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Today’s recipe for Tiger Butter is a form of almond bark that my children absolutely love. We first had it at Swiss Pantry in Belvedere, Tennessee (If you’re ever near there, stop and buy anything at all and it will taste wonderful!). This bark isn’t quite as sweet as regular bark and really ends up with a peanut butter infused flavor that my entire family gets excited about. You can make this for gifts in easily less than five minutes, too, so it’s great for this time of year! Before I show you how easy it is to make this, though, I wanted to share my heart with you a bit and thank you in advance for indulging me.

We’re in the home stretch leading up to Christmas and I know this is a time where anxieties grow more anxious, tempers have tendencies to flare, and a lot of folks begin to feel like a string stretched so tight you could pluck it and play a tune.

Been there, done that, and start down that road every year but manage to stop and turn around before it’s too late

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, how this year is even more stressful than normal for our country. With many people out of work (I imagine if you are blessed to have a job you still know folks who don’t and simply can’t find one) and the prices of everything skyrocketing, it’s disheartening to say the least to try to come up with additional money to purchase gifts. We’ve all cut corners. Most everyone I know isn’t sending Christmas Cards in order to save that money. My mother and I have made a lot of gifts together this year. We usually do that for friends and staff at the kid’s schools but this year we’ve made many gifts for the kids and grandkids as well.

Mama and I have talked about how Christmas used to be versus how it has become and we’ve worked to bring it back to a happy medium once more. Still, I know there is a great deal of anxiety and worry. I know a lot of parents will be concerned that Santa might not bring enough.

But you know what? There is nothing new under the sun. We’re not the first people to feel this anxiety and we certainly won’t be the last.

My parents struggled all year long when we were little, just to be able to provide Christmas for us. Back then, “refunding” was common. Mama would save UPC codes and receipts all year long, scouring newspaper inserts for offers to send them in in exchange for items she could use as gifts. She’d get us dolls, clothes, even a calculator once that we all shared after opening it on Christmas morning. Daddy always worked at least one or two extra jobs but when the holidays rolled around he’d add an additional one, barely leaving time to sleep. They scraped, the worked, they fretted, and they hoped we’d not be disappointed come Christmas morning.

You know what’s crazy though? Knowing how hard they worked and how much they worried, I only remember three of the Christmas gifts from my childhood – and one of those was Dr Pepper flavored Chapstick! Oh, rest assured I got far more than that, but what I’m saying is that with all of their fretting, it’s not the gifts that stand out in my memories.

It’s the things we did together as a family that I remember when I look back. Mama letting us help her make Christmas cookies. Decorating the tree together. Driving around looking at Christmas lights. Special dinners at our grandparents houses. Learning to wrap presents all by myself. Singing Christmas songs at school. Making ornaments out of construction paper and glitter and glue and having Mama ooh and ahh over how beautiful they were when I gave them to her.

Christnas has always held a magical quality, but if you think about it, what do you remember most? The gift of Christmas itself, the memories that remain long after the paper and ribbons have been thrown away.

This is the time of year where we’re all searching for just the right gift. Where we’re budgeting and shopping sales and trying to come up with just one more little thing to make the picture underneath the tree seem perfect.

But we already have so much.

I always wanted a family, for as long as I can remember. I wanted to get married, I wanted to be a Mama. I remember when I was a teenager thinking “I wonder if I’ll ever have my own house?” and here I sit, in my own chair in my living room, looking at the tree that my husband and I decorated with our son and daughter. I wondered if I’d ever have someone love me unconditionally, and here it is Christmas, the birth of someone who loved me enough to die for me.

Just thinking about it all in that perspective fills me with so much joy my heart aches close to bursting.

This year there will be fewer presents under a lot of trees, but those won’t be remembered anyway. Rather than spending more money on the gifts that fade I’m going to spend more time on the gifts that will stay clear and warm in the hearts of my family for the rest of their lives.

You know, I can honestly walk into a store and not need a single thing on the shelves because everything I could ever hope for is right here around me.

I’ve already have my Christmas.

 I hope you took a moment to let that sink in before diving into tiger butter because I’m ADHD so I go from life changing moment to “OH LOOK! A SQUIRREL” faster than you can blink.

I made my point, I shared my heart, and now I’m digging in the pantry wanting to cook something with you.

You’ll need: vanilla almond bark*, Crunchy peanut butter, and chocolate chips.

