Hmm… I can’t say that I am in love with the pumpkin walnut fudge I made yesterday. It did turn out well, and it is good. But, well, it has this squashy flavor to it. Mind you, I LOVE squash. I had a huge bowl of plain squash today for lunch, actually. But in fudge? I dunno. I guess I was expecting it to be reminiscent of pumpkin pie, but I suppose maybe I shoul dhave made Pumpkin Pie fudge then? This doesn’t have any pie spices or anything, just squash, milk, and sugar basically. I am thinking that I will cut up the batch I have into squares and give them a bath in some white chocolate. A sweet as fudge is, I think this is one flavor that could benefit from the addition of something sweet. I will post the recipe below if anyone is interested.
Nothing else new in the kitchen today. Zander and I spent a little time out shopping today and realized with absolute horror that the one item Abigail has specifically asked for for Christmas is the “must-have” toy that every single store is out of. No problem right? This is the age of the internet. Unless everyone online is sold out. Two days ago I put one in my shopping cart at Amazon. Today I went to check out, and boom, sorry unavailable at this time. What’s up with that. I tried all the major retailers, Shopzilla, Overstock, and finally found one on Ebay. By the time you add shipping, I had to pay double, but this is the forst time Abigail has ever gone on and on about a specific toy for Christmas. All her friends have one already, and when I ask her what else she wants she says “I don’t know Mommy.” So I’m very glad I found one on Ebay. It will be worth every penny.
And Andy just called on his way home from his work Christmas party. Seems his name was drawn for Packer tickets! To this Sunday’s game against Detroit! So he is very excited about that one. He was working on calling his “Packer Buddy” to make arrangements. And why won’t I go you ask? Well, I would love to go to a Packer game sometime. But. I am so not a cold weather person. Game in September? Maybe I’d go. But you couldn’t drag me to a cold weather game if you paid me. Yuck. Anyways, they will go and have a blast, and Andy will have this crazy grin on his face for a few weeks, so that will be good as well.
So here is the fudge recipe. Andy brought home more cheese today which we will sample tomorrow and review with earnest on the Cheese Blog. So until then- good night all!
* Exported from MasterCook *
PUMPKIN WALNUT FUDGE
4 cups sugar
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup fresh pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons unsalted butter — cut into bits
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups chopped walnuts
In a 4-quart heavy saucepan combine the sugar, the milk, the corn syrup, the pumpkin puree, and a pinch of salt, cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved, and cook it, undisturbed, until a candy thermometer registers 238°F. Remove the pan from the heat, add the butter (do not stir it into the mixture), and let the mixture cool until it is 140°F. Stir in the vanilla and the walnuts, beat the mixture with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until it begins to lose its gloss, and pour it immediately into a buttered 9-inch-square pan. Let the fudge cool until it begins to harden, cut it into squares, and let it cool completely. The fudge keeps, stored between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container, in a cool place for 2 weeks.
Makes about 2 pounds.
Source: “Gourmet October 1991” – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –