Perfect Fudge

You know that old family recipe you have that no matter how many times you make it, everyone raves about it?  The recipe that you're almost embarrassed to share with anyone because of how simple it is to make yet the reaction it elicits causes you to think it should be more complicated than it actually is?  Well, this is that recipe for me.  My Mom made this fudge for years but passed the spatula to me (quite literally) when she could no longer physically stir the mixture.  And now it's one of my traditions.  This fudge isn't like the recipes you see on the back of a label.  It's the easiest recipe you'll ever come across and the texture is the creamiest, melt-in-your-mouthiest chocolatey fudge ever.  From the mom and pop homemade fudge shops in Maine to the nation-wide brand name candy makers, I have never had anything quite like this fudge.  I'm not making this up--it's that good.  Cindy goes absolutely bananas for this fudge, forgoing all other treats for a chance at this stuff.  And she doesn't even like chocolate.  She thinks this fudge tastes like solid frosting (I don't think it's quite that sweet, but I get where she's going.)

So this is my Mom's recipe passed to me and I have no idea where she got it.   But you'll want to make this for two reasons.  It's easy.  And it's delicious.  So even the newest person to the kitchen can whip this up for their Valentine and surprise him or her with homemade chocolates (which will probably be loads cheaper than the stuff in a box wrapped in cellophane from the drug store).  Using the microwave melting method, be sure to pay attention to the power level on your microwave because you don't want to burn the chocolate.  The mix gets very thick and the key is to keep stirring to incorporate all the ingredients.  It's a labor of love but totally worth it.  If you make this for your sweetie, your best friend or just yourself, you won't be sorry.

Cherry Cordial Rice Krispies Treats

Yes I went there.  And they are amazing.  These were truly an inspired dessert.  Walking through Target I was drawn to the Valentine's display, specifically the many bags of pink, red and white M&Ms on sale.  There I spotted a bag of cherry flavored M&Ms.  Immediately my head thought these needed to be inside a Rice Krispies Treat.  With white chocolate.  And possibly a little more cherry flavor.  Plus, knowing Dave appreciation (and all of yours!) for my Cherry Cordial Cookies, I had a feeling these would be a huge hit.  These were a dessert for a party and everyone raved.  The pop of cherry in the marshmallow coupled with milk chocolate laced with cherry flavor and the added white chocolate makes for a sweet snack, but not in an overly sugary way, just a very adult flavor for Rice Krispies treats.

While these are based on a standard Rice Krispies recipe, they were truly inspired and are an original for me.  Why do my original recipes keep including chocolate and cherry which happen to be one of Dave's favorites, not mine?  I crushed my M&Ms because they were slightly larger than the regular milk chocolate M&Ms and I wanted them to be a consistent throughout the bars.  Unfortunately when the melted marshmallow mixture hit the chocolate, the crumbs from crushing started to melt, so I lost the pretty pink color of the marshmallow. Small price to pay because the taste was exactly what I was going for.  Whip these up for a Valentine's treat and you'll have them begging for more.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Mexican food and soup.  A veritable match made in heaven.  And this soup tastes just like the chicken enchilada soup from Chili's, which I love.  Cheesy and spicy, the flavors in this soup come together to warm you up from the inside out.  Dave and I had this for dinner and loved it, plus it was amazing for leftovers.  For a cold February night, this really hit the spot, with a smoky flavor in the chicken and nicely spiced from the jalapenos and seasonings.  Plus, any dish that allows me to eat tortilla chips for dinner is a winner in my book.

I'm obsessed with Pinterest recently (follow me!) and found this recipe from Homemade by Holman through a friend's pin.  Salivating, I printed the recipe right away knowing Dave would love it (ok, me too).  I made a small adjustment in using chicken tenders rather than chicken breast (what was on hand), used a red pepper rather than green pepper (again, on hand) and only 2 jalapenos instead of the 4-6 in the original recipe--and I'm so glad I made that adjustment.  We like our Mexican food with some heat, but any more jalapenos would have made this a two or three beer bowl of soup!  (Yes, the beer became the required beverage for this tasty dish.)  One other difference, again because of what was in my fridge, instead of cotija and pepperjack cheeses I included chipotle cheddar and colby jack.  Both were perfect options.  Enjoy this with a big bowl of tortilla chips and a nice cold beer.

Banana Cinnamon Chip Blondies

Before I get to these bars, I wanted to share some good news: I'm working in a new kitchen!  Dave and I recently moved and now I have a kitchen with more counters and a whole cabinet devoted baking ingredients.  Not to mention the double cabinet of baking equipment.  Seriously I could go on and on.  So you'll notice a few mixed pictures of the old kitchen and the new kitchen for a little while yet.

These were some seriously good bars.  A cross between a breakfast treat and a snack, Dave and I enjoyed this whole pan just the two of us (usually we try to share with friends, coworkers, or at least the dog walker).  The rich cinnamon flavor really shines against the banana and a hint of nuttiness and with a little crunch, they aren't you're typical blondie.  A pan of these would work for brunch with friends or as a gift for new neighbors.  They're really quick to pull together, so you'll want to make these for all your friends.

Cake Batter Rice Krispies Treats

Why, yes, these Rice Krispies treats do taste like birthday cake.  They are seriously good.  I love having a new way to flavor the traditional treat and these are perfect birthday treats since they taste like cake.  I love the traditional yellow cake flavor with a hint of chocolate frosting smeared on top, but the idea of using different cake mixes and frosting leaves endless possibilities.  These were on hand for a party to celebrate our friend Nick's birthday and were a huge hit.  In fact, they were eaten so fast, I never got a chance to take a good picture of them cut into squares, so I had to make them again (tragic, really).  I actually made them again for my own birthday (today!) since I'm not sure Dave will be venturing into the kitchen to whip anything up.

This recipe is courtesy of Andi from The Wednesday Baker who you might remember from my first posting for the Secret Recipe Club.  When I saw these I knew I needed to make them since I kept going back to the post.  Dave couldn't wait to try him since they combined his favorite thing (cake) with his new excitement (flavored Rice Krispies Treats).  Since I was afraid of the sprinkles melting, I opted to add them to the bowl of cereal rather than add them to melted marshmallow mixture.  A nice alternative to cake, these would be good for a children's party where cake would be difficult to serve, like a pool party or something like that.  And they'd make awesome bake sale treats tied up in individual bags.