*Almond bark doesn’t have any nuts in it, that is just a generic name for a chocolate-like candy coating that is commonly used in candymaking.   I say this because I always get several folks asking each year and I like to try to answer questions before folks have to ask them . However, if you have a nut allergy in your family, the peanut butter is going to be a problem of course. I suggest trying SunButter, which is a substitute that my friend HodgePodge Mom uses a lot.

 Oh! Did I mention you’re going to need a rimmed baking sheet lined in waxed paper?

Well now ya know

I have these wonderful baking sheets I love that I got from Sam’s Club. When we were doing photos for my book a few weeks ago, the food stylist came bearing a whole passel of the same ones and we talked about how much we loved them.

Break up your almond bark into a large mixing bowl.

Breaking it up is optional and dependent on my mood. Sometimes I just throw the whole thing in there.

It’s gonna melt either way so just do whatever cranks your tractor.

 Place bowl in microwave for about one minute. Stir well.

Microwave at 30-45 second intervals, stirring after each, until bark is melted and smooth.

Add in peanut butter.

Stir until peanut butter is melted and well blended.

Spread onto waxed paper lined sheet.

Place chocolate chips in a small bowl and melt the same way you did the almond bark.

Drop dollops onto your peanut butter mixture.

Kinda swirl it a little bit with a butter knife until it looks good from ten yards on a galloping horse.

My standards of perfection are pretty low but I stay a whole lot happier a whole lot longer that way!

Place in the refrigerator to harden or, if you’re one of those patient people I’ve heard folks speak of in legends, allow it to sit out on your countertop at room temperature until fully hardened. If it’s cold where you live, you can also just put it outside

Once it’s hardened, break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

ENJOY!

For more quick and easy recipes using almond bark, see below.

Holly Jollies – with endless variations, this is one of the most popular recipes on Southern Plate and a must do for Christmas gifts!

Double Layer Peppermint Bark – this beautiful bark sells in stores for a small fortune, but you can make it at home for just a few dollars.

“Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree.

In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.” 

~Larry Wilde

So how is this whole parenting thing working out for ya? Not for wimps, huh? I’ve been at it myself going on thirteen years now and my respect for my mother (and awe at her still having hair in her head) has deepened daily.

Trying to raise two individuals, who each entered into this world with their own distinct personalities, is clearly one of the toughest jobs I’ve ever taken on, but also the most important and with rewards and a pay grade that will never be matched by anything else I do.

Teaching my kids values, morals, right and wrong, how to behave, show compassion, educating them, urging them to excel where they have the ability to excel rather than settling for “good enough”, building them up while gently reminding them of how far they have to go – Whew. I’m tired just typing about it.  And lets be honest here, instilling a work ethic into kids sure was easier back in my Grandmama’s day – but I don’t want my kids out picking cotton in a field so I have to get creative and be persistent. Man, this is heavy stuff.

In the midst of all this though, and equally important, is that I want us all to have some fun. I come from a fun family and I want my kids to say the same thing when they grow up. So as a result we joke, we kid, we prank, and we laugh. Every blessed chance we get.

Teaching your child to look for joy in their lives, in their days, and in each situation, is a lesson I rank right up there with teaching them to balance their checkbook, tie their shoes, and do the right thing. Without the ability to find joy in a situation and without the training to be on the lookout for it, we end up desolate and without hope. Depressed and without motivation. Down and out with no reason to rise. No sir. My kids won’t be going there.

We had joy in each day of our lives growing up. We had laughter and jokes and pranks and rear end pinches every time we happened to be bent over when our Mama came into the room. We had tickles and whoopee cushions and fake ice cubes with plastic flies in them. We had Elvis sing a longs that turned into strange operettas and breakfast biscuits that turned into bb gun skeet disks when Daddy decided to try his hand at making them by himself.

We had our share of hardships, too and there were times when our parents had to be serious with us, but those times were balanced with all of the moments they were silly with us as well.

Raising kids is serious business, and I do make mine tow the line, but remembering to teach them the valuable lesson of looking for joy and having fun in life is pretty serious business, too.

Buddy and Carol in Ecuador – Joyful folks!

