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December 13, 2010

Friends & Orange Fudge


My Dear Husband and I attended an annual Christmas party 
hosted by friends from church on Friday night.  
Every year they serve Keith's World Famous Chile
and Lil's Pretty Good Potato Soup
and whatever their guests bring to share.
We brought a circle of Brie and Triscuits
and a bottle of Merlot, from Columbia Crest, a Pacific Northwest winery.
Each December, we look forward to this party because 
it's always a lovely, relaxed evening spent with dear friends.
Oh, and did I mention the Orange Fudge?
This creamy confection came on my radar last year.
I was sick and couldn't attend.
So the DH went by himself.
But he arrived back home bearing a plate of several delicious goodies
put together for me by thoughtful Lil .
Among them was this fudge.
What does it taste like?
Think of those orange and white 50/50 ice cream bars
that you used to hope your mom would give you
the money to buy from the ice cream man
on hot summer afternoons. 

Oh, yeah!  We're talkin' rich and creamy to the max.
I confess that I saved Weight Watchers points all week
in hopes that the Orange Fudge would make an appearance
this year, too.
I was not disappointed.
And, I met the perpetrator maker of the fudge,
Ruth, who, with her hubby,
grows Christmas and hazlenut (filbert) trees a few miles south of us.
At my request, she emailed me the recipe the next day.
[Cue the Hallelujah Chorus.]

On Sunday, we had the pleasure of taking a 15 minute drive
out to their farm to harvest a Christmas tree.

Contrary to the summery skies pictured above
-at a real Christmas tree farm in the Northwest-
it was drizzling lightly
as we were welcomed by Ruth, husband Al, and their son, RJ.
After the tree was safely bedded down in 
the truck we borrowed from Keith and Lil,
we were invited into their home for hot beverages and 
good, old-fashioned farm hospitality.

NON-FAT TREAT OF THE DAY:
We got the grand tour of their beautifully remodeled kitchen, too.
Nobody had to cue me to drool.  
Ruth graciously handed me the mop to clean up after myself.
Just kidding about the drooling and mop.
 My heart had been so blessed by these people
I didn't even cuss my kitchen when I got home!
That's a big deal for me.

I hear you saying, "I have a bunch of Christmas errands and ordinary life stuff to do today!
Give me the fudge recipe already!"
(Sorry I don't have the nifty print-ready gadget like Pioneer Woman.  Sigh.)

ORANGE FUDGE
3/4 cup BUTTER, NO SUBSTITUTES
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 package (10-12 ounces) vanilla or white chips
1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow cream
3 tsp. orange extract
12 drops yellow food coloring
5 drops red food coloring

Grease 9x13 pan with butter.

  1. In a heavy sauce pan (I use my Dutch oven sized pan), combine sugar, cream and butter.
  2. Cook and STIR over low heat until sugar is dissolved.  Bring to a boil.
  3. Using a candy thermometer, cook and STIR for 4 minutes to 234 degrees-sorry, I don't know what "stage" this is.
  4. Remove from heat and stir in chips and marshmallow creme until smooth.
  5. Remove 1 cup of this mixture and set aside.  This is to remain white, as the swirl mixture.
  6. Add orange extract and food colorings to remaining mixture.  (NOT the 1 cup amount.)  Stir until blended.
  7. Pour into prepared pan. 
  8. Drop the reserved WHITE mixture by tablespoonfuls over the top of the orange mixture.
  9. Cut through mixture with a knife to swirl.
  10. Cover and refrigerate until set.  Cut into squares.
Yield:  2 1/2 pounds of fudge

Christ has 
No body now on earth but yours;
No hands but yours;
No feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes
through which His compassion will look upon the world.
Yours are the hands
with which He will bless others now.
Mother Teresa

How will you bless others today?

Lord,
give me the grace to be 
Your hands, feet, and mouth-piece 
today.


Love,

for:
AND
Thanks, ladies, for hosting these great blog hops!

2 comments:

Jenny said...

Great blog! Glad I found you!

Found you on the Blog Hop! I’m your newest follower! http://aworldofcrafts.blogspot.com/

Gina Alfani said...

Oh my . . . I am not going to be able to get the thought of that fudge out of my head until I make it. I have copied it and will make it part of my Christmas goodies collection.

Have you ever had an Orange Freeze from Steak N Shake . . . if you have a restaurant in your area. It is a milkshake that tastes like a Creamsickle.

I make a low fat version with Vanilla Slim Fast. Don't know how that equates to your WW points, but I just use a scoop of the Slim Fast, a serving container of low fat no sugar orange yogurt, a cup of no fat half and half and throw in a handful of ice and mix in a blender. It is delicious! Some times I put a bit of orange juice to make up the cup of liquid.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and following my blog . . . I am following you back . . . I LOVE your blog!

Have a wonderful week . . . Gina

http://peacelovehappinesshappens.blogspot.com
. . . and many more blogs!

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