Ohhhh, Fu-u-u-u-u-u-dddddggggge

I have redeemed myself. Last year's foray into fudge was a disaster and pretty much blew my self esteem. Grainy, gritty fudge can do that to a girl. It was with trepidation that I broke out the chocolate and nuts this year. I am happy to report that my descent into decadence was a silky, smooth chocolate Zen. This recipe is flawless. My mom, the Queen of Newspaper Clippings, sent it to me. It was published in the early 90's as "See's Fudge." Run, don't walk, to the grocery and pick up your chocolate & evaporated milk (unless, like me, you have all of the items pictured below in abundance as your only food storage. That does not reflect well upon me).
I'm wondering if part of the success of this fudge is due to my Guittard "premium" chocolate chips, as opposed to the bourgeois Nestle variety (sarcasm). I think I had better, for the sake of my blog integrity, set up a test kitchen and do another batch of fudge--bourgeois fudge, this time.

So. Here we go. The recipe says (at the bottom of this post) to combine butter, chocolate chips & vanilla in a medium bowl & set aside. Do this before you start heating the other ingredients! You don't want to scorch your hot mixture while you scramble to unwrap butter, etc. I don't have a picture, so close your eyes and visualize............okay, we're back. Next, pour sugar into a medium saucepan.

Then evaporated milk.

Then add marshmallows.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and cook 6 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour hot mixture over butter, chocolate & vanilla in bowl.

Beat with mixer until fudge is thick and dull. Stir in nuts, if you are a nut-lover. As for me, I'm of the opinion that chocolate exists to hold the nuts together. If nuts aren't your thing, leave them out.

Pour into 8" square baking pan. Refrigerate several hours until firm. Then secretly take it out of the fridge , after all children and husband are in bed, and go to town. Secret fudge! Eat it right out of the pan, if you want....no one'll be there to see you. We are allowed to do all sorts of things when no one's looking. But that's all I'm saying about that. See's Fudge
½ cup butter
1 (6-oz) pkg semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 (5-oz) can plus 1½ tbs evaporated milk
10 large marshmallows
1 cup chopped nuts

1. Combine butter, chocolate chips & vanilla in medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Place sugar, evaporated milk & marshmallows in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and cook 6 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Pour hot mixture over ingredients in bowl. Beat with electric mixer until fudge is thick and dull (this doesn't take long at all). Stir in nuts.
4. Pour into 8" square baking pan. Refrigerate several hours until firm. Cut into squares.