Carnation Famous Fudge Kit and a Figment

This Christmas past, Darlings, the Fab decided to make Fudge.  Now it is a known fact that the Fab is not much of a candy maker.  The Fab can cook like no body's business, but fudge?  Sigh, not so much, the Fab admits her limitations, even if she IS a figment.

The Fab spotted a Carnation Famous Fudge Kit at the Kroger.  Into the cart it went.  The kit provides everything that a Fab will need to make a batch of fudge -- MINUS two tablespoons of real butter.  And who doesn't keep a supply of butter in the house?  Not the Fab, not ever.  Meat, milk, bread, eggs all optional in the Fab's kitchen -- butter?  In the event of a tornado or flood, the Fab would save her butter before the family photos.  The Fab digresses.

Follow the instructions on the back of the box and you will have perfect, creamy fudge.  The Fab promises.

Happy Cold Blustery New Year! And Evelyn's Famous Quick and Easy Chili Soup!

Darlings!

The Fab trusts that you are well this fine first day of 2012!  Here a cold front is movin' through and the wind is a whippin'  <-- that link will take you to YouTube music and a song by the Gap band.  One of the Fab's New Years Resolutions was NOT to develop her taste in music beyond '80's funk.  

It is a known fact that a gal should never attempt to fix something that isn't broken.

Regardless ... The Fab is staying mostly indoors today and because it is a cold windy day ... the Fab is making Evelyn's Famous Quick and Easy Chili Soup.

Note: Chili Soup is slightly sweet, slightly spicy hot and more soup than Chili. Try it with Grilled Cheese sandwiches and / or Ritz Crackers. Fabiola says "Yum'!

Evelyn's Famous Quick and Easy Chili Soup

Ingredients:

1 pound ground chuck
1/2 medium yellow onion chopped medium (photo below)

Fabiola uses a whomper-chopper (that is what she calls it) fast, easy, whacking the top of the chopper releases frustrations.

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2 - 46 ounce cans Tomato Juice - Del Monte or Red Gold - 540 calories

(seriously, these two taste best to Fabiola -- use your favorite -- but don't say that Fabiola didn't try to help!).

1 - 16 ounce can Bush's Best Chili Beans, Medium Sauce (or mild or hot -- but use Bush's, trust Fabiola on this one). - 420 calories

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1 lb. Ground Beef (70/30) - 750 calories for pan browned, drained, crumbles
1 medium Yellow Onion - 64 calories

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder -  5 calories

1/8 teaspoon Ground Celery Seed -  2 calories

1/4 teaspoon Corse Ground Black Pepper - 2 calories
1 teaspoon Salt - 0 calories

4 tablespoons Dark Chili Powder (or to taste) - 100 calories

(Fabiola likes the Kroger store brand best. Also: keep in mind that Chili Powder looses flavor as it sits in your cupboard. Buy small quantities more often rather than leaving it sit on a shelf).

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1 cup Dark Brown Sugar packed - 836 calories

2 tablespoons Blackstrap Molasses - 116 calories

(Fabiola has a thing for Blackstrap Molasses - have you checked out the nutrition label? Calcium, iron, B vitamins ... the link takes you to nutrition data's information on Blackstrap Molasses -- click this link if you want to look up other ingredientshttp://www.nutritiondata.com/ great site!)

Assembly:

Put the Tomato Juice and Chili Beans in your slow cooker, start cooking on low heat. 

Brown (stirring frequently), the ground beef and onion over medium heat. You want the meat to brown and the onion to cook until transparent. Drain fat.

Turn off the heat, move your skillet to a cool burner, add the Garlic Powder, Celery Seed, Black Pepper, Salt, Chili Powder to the browned grond beef and onion. Stir, stir, stir. Add the brown sugar and molasses, stir until mixed. Transfer to your slow cooker, stir until mixed. Let the soup cook for at least 2 hours, but will be just fine if you leave it all day.


2835 calories for the entire recipe

Recipe makes 8 servings of about 16 ounces - 354 calories per serving

Fabiola serves the fella a big bowl of this soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and Ritz crackers.

Mary has a bowl of this soup with a nice salad of spinach, kale, chopped carrots, with just a little sharp cheddar cheese shreds. 

Yes, this is a cast iron skillet. Cast Iron is a permanant non-stick, precision cooking tool - yet again, Grandma knew what she was doing.

Christmas is past for another year ... Notes on Decorating Trees

Darlings, perhaps you have tree decorating down to a science, sadly the Fab does not.  Perhaps this is due to her will-o-the-wisp nature, perhaps it is due to obstacles most folk do not encounter whilst decorating their Christmas Tree.

 Regardless, the Fab is making notes for expedited decorating for next year.

1. Have a decorating theme.
2. Collect all ornaments, unwrap them from their protective paper.
3. Arrange them on a flat surface, grouped by size then color to ensure that a Fab has an even distribution of decor over the entire tree.
4. Lock all animals in the laundry room while putting up the tree.  That way a Fab has only to put ornaments onto the tree, once.

Darlings, the above pictured Christmas cat is Smoky, who sleeps with one eye open and has been immortalized in an original yet affordable garden sculpture.  <--- this would be a shameless plug for the Fab's alter ego's web store.

A Link to a Mary Post on Perfume ...

Darlings, Mary wrote a post about old perfume that she ordered from eBay.  She lives in the past Darlings, she lives in the past.

http://farmhousewindow.blogspot.com/2011/12/time-traveler-arrived-in-my-home-today.html