Sweet & Salty Fudge

Let's talk about how I've been trying to show you this fudge for like...5 days. Or something. The important part is that I get it to you, right? Because this is good stuff. It's the sort of Christmas decadence worth wearing stretchy pants for. 

It's the kind of thing babies like to get on their fingers and wipe on everything they see.

It's the kind of thing flaky sea salt was made for.

Five ingredients. No candy thermometer. No hassle. You'll need: miniature marshmallows, bittersweet chocolate, unsalted butter, sweetened condensed milk, and flaky sea salt.

Butter, marshmallows, and the condensed milk meet in a medium saucepan. Condensed milk is just luscious. Much more than its name would suggest.

Here we're getting melty and starting to smooth out. Keep stirring until it's completely smooth.

Time for the good stuff. Add your roughly chopped chocolate to the gooey marshmallow mixture. Bittersweet chocolate is really best here because the marshmallows and condensed milk have plenty of sugar.

You can take it off the stove now. The residual heat should be enough to melt the chocolate completely.

Pour that velvety mixture into a pan lined with parchment paper.

Smooth it out with your spatula.

And sprinkle with sea salt. It's kind of the prettiest ever.  Let it chill in the fridge for about an hour.

A note: If you let it sit longer than a day, the salt will kind of melt onto the surface of the fudge. So it won't have that pretty crystal look, but it'll still taste dynamite.

I really shouldn't have put two pieces of fudge on the plate. I feel like that's being deceitful. Because you really can only eat one piece at a time. 

But you can't fault somebody for trying. The depth of really good bittersweet chocolate with a healthy dose of sweet and salt just can't be beat.

Sweet & Salty Fudge (makes about 1 pound of fudge)

Via Coastal Living

3 c miniature marshmallows

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

4 tbs unsalted butter

12 oz bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

• Line a 8x8 pan with parchment paper.
• In a medium saucepan, combine marshmallows, condensed milk, and butter over medium heat. As marshmallows melt, stir mixture and continue until completely smooth.
• Stir in chocolate and remove from heat. Continue stirring until chocolate has completely melted into the marshmallow mixture.
• Pour mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle sea salt over the fudge. Refrigerate at least an hour before cutting. Store leftovers in an airtight container or tightly wrapped in the refrigerator.

Triple Chocolate Chunk & Pistachio Cookies

Do you know what I love about the world? Little favors. Little favors that take a craptastic day and turn it into a less craptastic day. It's especially uplifting when the little favors are perpetrated by a total stranger because it restores just a little bit of faith in humanity.

Like two weeks ago in the Kroger by my sister's house. See, I'd found out earlier that day that we had to put our dog, Daisy, down. It ripped a hole in my heart, and I tried to make myself feel better by going to the gym. It's hard to feel sad in Zumba when you're making a fool of yourself. And I did feel better while I was there, but then it was raining and gross outside. On the way back to my sister's I decided to stop at Kroger because it was easier to get to during rush hour. I grabbed a few things and parked myself in the wine section to find a decently priced bottle (P.S. Kroger, your mark-up was a little ridic). I was checking out, and the clerk asked if I had a Kroger card. I said I didn't, and the man in line behind me said "Oh here" and had the clerk scan his card for me. I thanked him, paid, then turned back and said "If I'd known that was gonna happen, I'd have picked a better bottle of wine." He laughed, I laughed and thanked him again, and I left with my heart a little lighter because he did a little something nice.

I Made Popcorn!

Oh, Punxsutawney Phil.  You saw your shadow, and now we're supposed to get 6 more weeks of winter.  If by winter you mean temps in the upper 60s and 70s with a few days of the 50s sprinkled in, then I believe you.  Because our winter this year has basically been our spring.  So yeah.

Anyway, let's get down to the nitty gritty here.  I love popcorn.  I've ruined many a dinner by eating vast quantities of buttery, salty popcorn.  Come to think of it, I've also made popcorn my dinner (or lunch) a few times.  So why have I never made it at home?  Oh well of course I've microwaved it.  But all the fake yellow coloring (um butter does not make popcorn yellow as we will soon see) and the chemicals/preservatives kinda freak me out.  And by the way, they totally don't bother me when I'm at a movie theater.  I'm a study in contradictions.  But as it stands, when I can make something myself, I usually like to do so.