I was reminded of this when I got to spend last week with some wonderful people, two of which were Buddy and Carol Smith. These are some joyful people. Always kind, looking after others before themselves, and just experts at making you feel loved. Carol and I talked a lot about our kids and her grandkids and during one conversation she said “You know, we have a lot of fun at our house when the grandkids come over. We just try to have fun with them. We’re always laughing and joking around.” We laughed with each other as we recounted the things we’d done with our own families. We talked about road trips and pranks, making our kids laugh and laughing right along with them. We spoke of the joy in our families – and then we talked about brownies

These are the brownies Carol told me about on one of our bus trips to a little village outside of Quito, Ecuador. “Oh! Have you ever made Symphony Brownies? Everyone just loves them!” she began, and I was already writing this post in my head as soon as she said the word “brownie”.

This is one of those super easy recipes that your kids will remember growing up with. I can hear our children now “My Mama was always pulling things to get me to laugh…Oh and she made these brownies! Everyone loved them…”

Look for the joy today but most importantly, each time you find it, remember show it to your kids.

You’ll need: Brownie Mix (the box that makes a 9×13 pan), and two symphony bars.

You’ll also need whatever ingredients your brownie mix calls for

The symphony bars I got are the large 8 ounce ones. You can use any type of chocolate bar you like or even individual chocolates (the mini bars).

Mix up your brownie mix according to package directions and spray an 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray.

Spread 1/2 of your brownie batter into the bottom of your baking dish.

Place your chocolate on top of the brownie batter. You may have to break it up a little bit to get it to fit but it’ll work.

And in the end you’ll have brownies…so it’s all good

Pour the rest of your brownie batter on top of the chocolate.

Bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool completely.

How do you teach joy to your family?

What is the best prank you’ve ever pulled on them?

Tell us in the comments below!

 

Weeds are nothing but flowers in disguise!

Submitted by Linda (thanks, Linda!). Submit your quote or read many others by clicking here.

I’ve lost count of how many of you have tried this icing since I first brought it to Southern Plate back in 2008 on Red’s birthday cake. Our family tradition has us putting it over a yellow cake but the combination of chocolate brownies paired with this old fashioned boiled icing is a whole new level of old fashioned decadence – so much so that I’m devoting a whole new post to it!

We’re gonna start with boxed mix made brownies. I used two boxes of mix to make mine extra thick. If you do that you need to cut your oven temperature down to 325 and add about fifteen minutes to the baking process.

As far as which mix to choose goes, I usually get Kroger brand or some other generic but when I went to Krogers this brand was on sale for $1.00 a box. I’d go for whatever is cheapest where you shop because I’ve never met a brownie mix I didn’t like .

You don’t have to use two boxes of mix, one is fine and you get to taste more of the icing!

You can also make them from scratch by using your own recipe or Susan Spencer’s Grandmothers recipe for Blue Ribbon Brownies.  The peanut butter icing will take on the star of the show so go with whatever you prefer and what you have time for but as for me and my house, we will make them from a mix today.

Folks that turn their noses up at anything that was baked for them, be it from a mix or completely from scratch, don’t deserve to have people making them brownies anyhow. Snootiness doesn’t bother me though, because that just means there is extra room in my life for good hearted folks with more sense

For our icing we’ll need: Peanut butter, sugar, a bit of salt, bit of shortening and margarine, little vanilla (I really do need to get a smaller bottle coz eventually someone is going to think they have to go buy a gallon), and some milk.

Place your milk, sugar, shortening, margarine, and salt in a good sauce pot and put this over medium heat.

Stir constantly while you wait on all of it to melt and come to a boil.

This is what it looks like as it starts to melt.

My photo turned out with more yellow than it actually had so ignore that. Clearly, I’m not seeking accolades for my food photography.

I’m more like ~tilts head and looks before snapping the pic~ Eh. Good enough.

This is the icing mixture as it has come to a boil.

What you are going to do is stir it constantly until it comes to a full rolling boil and then stop and let it boil on it’s own (no stirring) for two minutes.

Remove from heat and pour in vanilla.

(I forget this half the time and it still turns out fine)

Add in your peanut butter and stir quickly until it is all melted and well blended.

Folks, I’m NOT kidding about stir quickly here. This sets up fast.

Now this is ready to pour.

Pour over your cooled brownies and spread to cover it all.

Mine would have been all smooth but I was trying to take photos at the same time and that ate up some of the time I should have been spreading.

Allow to cool completely .

You can occupy yourself during this time by licking the sauce pot clean once it cools enough to let you!

Go impress people because you rock. Seriously, you do. Look what you just made!

