, once I've found something that makes me happy, why would I ever stray (I'm talking about food here, but I guess I am also 23 and happily engaged... hi kiddo).

Annnnnyway... My food boundaries are being continually expanded thanks to the ever-interesting/challenging/exciting/delicious Taste & Create. This month, I was lucky enough to be paired up with Shaista, whose cute, peppy blog, Mixcalculations, came from her forays into cooking with just the ingredients sitting in her kitchen cabinets. I am always impressed by people who can look at a random assorted pile of cans and spices and whip up magic, but I added "intimidated" to "impressed" when I saw that Shaista cooks amazing, authentic South Asian food. I let my mind boggle for about 5 seconds, and then I stumbled upon her recipe for chicken korma, a meal that Dave has often ordered but I, starry-eyed from some CTM, never ordered.

So, ok, I will start this recipe description by saying that I probably made it completely and utterly wrong. It was delicious fo' sho, but something tells me that an actual Indian/Pakistani person would probably politely ask me from what region comes this interesting soup? There were a few problems from the get go: I was sleepy and stressed out (if not making korma I think I would probably be rolling in grilled cheese) and missing many of the essential ingredients that, presumably, make it taste the way it should. Still, what I lacked in ingredients I made up in enthusiasm (that still makes food taste good, right?), and my slightly lopsidely flavored meal was still good enough that I could foresee trying again and, with a little more effort and better-stocked spice rack, serving up somethin delish.

I'm posting Shaista's original recipe, because the janky thing I came up with would probably make sweet little Pakistani granmums roll over in their graves.

CHICKEN KORMA
INGREDIENTS
1/2lb chicken
3/4 cup oil
2 medium onions (sliced)
1 cup yogurt
2 bay leaves
6 cloves
5-6 green cardamoms
8-10 black peppercorns
1 teaspoon black cumin seeds
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons ginger/garlic paste
3 teaspoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a pan, fry onion till golden brown.
Take out onion with a slotted spoon and grind or mix with yogurt and keep aside
In the same pan add bay leaves, cloves, black peppercorns, black cumin, cinnamon sticks, green cardamoms and fry for a minute.
Add chicken pieces and ginger/garlic paste and fry till chicken turns colour.
Then add coriander powder, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala and saute for 5 minutes.
Add half cup water and cover, when chicken till done.
Now add onion+yogurt paste and stir, turn off flame after 10 minutes.
Serve hot with rice or naan.
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Coq-of-the-Walk au Vin

As promised, I've started searching for simple, delicious, healthy (ish?) recipes that can be made in a flash but still impress. Bitten by Mark Bittman has been my foodie bible of choice, as the numerous oil splatters and flour-encrusted pages can attest. Last night I tried out his recipe for coq au vin, a traditional French recipe of chicken in a red wine sauce. I adapted it slightly to meet my picky taste buds / sparse grocery / forgetful shopping list, and the result was fantastic: a deep, fragrant, heady wine sauce paired with my favorite musty mushrooms coating an otherwise basic and delicious chicken breast. It was quick (made the whole thing in about half an hour), cheap (costing about 20 cents worth of mushrooms, $1.50 worth of chicken, and $2 worth of wine), and looked and tasted like I knew what I was doing (maybe?).

I'd decided a few days ago to try coq au vin for a few reasons. Chicken is one of my favorite meals, being usually healthier and cheaper than other meats/poultry, but my standard chicken recipes have been starting to bore me. Lately, to my surprise, I've started to love mushrooms. I just can't get enough of the deep, earthy flavor or the smooth, pleasant texture. And wine in meals? Sign me up.

I started with Bittman's recipe but pared down several of his ingredients and edited to a single serving. Coq au vin is traditionally made in a large Dutch oven with a full chicken (cut up into parts), several different herbs, onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms, but I wanted something smaller and more streamlined. I just cooked a chicken breast, left out the onions (not a fan), and forgot about the tomatoes (still don't have a stocked-up can pantry). Bittman also recommended two kinds of mushroom--porcini and white button--and despite searching my neighborhood (even the high-priced yuppie mart!), I could only find button. In the end, the meal only needed a quick dash of sea salt to liven things up a little, but it was just so good on its own I completely forgot about the little pot of rice pilaf I'd made as a side.

