Tasty Treats

I love cooking and baking - as discussed on this blog before - so I really like making tasty treats for friends and family at the holidays (and it doesn't hurt that there are often leftovers for me!) This year I decided to go all out on fudge, and made a few flavors. Only one flavor completely tanked (pumpkin fudge - I definitely did something wrong in that recipe...), but the others were delicious and I have one more batch to make - this time maple - which I hope tastes as heavenly as it sounds.

In the meantime, if you're looking for a good fudge recipe here are the ones I used with a few editorial notes:

• Favorite flavor of the year: peanut butter fudge. This recipe was truly easy and the texture was perfect. Several of my friends said they ate the entire bag I gave them before they even had a chance to put it away. I want to make another batch just for me!
• Close second favorite flavor: candy cane fudge. Although my final product didn't look anything like the photo (my candy canes were inside the fudge, not on top), it was delicious. On the topic of looks - against my better judgement I used green food coloring with this recipe. I would actually recommend against using any food coloring. I selected multi-colored (red, white & green) candy canes for the recipe and they actually looked really nice against the original white of the batter. When I make my next batch, I'm keeping it au naturel.
• I am usually a huge chocolate fudge fan - but this recipe wasn't my favorite. Don't get me wrong, it still tasted divine and I still gave it out as gifts, but it was a little dry & brittle for my liking. All of my woes were likely caused by chef's error, but I'll probably go back to the popular Fantasy Fudge recipe next time.

Baby F is, of course, too young to take part in the cooking or tasting of these treats - but I do have him around in the kitchen often and wonder if he'll grow up with an affinity for cooking. I hope so, because I think a man who knows how to cook (or at least one who's willing to clean up the dishes) makes a great catch!