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you’ll take time to read the story of why this icing is so special to me by clicking here.

You can also find the story and this icing recipe on page 258 of the Southern Plate cookbook.

I want to thank you again for all of your kind reviews on Amazon.com - My mother actually read them all the other day!

“Smile and give your face a holiday”

Doris says, “This was my Mom’s favorite saying.” Thank you, Doris!

Submit your quote by clicking here.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/01/peanut-butter-fudge-iced-brownies.html/feed 138 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/01/blue-ribbon-brownies-from-susan-spencer.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/01/blue-ribbon-brownies-from-susan-spencer.html#comments Sat, 15 Jan 2011 15:20:51 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=13243  

I dearly love getting to hear about your treasured recipes and the wonderful people who made them for you. A few months back I sent out a call for submissions to Southern Plate subscribers with a special email address to submit these to. I’m not currently taking submissions but will send out another call to subscribers when I open it up again (I have so many I want to share already). Today Susan shares her dear mother’s recipe for Blue Ribbon Brownies along with some wonderful stories to go along with them. I feel as if I knew her now and I know you’ll enjoy meeting Pufky, too. Stay tuned because I’ll share more of Pufky’s recipes soon!

"Pufky"

Christy,

Let me begin by saying how much I enjoy reading your blog, and trying out your recipes.  I first discovered you when you appeared in Southern Living some months ago.  My current favorite recipes of yours are your cinnamon rolls, and your slow cooker chicken and wild rice.  YUM!  Then … when I read your cookbook, I felt like I was reading about my own family.  You cook like I like to cook, and like my family likes to eat.  No fancy ingredients, just good home cooking.  Reading your book made me miss my parents and grandparents desperately, but brought back so many wonderful memories of family meals shared.

I am pleased to share with you some family recipes from my Mom, Mary Catherine Nolan.  Known to her friends and neighbors as Mary Kay, Mom was lovingly known as “Pufky” to her family.  You see, when Mom was just a baby, her Uncle Jack decided that her cheeks were as plump as a cream puff!  ”Cream Puff” eventually became “Pufky”, and the name stuck until she passed away almost four years ago, at the age of 79.

Pufky and her Blue Ribbon

Mom was an amazing cook and baker.  There were five of us kids at home, so with seven people around the dinner table every night, and grandparents every Sunday, she had plenty of people to practice on!  One favorite family tradition was that on your birthday, you were able to choose the menu.  My birthday dinner was always the same:  Picnic Chicken, Macaroni & Cheese, string beans, and Hot Milk Cake, with strawberries and Cool Whip!  Her Picnic Chicken is so delicious, and is wonderful served either hot or cold.

If you were lucky enough to know Mom, you were probably the recipient at some point in time of a plate of her “Blue Ribbon Brownies”.   If you were new to the neighborhood, just had a baby, suffered a death in the family, or were experiencing any other one of life’s moments, Mom baked you a batch of her brownies.  Most times, she even had a batch or two in the freezer “just in case”.  They are simple, chocolately, and oh-so-good!  And by the way … I re-named them “Blue Ribbon Brownies”.  To Mom, they were just brownies.  After she won a blue ribbon for them in a baking contest (photo attached), I decided they needed a new name!

I hope you are able to try a few of Pufky’s recipes in your own kitchen … I’m sure you and your family would enjoy them.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy 2011 to you and your family!  God Bless.

~Susan (Nolan) Spencer

Blue Ribbon Brownies – From Susan Spencer

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 4 eggs
• 4 squares unsweetened baker's chocolate
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup nuts
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Melt shortening and chocolate together. Sift flour, salt and baking powder. Beat eggs, add sugar and beat until creamy. Add chocolate mixture and blend. Add flour mixture, vanilla and nuts. Bake in greased 9x13x2 pan. Bake at 350? for 25 to 30 minutes. Check with toothpick.

