Wintertime Surprises and Peanut Butter Fudge

One thing about living with a puppy is that they need to go outside. A lot.

Don't let that sweet face fool you. He eats, drinks, and sleeps...and then the inevitable happens!

Hubby and I take turns with the first walk of the morning. You know, the quick outside-to-do-the-business-before-breakfast walk. But it isn't a hardship. Just look at what greeted me on Saturday morning!

We woke up to freezing fog. And when fog freezes, it covers everything with hoarfrost.

Every surface is covered with delicate crystals of icy frost.

Each individual pine needle coated with white.

And the fog! When the fog is this thick, every familiar pathway is a mysterious road into an unknown world of fairy dust and unimaginable beauty.

Neighbors' houses disappear, and the mountains? They're gone.

But the birds appreciated our island of shelter and food in this sea of white! This goldfinch is a frequent visitor.

Doesn't this fog remind you of that Christmas Eve several years ago? The foggy Christmas Eve when Santa came to say, "Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Rudolph's redeeming moment! And his shiny nose has been glowing ever since!

Which brings me to the rest of this post. I shared this recipe for Peanut Butter Fudge a few years ago, and I'll be making this year's batch soon.

The best part about making Christmas goodies are the memories they bring to mind. Don't you think so? If we don't have memories of our own, we make some every time we share the sweets with our friends and neighbors.

Grandma's Peanut Butter Fudge

The recipe I'm going to share with you is one that I make every year, my Grandma's Peanut Butter Fudge.

Okay, okay. I have a confession to make. This isn't Grandma's Fudge. Her recipe is from the Great Depression era, and lacks.... um.... richness.

I learned a lot from Grandma.

1) She could get more pies out of a batch of piecrust than was strictly legal, rolling the dough so thin it was nearly transparent.

2) She knew how to stretch leftovers to get three meals where anyone else would get two.

3) She knew how to lay out pattern pieces to use every inch of fabric when she made a dress.

Grandma (standing in the center) with her sisters and mother, 1964.

But when it comes to fudge...sorry, Grandma, but I had to fool with your recipe.

Even though I have changed this recipe enough to be unrecognizable, I still call it Grandma's. :)

Grandma's Peanut Butter Fudge

ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 5-oz can evaporated milk
1 7-oz jar marshmallow cream
1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy - your choice)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lightly grease a 9" x 9" baking dish and set aside.

Heat sugar, butter, milk and marshmallow cream in a heavy 3-quart saucepan over medium heat until the mixture comes to a full boil, stirring constantly.

And yes, you read that right. In this recipe, the marshmallow cream goes in the first step, not the last.

Once the mixture comes to a full boil, continue cooking and stirring for five minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract, stirring until smooth and creamy.

Pour the fudge into the prepared dish. Cool, then cut into squares.

Peanut Butter Fudge and Chocolate Fudge...yum!

Back to the hoarfrost: We've lived in a lot of different places, and I've had people tell me that there is no such thing as hoarfrost. It's just something you read about in fairy tales. (I've learned to just smile and nod when someone insists that they're right about certain things...)

And then I offer proof... Hoarfrost Explained

How about you? Have you ever experienced or heard of hoarfrost before?

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and growing family. When she isn't writing, she loves hiking in the Hills or satisfying her cross stitch addiction.

You can find Jan on Facebook, Jan Drexler, author, or her website, Jan Drexler.com