Grandma's Old Fashioned Fudge

3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
7 teaspoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

In large saucepan, combine sugar, milk, and cocoa.  Mix well.  

Over medium heat, cook until fudge makes a soft ball.  

Stirring occasionally.  

To test the soft ball stage the way my grandmother did, drop a small amount of the fudge into a cup of cold water.  If the fudge forms a soft ball, remove the saucepan from the heat. 

Add butter and vanilla.  Beat until fudge slightly thickens.  

Pour onto a buttered plate.  Cool.  Cut into squares.

Some people like a fudge with a soft texture.  I like mine firm like candy.  My mom adds 2 tablespoons of peanut butter to the recipe at the same time she adds the butter and vanilla.  It makes a delicious peanut butter fudge.

My mom and my niece Miley.

This is my favorite fudge recipe!  Growing up, we would have it with popcorn in front of the TV watching a family friendly movie.  I have been at home for the last couple of weeks.  We rented a DVD and my mom made this fudge.  It brought back so many happy memories!

My new cookbook is available at schools, businesses, hospitals, and book fairs in cities across the United States.  Be sure to pick up a copy or two, when you see them.  They make great gifts!

Check back on Tuesday,
for my Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post! 

Follow me on my Facebook page!

Visit my friends blogs!

GINGERLOCKS' KITCHEN, has become one of your favorite blogs! Stop by Jordan's blog and take a peek! 

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Slow Cooker Chocolate Covered Peanuts

Slow Cooker Chocolate Covered Peanuts

1 (24 ounce) package chocolate flavored almond bark, break into pieces
1(12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 1/2 cups dry roasted peanuts

In slow cooker, place chocolate almond bark 

and semi-sweet chocolate chips.  

Cover with a lid.  

Cook on low 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes until melted.  

Add peanuts.  

Mix well. 

Drop by tablespoon onto wax paper to cool.

Cleaning Tip

I hate to clean hardened chocolate out of my slow cooker.  To make clean up easier, while the slow cooker is still warm, I wipe the inside of the slow cooker with paper towel.  Then clean up is no big deal.

Don't let the unassuming ingredients fool you.  This recipe is simple, but packed with so much flavor, people won't believe that it only has three little ingredients.

Pack it up and put it in a basket, and you have a delicious gift for the foodie in your family.

  This recipe can be found in my cookbook called, MY KIND OF COOKING.

Stop back by on Tuesday, for my 

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Candy

 Chocolate & Peanut Butter Candy

1 (1pound) package vanilla flavored Almond bark, broken into pieces
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 (6 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, add vanilla bark.  Microwave on high 2 minutes. 

Add peanut butter to melted vanilla bark. 

Mix Well.

Spread on wax paper or parchment paper lined baking sheet.  

In another medium bowl, add chocolate chips.  Microwave on high 1 1/2 minutes.  

Pour melted chocolate over peanut butter mixture.  

With a butter knife, make swirls to combine slightly.  

Cool. Cut or break into pieces.

This is one of our favorite candies.  If you like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, then you will love this recipe too.  It is also super quick to make.  From start to finish, it will only take you about five minutes.

This year when I went to buy my baking supplies, I noticed they had a different size vanilla flavored bark.  Instead of the one pound package, they now had a twenty four ounce package.  If you run into the same problem at your store, change the recipe to:

1 (24 ounce) package vanilla flavored almond bark, break into pieces

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Follow the instructions as listed above.

  This recipe can be found in my cookbook called, MY KIND OF COOKING.

Stop back by on Tuesday, for my 

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks post!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Pretzel Toffee

Pretzel Toffee

1 (9 ounce) bag tiny twist pretzels
1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 (12 ounce) package plus 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cover a 15x10 inch baking pan with aluminum foil.

Arrange pretzels in bottom of the pan, in a single layer.

In large saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat.  Add brown sugar. Mix well.  Bring to a boil.  Boil 2 minutes.  Do not over cook; it will be hard to pour and cover the pretzels with the brown sugar mixture if you do.

Carefully pour brown sugar mixture over pretzels.  

Bake 10 minutes.  Remove carefully from the oven.

Sprinkle chocolate chips over top.

Let stand 5 minutes. Spread chocolate smooth.

Cool.  Refrigerate 1 hour. Peel aluminum foil away from toffee.

Break into pieces.

At Christmas I saw several recipes for Saltine Toffee.  Pam of Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner, posted her recipe for it in December.  It must be a Midwestern thing, because not only did my mom make Saltine Toffee, but my grandmother and my great grandmother also made it.

Our friends Fareed and Annette (owners of Passion Radio Network) gave my husband Stan and I a couple of nights at the Strater Hotel for Christmas.  While we were there we went to a little candy shop and had Pretzel Toffee.  My husband and I both loved it, so when I got home I changed my recipe for Saltine Toffee to Pretzel Toffee.  

Annette and Fareed

Right after Christmas, Fareed fell outside of the radio station and broke his leg in two places.  He had surgery to place a rod in his leg and it has been a long road to recovery for Fareed.  He is missed around the radio station.  Going in to record my shows is just not the same without him there.

Fareed loves chocolate; so to help him feel better, I made a batch of Pretzel Toffee for him yesterday and today I am going to drop it by and check on him.  Please keep Fareed and his wife Annette in your prayers.

Giveaway! 

Enter my giveaway, for your chance to win a copy of my cookbook, 

MY KIND OF COOKING, and a kitchen plaque!  

For more details, check out my post about the Giveaway.

Linked up with:

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully 
follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Stop by and visit Ashley, at What Does A Songbird Sing.  She posts recipes and exercise tips on her blog, and who couldn't use a little more of both!