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*Susan was very generous in sharing Pufky’s recipes and after reading this I’m sure you’d like more of them! I’ll be sharing more in future posts. Be sure and subscribe to Southern Plate by email so you don’t miss them. Thank you so much Susan! What an honor to get to know your dear sweet mother. Gratefully, Christy

Mama and Christy Jordan

When I sent a call for heritage recipe submissions to email subscribers, Susan was the first one to send hers in to me a few minutes later. I read her description of her wonderful mother and felt so honored to have her share this recipe with me. Then, when I opened the photo she sent to accompany it, and found that it was of her mother and myself, I was at a complete loss for words – and y’all know that doesn’t happen often! What an honor for me, thank you Susan and Miss Ann! Gratefully, Christy

This recipe is from my dear mother. She is 75 years young. She taught me all I know about cooking. I remember being in the kitchen with her from an early age. I also spent some time in the kitchen with my grandmothers. I was the middle child and seemed to enjoy being in the kitchen more than my siblings. (probably because I liked to eat more than they did.)

My mother will tell you now she cooks just from memory…not by a recipe. My sister and I have tried to document some of her recipes that are our favorites. The recipe I’m sharing is for her “Boyfriend Fudge”. She makes it for us every Christmas. She got the recipe from her sister (my aunt) who is now deceased….and I’m sure she got it from their mother (my grandmother)…so it has been passed down through the ages.

Mama says she has no idea how it got the name “Boyfriend Fudge”…but we suspect it came from the fact that it would be something you would make your boyfriend to insure he would stay around awhile. The best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
Hugs,
Susan Hatcher

Boyfriend Fudge

Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar
• ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 Tablespoons Light corn syrup
• ½ cup sifted, unsweetened cocoa
• 3 Tablespoons Margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup broken nuts

Instructions

1. Lightly grease 8” or 9” pan with margarine. In heavy 3-quart saucepan, cook the following ingredients: sugar, salt, milk, corn syrup, and cocoa – stirring frequently until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and stir occasionally until mixture reaches soft ball stage. Remove from heat, add 3 Tablespoons Margarine and 1 teaspoon vanilla – DO NOT STIR. Cool to lukewarm. Mixture may be cooled by setting pan in cold water. Beat fudge slowly until it holds its shape when dropped from spoon. Add 1 cup nuts. Quickly pour fudge into buttered pan.
2. Refrigerate covered for 2 hours. Cut into 1” squares.
3. Better if cooked on cool, sunny day.

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For more fudge recipes, see the following links:

• Cinnabun, Chocolate, and Peanut Butter Fudge
• Chocolate Fudge that can take over the world!

If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts,

liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.

-Andrew Carnegie

Submitted by Susan Crane. Submit your quote here

I’ll never forget the first time I had homemade, real, hot chocolate, made on the stove and not with a mix. Although we made our own mix from scratch (and it was delicious) there was just something about that extra chocolaty decadence of classic hot chocolate, with that little extra bit of cocoa lingering for the last sip that had me hooked.

A while back the folks from Domino sugar contacted me to ask if I’d like to feature Domino sugar on Southern Plate, they asked if I’d use one of their recipes on their handy dandy recipe site as well. I had planned on bringing y’all homemade hot cocoa for a while now but I usually make it without a recipe and had yet to take the time to measure everything out. Lo and behold, Domino did that for me so why mess with perfection? After you make this a time or two with their recipe, you’ll likely settle into just eyeballing it like I do. Either way you go, though, you just can’t beat a cup of homemade hot chocolate!

Special thanks to Domino for sending me a gift card to gather up all of the supplies I’d need for this post, including some Domino sugar in their new little canister! Be sure to check out their recipe website for plenty of yummy holiday recipes, including mixes and printable tags!

We’re gonna need: Cocoa powder, whole milk, and sugar.

Vanilla and marshmallows are optional but don’t try telling that to my kids!

The little canister of Domino sugar sure is handy. I like it when food companies get innovative with their designs.

Oh! Family, meet Kayleigh. Kayleigh, meet my Southern Plate Family.

Kayleigh is our friend and a brilliant babysitter if you are ever trying to write a book for Harper Collins and find yourself under a deadline at Christmas time, while taking care of two kids, a blog, assorted newspaper columns, and have a house to look after.

Not that I know anyone like that but I’m jes’ sayin’….

If I ever did, Kayleigh would be my best friend.

Here is my best friend pouring sugar into a sauce pot

Add your cocoa powder.

Pour in 1/2 C milk.

Stirry, stirry! It will look kinda like a paste.

Stirring constantly, bring it to a boil.

Remove from heat and pour in remaining milk.

Stir that up well and return back to stove eye set to medium.

Pour in a little vanilla if you’d like.

Continue stirring over medium heat until heated through.

Once it is heated through, pour into cups.

