Best-of-Class Fair Fudge

Summer makes me think of days and weeks spent working on 4-H projects. I would spend all summer sewing, crafting, scrapbooking, and making several posters as the fair approached. 

I might practice my food projects throughout the summer but it wasn't really until the week of that I would start making most of my foods. I've spent countless hours standing at the stove making jams, butters, and candies. While these foods aren't hard to make, they sure are time consuming! 

Be ready to stand at the stove for a long time if you're planning on making candy!

This fudge is so easy! Smooth, creamy, and chocolatey! The classic fudge.

Don't get impatient while making this! Make sure you have plenty of time to stand and stir while you bring the mixture to a boil on a very low heat. It took me 20-30 minutes of constant stirring waiting for the mixture to boil.

Before starting to make your candy, it's always a good idea to make sure you have everything ready. I like to pre-measure my sugar and have my cans and jars open and ready to go. You especially want to have your pans lined and greased.

You want to use a heavy duty pan. I like to use this old pan when I make candy. It is my grandma's old pressure cooker pan. It's nice and heavy to help prevent burning and scorching.

When you add all of your ingredients stir constantly to melt all of the sugar to prevent sugar crystals in your fudge.

Here the mixture is boiling for 7 minutes. Because you don't have to stir constantly during the 7 minutes, keep a close watch as you can see the pan gets quite full! 

When 7 minutes is up, you remove your pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate. It doesn't hurt it to let the pan sit for a minute and let the chocolate melt. Stir until chocolate is completely blended in.

Pour into your prepared pans and let cool.

Once the fudge has set up you can score the top for cutting later. It's easiest to hold a ruler next to the pan and lightly press the fudge with a knife at one-inch increments. I mark two sides.

The foil is great because you can lift the fudge out after it has completely cooled in the fridge.
Follow your scored marks and you will have 64 pieces from each pan.

This recipe is from the old Illinois 4-H Cooking 101 book. They have changed the recipe since I was a 4-Her.

Fudge Recipe 

1 cup unsalted butter

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow cream

1 can evaporated milk

1 (11.5 oz) package semi-sweet choc. chips

1 (11.5 oz) package milk choc. chips

2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Combine butter, sugar, marshmallow cream, and evaporated milk in a 3 qt. heavy saucepan. Bring to boil over medium to low heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Boil steadily over low heat 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep mixture at a fairly low boil all the time.

Remove from heat, add chocolate chips and nuts, stir until chocolate is melted and blended into mixture. 

Pour at once into two lightly buttered or foil lined 8x8 square pans or one 10x15 jelly roll pan. While still warm, score candy in each pan into 64 pieces. Refrigerate. When cool and firm, cut. Makes about 5 1/2 pounds. Recipe will divide in half.

What's your favorite homemade candy to make?
Comment below!

Megan

Chocolate Strawberry Layer Cake

I enjoyed making this smooth chocolate cake with a mixture of frostings and fillings! This summer-y chocolate cake is perfect for any of your summer gatherings. Chocolate, fresh fruit, and cool whip for a light, cool summer treat.

I did make a few different layers. First, I iced the bottom cake with chocolate icing and layered it with strawberries topping with a layer of cool whip. I added another layer of strawberries and cool whip so the top layer would have something to stick to.

I used the chocolate frosting to ice the top and then used the rest of my thinly sliced strawberries to decorate the top.

I used almost 2 pounds of fresh strawberries for this cake!

Thanks to NellieBellie.com for the chocolate cake recipe!

Chocolate Cake Recipe 

3/4 cup soft butter

3 eggs at room temp.

2 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa 

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder 

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups milk

Grease pans (either 2 round 9 inch pans or one 13x9) and either flour or coat with cocoa. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Beat butter for 30 seconds or so. Slowly add sugar.

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Beat in vanilla.

Add dry ingredients beating after each addition.

Add half of the milk, beat, and then add the other half. Beat just until everything is nicely combined.