All in all, I am very pleased with the result, and very pleased to have found another quick recipe to throw into my weekly repertoire. Plus, I still have lots of leftover mushrooms, to be pan-fried with steak or tossed into salads. Hallelujah.

COQ AU VIN
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
flour for dredging
1 chicken breast, trimmed of fat
2 tablespoons butter
4-5 white button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
1 tablespoon parsley, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 bay leaf
1/2-3/4 cup red wine
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat
Dredge chicken in flour
When oil is hot, cook chicken until both sides are golden brown
Remove chicken from heat
Add butter
After butter has melted, add mushrooms, cooking both sides for about 5 minutes
Add parsley, garlic, bay leaf, and wine
Lower heat and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, turning chicken every five minutes
If sauce is too thick, add a little wine or water; if it's too thin, raise heat to high and cook
Remove chicken from heat, pour mushroom and wine sauce on top, and serve

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Superfudge

Aside from the good company, lovely weather, relaxation, and delicious food, one of my favorite things about visiting Dave's shore house (and family) is the totally beautiful and amazing kitchen. Generally, I am a spectator / passive eater, but I like taking advantage of the solid equipment and Dave's parents' cooking intuitions whenever possible. Since both of his parents handle the entre portions of the meals with confidence and a fistful of Parmesan (I am marrying an Italian, afterall), my cooking forays have been happily limited to drinks and desserts. Some went well (I will be making daisy cupcakes with my future niece/nephew, before happily handing him/her off to the parents), some were suspicious (that margarita cupcake recipe could have used a few going-overs). One, however, stood out so much that even despite its high sugar content (or because of it), it was completely gone by noon the next day and led his sister to send desperate Facebook messages asking for the recipe (social networking at its best). One word: fudge.


Ooooh, fudge. I can still remember the first time I ever ate fudge, at my first "cool kids" middle school party (there were boys! lights were dim! we played "light as a feather, stiff as a board!"). One of the girls brought a plateful of homemade chocolate fudge and, mistaking them first for dried-out brownies, I casually took a bite. Oh dear. You all know the sensation: the sweet, soft, pliant feel of the fudge being crushed slowly in your mouth, the teeth-achingly sweet flood of chocolate, sugar, and butter. Although my memories of the party don't extend much beyond the dessert table (I think it was my audition to be cast in the popular clique, but my focus on the fudge probably indicates how well I did...), the sweet, sweet moment of my first taste of fudge is something I hold dear.

Usually I get my fudge from trusted sources, like Murdick's in Martha's Vineyard (true story: mid-argument with my parents about who was paying for my wedding, my dad pulled out a box from Murdick's from their recent trip to Martha's Vineyard. Without even finishing my sentence, I pounced, stuffed a corner piece into my mouth, and domestic harmony was restored. We still never resolved the wedding thing, though). Last month, however, I was paired with Min from the Bad Girl's Kitchen for the monthly Taste and Create event. Although some miscommunication eventually had me paired with Alisa from One Frugal Foodie (check out my take on her delicious cookies here), I had already discovered and fallen in love with Min's recipe for homemade fudge. A shore weekend coming up, I figured I would have all the help (and willing eaters) necessary to make the fudge a success. And it was!

Everyone helped out in a way: Dave's parents pointed out the right equipment, his sister assembled the ingredients, her boyfriend diligently measured, Dave's brother took the photos, and his sister-in-law (currently gestating a new family member) ate for two. Dave also helped(?) by licking the extra-hot stirring spoon (how does he even have tastebuds anymore?). The recipe called for milk chocolate chips, but the local grocery was out, so we went with Hershey's bars instead. Best. Idea. Ever. It was like eating gently melted Hershey's bars, and sent everyone hopping off the walls with happiness. If I were going to remake the recipe (which, let's be honest, is a given), I might swap in a higher-quality chocolate bar, something like a nice Lindt, which is creamier and less acidic than Hershey's. Still, the fudge was simple, quick to make, and delicious, hitting what is in my opinion the perfect trifecta for a successful recipe. Check it out below and avoid the Facebook messages!

MILK CHOCOLATE FUDGE
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup Evaporated Milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cups Milk Chocolate Morsels
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Line an 8-inch-square baking pan with foil.
Combine sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Stir in marshmallows, morsels, nuts and vanilla extract.
Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows are melted.
Pour into prepared baking pan; refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.
Lift from pan; remove foil.
Cut into 48 pieces.
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