Add marshmallows if desired…

As for my kids, Marshmallows are very much desired!

Brady is a big fan of his Star Wars mug.

Kayleigh liked my Pyrex flamingo pink ones.

Yummmmmy!

Old Fashioned Stovetop Hot Chocolate

“Blessed is the season which engages

the whole world in a conspiracy of love!”

Hamilton Wright Mabie. Submit your quote here.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not just a recipe I am bringing you today, this is ammunition.

~crowd widens their eyes and looks skeptically to the blonde woman carrying on as she waves a plate of fragrant fudge to punctuate her words~

Yes, you heard me right, this is ammunition. Put a good fudge recipe in the right hands and you can take over the world. You can get your car tuned up, your grass cut, your clothes pressed, your dog walked, and have the doors to any building opened for you with a red carpet rolled out in your honor. How do you do this, you ask? Just hold out a plate of fresh, homemade fudge.

Trust me on this. I have taken fudge so many places I can’t even list them all. Recently, I went to a social media conference and I was the one passing around containers of fudge in all of the rooms I was in. Did I take over the world that day? Well no, but I bet I could have if I’da wanted to! My goal was for folks to be happy to see me and showing up with fudge was an easy way to accomplish that. I can guarantee you that I got some pretty sincere smiles when I held out one hand for an introductory handshake and the other to offer a piece of this decadent chocolate treat!

This is an easy, no fail fudge recipe that anyone can make. Mama and Grandmama have been making it this way for as long as I can remember. Yes honey, that means you so don’t go fretting because I’m gonna have you being the king or queen of fudge in no time flat!

Can’t you just smell it now? Lawdy hon, git on in hyar and lets git to cookin’!




You’ll need: Margarine, Marshmallow Creme, Evaporated Milk, Vanilla, Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips, and Sugar.

“Did Christy even buy generic chocolate chips for this?”

Well, they were fifty cents cheaper than name brand so you bet your mother-of-pearl buttons I did! ~grins~



Place your margarine, sugar, and evaporated milk in a pot.

I like to get the really big can of evaporated milk so I can use what is left in my coffee. It makes the BEST coffee creamer!



You’ll need a candy thermometer because we are going to cook this to soft ball stage.

The candy thermometer will have that written on it so you know.



While that is heating up in your pan, take some butter or margarine and smear it all over the bottom and sides of a 9×13 pan.



Place your candy thermometer in the pot. Make sure just the tip is beneath the liquid but don’t let the tip touch the bottom.

It has a handy dandy clip that lets it hook onto the sides.

My poor candy thermometer is about as old as Methusela.



Bring that to a boil, stirring constantly.

Keep a watch on your thermometer so you will know when it gets to soft ball stage.

This is going to take about five minutes on medium high heat.



Once it gets to soft ball stage, remove from heat. Pour chocolate chips in.



Add in marshmallow creme.

Stir that up a bit so it will start melting while I tell you a story…



See this sticker? This marshmallow creme was half off. Now those of you who know me are likely already giggling right now because they know full well I have little resistance to a good sale.

I was in a local grocery store a month or so ago and saw this buggy filled to the brim with marshmallow creme on special. So I sashayed over to it and got two jars. But you know, those two jars did save me a whole dollar.

So I got two more jars…

I went on my way but it was still nagging me that there was an entire buggy just filled with half price marshmallow creme. Oh the times I have needed marshmallow creme! Okay, here is the problem, I only use marshmallow creme in this fudge so in reality I need a grand total of one to two jars per year.

BUT CHRISTY! IT WAS HALF PRICE! YOU CAN’T JUST LET A DEAL LIKE THAT GET AWAY!

~sighs in relief~

Oh, I’m so glad y’all understand! By the time I left that grocery store, I want you to know I had FIFTEEN jars of Marshmallow creme in my buggy! ~giggles~

I’ve been making an awful lot of fudge lately…



Add in your vanilla.

Pretend you don’t see that ring of dried vanilla around the rim of my bottle, okay?



Stir that all up until the chips melt. It is gonna take a few minutes but don’t worry, it’ll melt.

This is where you stir in your nuts if you want to.

I don’t add nuts to mine because my kids like it without. Once, when Brady was about three, Mama came by and bought us some fudge around Christmas time. We went out to meet her in the driveway because she had somewhere to be and Brady took a bite and went “MMMM!!!” and then turned his head and spit, spit, spit. Mama and I kinda looked at each other funny but didn’t think too much of it. Then he takes another bite and after a few seconds turned his head and spit, spit, spit again.