Spread batter evenly into pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes for round pans, 5 minutes or so longer for a 13x9 pan. Watch them! A toothpick inserted in the middle that comes out clean means it is done! 

Let cool completely before icing. 

Chocolate Frosting Recipe

1/2 cup soft butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. milk

Beat ingredients together. Add additional cocoa, sugar, and milk to taste.

Note: I did not ice my whole cake, I left my sides bare. If you are making this to ice the whole cake I would double or triple this recipe to make sure you have enough frosting.

What's your favorite cake/fruit combination?
Comment below!

Megan

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Creamy Mac 'n Cheese is an anytime-food. Whether you need a dish to share for a picnic, birthday, or potluck, this can be your go-to dish!

There is no comparison between stove-top mac and baked mac. I ate plenty of stove mac 'n cheese growing up but baked mac 'n cheese was a special dish! It's so easy, I think it should be made instead of the stove kind. Too bad we live in a world of convenience foods! Everyone's missing out on the good stuff!

A super simple dish that can be doubled or quadrupled to satisfy your crowd. With six ingredients, it doesn't get any easier!

I love the crunchy baked top but for this pan I stirred the mac once while it was in the oven. I was requested to make this for a birthday party and I know my nephew doesn't like the crunchy ones. ;)

This recipe is from my Great Aunt Donna.

Baked Macaroni & Cheese Recipe 

1 lb. elbow macaroni, cooked

4 Tbsp. butter 

1 lb. velveeta (or generic brand) cheese, cubed

3 green onions, chopped

2 cups milk

1/4 tsp. pepper
salt for water, about 1/4 tsp.

Cook macaroni according to the instructions on the box add salt to water. Drain, then pour into a 13x9 pan and add the butter. Add cubed cheese, green onions, milk, and pepper. Mix well.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 35-45 minutes. 

If you don't like a crunchy top, stir once or twice during the cooking time for a creamy mac and cheese. If you like it crunchy, just pop it in the oven and leave it!

This simple recipe is sure to be a hit at your next gathering! 

What's your favorite potluck dish?

Comment below!

Megan

Stir-Fry with Garlic-Crusted Chicken

I love vegetables and one of my favorite ways to eat them is in stir-fry! It's a quick, healthy dinner full of bright colored veggies. I can't wait for our garden to start producing this summer so we can have lots of fresh zucchini, squash, peppers, and tomatoes! 

I made this recipe up as I was hurrying to get dinner on the table. You can't ever go wrong with garlic and sesame oil, right?! I don't think so! I absolutely love the way the chicken turned out- moist and coated in garlic, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Such a yummy flavor combo.

Stir-Fry with Garlic-Crusted Chicken Recipe

3-4 Chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes

4 tsp. minced garlic, divided

2 tsp. soy sauce (may use less) + extra for drizzling 

2 tsp. sesame oil (may use less) + extra for drizzling

2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

1 red bell pepper, cut in squares

1 yellow bell pepper, cut in squares

4-6 carrots, cut in thin strips

1 box (8oz.) mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1 med. onion, sliced

2 zucchini, sliced

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil until pan is very hot. Add cubed chicken to pan as well as 2 tsp. garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Stir chicken to coat and cook evenly. Make sure chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Pour chicken into a bowl and cover to keep warm.

In the same skillet add 1 Tbsp. olive oil and heat pan. When hot add red pepper, yellow pepper, carrots, mushrooms, onion, and zucchini. Add 2 tsp. garlic and drizzle soy sauce and sesame oil over veggies. Cook, stirring almost constantly, until veggies are bright, shiny, and soft. 

When finished, add the chicken to the skillet. If you need time to work on other sides, this dish will stay perfect if covered and the burner turned to low-heat, this also helps the harder carrots and peppers soften. 

Serve over rice or noodles. Other great sides: egg rolls, dumplings, fruit. 

What are your favorite stir-fry ingredients?

Comment below!

Megan