Sharon's Lighnin' Fast Fudge

Sharon's Lightnin' Fast Fudge

Ingredients:

3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
12 ozs. or 2 cups chocolate chips
1 jar marshmallow cream
1 Tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Butter 9x13 sheet cake pan
Measure chips into glass measuring cup or bowl.
Place chips and opened jar of marshmallow cream in microwave.  Heat for 30 seconds.
Melt butter in 2 quart sauce pan
Add milk and sugar.
Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Start timing when it reaches a hard boil.
After 2 minutes drop small amount of syrup in cup of ice water.
If you can form the syrup into a small ball it's ready.  If not, continue to cook and check every minute.
When syrup reaches soft ball stage, remove from heat.
Add chocolate chips and stir till melted.
Add marshmallow cream.  Stir till blended.
Add vanilla.  Stir.
Pour into greased pan.
Let cool and cut into squares.

For more detailed instructions and pictures please view my blog post Sharon's Lightnin' Fast Assembly Line Fudge .

Leather Britches In The Making

Bountiful Harvest Time

I wanted to give you a quick progress update on the Leather Britches.  The first batch of beans is harvested and strung up to dry.  I have 4 strings so far.  There are many more to come.  I still have beans to pick on the bushes and they are still blooming.  Can't wait.  I can almost taste them now!  The hardest part of making leather britches is waiting out the drying time.

I only took a few photos of the completed strings.  I'll post some of the dried strings later.  Then you will see that they really do look like little leather pants!

 

Leather britches hanging to dry

Bountiful Berries

Sumptuous Summer

I'm gearing up for all the wonderful treats of summer.  The garden is in full swing.  I've already picked two "messes" of squash and zucchini.  Today one of my tomatoes is starting to get a bit of color.  It's the yellow variety which is my favorite.  Can't wait to dig into that one.  Seems like the first one is especially tasty.  Slice it up and sprinkle with salt.  Yummy!

Blackberries

The blackberry crop is incredible this year.  I just hope my freezer and waistline can stand the strain.  I see many blackberry cobblers in my future!

As you can see, the berries are just starting to turn red.   It won't be long before they will be a luscious purple.

Beautiful Beans

The green beans are doing well.  I never noticed before how lovely the blossoms are.  These were so pretty I just had to get some photos.

See that baby bean to the right of the blossom?  Sweet!

It's my intention to use a few of these green beans to make some leather britches.  Don't know what that is?  Well it's one of my favorite foods from back home.  Basically you take the beans and string them up to dry.  Then you can store them for the winter.  When you want to use them you just give them a soak and cook them up with some fatback or a ham hock.  I'll try to get some pictures this summer when I string up my beans.

Sharon

Blackberry Cobbler Will Warm Your Soul

Blackberry Cobbler Will Warm Your Soul

In the midst of a miserable, cold winter, I'm longing for sunny July days.  Since I cannot travel to warmer climes, I guess I'll have to make do the best I can.  So on this sunny, but cold Sunday I've decided to break out my stash of blackberries.  Makes me happy to think about how blissfully hot it was the day I picked them.  You'll never catch me complaining about the heat!

Back in July we had a wonderful crop of blackberries.  I was making cobblers hand over fist.  But thinking ahead, I did manage to put some in the freezer for colder days.  I think it's about time to break some out.  This is ready to go.  I took the time to add the sugar and lemon juice before I put them up.  So now all I have to do is thaw it out, add the flour and the cobbler and get it into the oven ASAP.  Hmmm.  Wonder if I have vanilla ice cream?  It's a requirement, you know!

Of course this is not on my diet, but a tiny little bowl never hurt anyone.  If you're wonder why I put vanilla in the cobbler crust, it's because my husband is a vanilla fiend.  It makes him happy to know there's vanilla in there!  Simple pleasures!  And the #coconut oil adds a little something special as well.  Enjoy!

Sharon's Blackberry Cobbler

Berries:

5 Cups Blackberries

1 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup All-purpose Flour

1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

Crust:

1 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder

3 Tbsp. Sugar

3/4 Tsp. Salt

1/4 Tsp. Vanilla

1/2 Cup Whipping Cream

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

1/4 Cup Cold Coconut Oil

2 Tbsp. Melted Butter

1 Tsp. Sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix berries with sugar, lemon juice and flour.  Let sit for at least 10 minutes to get the juices flowing.  Pour into greased 9 inch glass baking dish.

Prepare cobbler and spoon 9-10 spoonfuls over berries.   Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until browned and bubbly.  Check to make sure the middle is bubbly too.

Serve warm with ice cream.

Crust:

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Cut in coconut oil with a pastry blender or two knives.  Combine buttermilk, whipping cream and vanilla.  Pour over dry ingredients all at once.  Mix till just moistened.  Do not over mix or your cobbler will be tough.

 

Blackberry Cobbler starting to look good!

 

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Welcome to Country Food and Fancy Fixins

Hello!  Welcome to my Country Foods and Fancy Fixins blog.  I will be sharing recipes, some old and some new as well as stories and memories that revolve around food.  Coming from the country, there are many foods that are special to the region that you may not be familiar with.  Or maybe you will have special memories about the same foods.

Since I'm half Filipino, I also have a taste for the more exotic.  Well, not really exotic, but being from the mountains it doesn't take too much to qualify for exotic!

I will also talk about some of my favorite restaurants and dives.  I love to travel around and try out new eateries.  Thank goodness it's become commonplace to see people taking pictures of their food.  I don't look like such a geek anymore!  Well, maybe I do, but I'm not the only one.

I hope you will enjoy my ravings and hopefully will find something you will want to try out for yourself!

Sharon