“Brady baby, do you not like the fudge?”

“Oh no, I love the fudge. I’m just spitting all of the nuts out”.



Pour into your buttered pan. Allow to cool.

Chocolate Fudge That Can Take Over The World



Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2) sticks Margarine
• 1 12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cup marshmallow cream
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 t. vanilla

Instructions

1. Combine sugar, milk, and margarine in heavy saucepan; heat to boiling.
2. Stir constantly about 5 minutes over medium heat or until mixture reaches soft ball stage (238 degrees).
3. Remove from heat.
4. Add remaining ingredients. Stir vigorously until well blended.
5. Pour into greased 13 x9x2 inch buttered pan. Cool. Cut into squares. Makes 3 pounds.

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You can now join the Southern Plate Family on Facebook!

Visit facebook.com/southernplatefamily to join up!

Post photos of Southern Plate recipes you’ve tried or just post the links to your favorite recipes on Southernplate.com so new family members can enjoy them, too! Of course, you’re also welcome to just drop in to say “Hidy!”.

We’re all family here and we love to see your shining face!

Optimism and humor are the grease and glue of life.

Without both of them we would never have survived our captivity.

~Philip Butler, Vietnam Prisoner Of War.

Found in a book of quotes given to me by my friend and Southern Plate Family member, Terri.

To submit your quote (and make my day because it feels like Christmas every time I get a new quote!) click here.


Aprons for Segments Are From:

I try to teach optimism to my kids. I’ve always felt that teaching children the benefits of a positive attitude is a vital lesson which will benefit them the rest of their lives. I tell them, “Each day when you wake up, you have a choice. You can have a good day or you can have a bad day, so you might as well have a good one.” Even at their young ages, they know there is always a brighter side – even if they need help finding it sometimes. They know, above all things, that happiness is a choice. It is not something that comes to you but something you have to reach out and claim each day

But sometimes its just not that easy. Sometimes the stresses of the world seem to bear down on us with concentrated force as our minds fill with to do lists and missed appointments, lost papers or rapidly growing laundry. Sometimes our days just feel overwhelming and all we want to do is press the pause button and sit for five minutes, with a blank mind. I think mothers are especially prone to this, being the emotional thinkers that we are. We love and therefore we do, but we love so much more than we are capable of doing.

Yesterday I had a great idea for a tutorial involving a cake. A chocolate velvet cake, to be exact. Jazzed over bringing this to Southern Plate, I made the cake, taking photos of every step, then set up a little backdrop and put my camera on a tripod so I could get detailed photos of how I was going to decorate it.

My beautiful Katy was so excited about the prospect of cake that she was just about beside herself. My Brady moved his homework operations to the dining room table, where I was decorating, just to be closer and to watch me.

As I began taking photos, Katy watched the back of the camera to see them appear on the digital screen. She saw my hands in the photos and seeing as how she had recently had her fingernails painted, she wanted her hands in the photos, too. Several photos later I finally got through that I really needed photos of the cake and not her hands, so my readers could see what I was doing. She frowned but complied and little hands stopped appearing in front of my lens in every shot.

That was when Brady started needing help with this homework…and while I was working on that the smell of cream cheese icing proved too persuasive for my Katy and little fingers began dipping into the side of the cake. Around about this time, Katy climbed up in a chair to get a better view and as I stopped her from almost falling out of the chair , I dropped a huge glob of icing right on the carpet. To say I was frazzled would be putting it mildly.

Here I was trying to do a tutorial which I felt was very important, but all my kids wanted was my attention – and my cake. I took the rest of the icing and simply iced the cake, paying no mind to the appearance as I had planned. Then I cut two large slices and placed them in bowls which I gave to each of my younguns. The tension in the room dissipated immediately. My kids were absolutely delighted with their bounty and for the duration of their eating each one of them kept singing my praises “Ma, you make the BEST cake!” “This cake is wonderful!” “Mama, I really really like your cake!”

I guess in the end, they kids will likely not remember how the cake looked, but they will remember that you made it for them. And whether its made from scratch or made from a mix, whether its chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry, I think when all kids grow up they will agree, their mama made the BEST cake.

Sometimes we just need to remember to stop fussing so much over how the cake looks and just let the kids have some.

I suppose y’all would like to know a bit about this cake! This is my WOW cake among my girlfriends. They always want it whenever we have a cake eating occasion. It has served as a birthday cake more times than I could possibly count, it was even a baby shower cake once!

Get little hands out of the chocolate chips….but let them have the ones they already got coz they are so darn cute and they just really wanted chocolate. We understand a girls need for chocolate, after all

Pour in what is left of your chocolate chips . Eat one yourself, you deserve it.

And this will make it much more uniform and flat! You won’t always have to do this but some days, when you’re trying to make a cake and kids are just a chat chat chatting away, you’ll find yourself with a wompy cake layer and you’ll thank me for this little tip

SO, for the remainder of this tutorial you will see me making a double batch of icing, but the recipe I am giving you at the bottom of the page is for a single batch.

 Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

This morning I was making biscuits when my daughter announced that she wanted chocolate for breakfast. Hey, the gal is smart. Even at the tender age of three, she knows what she needs. As I mixed up my biscuit dough, I had one of those light bulb moments – chocolate gravy. Its one of those things that old people in the south expound about, recalling with wistful smiles normally reserved for Christmas morning. Still, having been a southerner all of my life, I had never actually tried it. I admit, it did sound a bit odd to me and always has.

Today, with biscuits going in the oven and Katy requesting chocolate, fate pointed me in the direction of the recipe and with all ingredients on hand, I had to give it a shot.

In days of old, with flour in abundance and other resources scarce, biscuits made a great breakfast and filling snack any time of day. Sweets were not a regular occurrence and so waking up in the morning to find fresh biscuits and a boat of chocolate gravy was a wondrous treat. It was poured over the buttered biscuits, then the tender bread soaks it up and as I found out today – you are then on your way to heaven no matter what the day has in store for you.
Here is the recipe I used, Don’t try this unless you want the flavor to linger in your mind for the rest of your life. It was purely divine.

You’ll need sugar, flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, milk, and butter. As always, exact recipe is at the bottom of this post .

…and cocoa powder

Stir well.

I hope you can smell this. If not, get into your kitchen and make up some quick! Chocolate Gravy is super easy, but such an indulgent taste!

You can die happy now.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

In the age of outlandish holidays with ever growing price tags, just about everyone appreciates a heartfelt gift personally made for them. Gift mixes are an excellent way of doing this.

Baked goods are always well liked, but mixes offer even more time saving convenience on the part of the giver and give the receiver an opportunity to have some special time in their kitchen. Even people who work full time can squeeze in time to prepare a special treat if they have a mix!

Now, before you start doubting the value of your gift of a mix, check the price tags of some ready made mixes in specialty gift shops and such. My grandmother once bought an apple crisp mix in a bag for $8.00! It was enough to make an 8×8 dish and tasted exactly like my apple crisp. I like to mentally place a monetary value on the gifts I give, in order to make sure I am giving gifts of equal value to my child’s teachers and such. I consider this to be at least a five dollar value, in case you needed a guide.

Chocolate gravy makes an ideal mix to give. Those familiar with it instantly respond with widened eyes and “ooh’s” and “aah’s”. Those unfamiliar with it are intrigued and anxious to taste this chocolatey concoction. Another plus? When was the last time you saw chocolate gravy mix for sale anywhere? You’ve got the added bonus of rarity on your side as well!

My original post on Chocolate Gravy, including step by step photos of how to make it, can be found here.

Each time I bring you a mix, I am going to show you several inexpensive wrapping options as well as providing you with printer ready gift tags(note that these are two sided)!

Now, on to chocolate gravy….

Do you see these party bags? I get them in the party section at wal mart and try to ALWAYS have them on hand. Their uses are limitless. They make great packaging for small loaves of banana bread or a few cookies if you are sending them as gifts. You can use the enclosed twist ties or curling ribbon to seal them, your choice. They are also ideal for party favors or any other baked goods or small gift items. I buy them in a bag of twenty for a dollar and some change. I highly recommend you look for and purchase them now as they run low often.

Plain old zipper seal sandwich bags are a must have as well. I like to place my mix in them to seal it and then package.

Or you can simply place your jar inside a small gift bag and attach some curling ribbon or raffia to it.

But the simplest of all is to simply put your sealed bag of mix inside a clear cellophane party bag and tie with curling ribbon.

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:
the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.

~Burton Hillis

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