Chocolate Walnut Fudge

 So I decided to brave the world of Christmas shopping this weekend while taking a study break, and just barely lived to tell the tale... Some of my friends and I were talking the other day about how people act around the Holidays, and they both said that people were nicer, friendlier, and chock  full of good tiding and cheer.

I don't think this is necessarily my experience with Holiday shopping and general life around the holiday season. I've already been sworn at in the aisle at Target,  had someone gently "tap" my behind with a cart rather than saying a politer  "excuse me" and just hours ago I had a woman go  spaz-city on me in a parking lot, gesticulating like an octopus caught in an electric fishing net,  because she wanted to get out of a parking spot and I was trapped, unable to back up. While she honked and flailed, I backed up, and came inches from hitting a jogger, who then hit my car with both of her gloved fists, and I'm pretty sure swore at me again...

So, I decided to leave the madness of the city and back to my warm kitchen, where I can start baking for all of the end of semester festivities I have in the next few days.. Things make sense in the kitchen, where I can wear my vintage bird apron and putz around surrounded by the smell of chocolate and cinnamon, and the only one swearing is me when I drop something.

One of my absolute favorite recipes for Christmas is fudge, and if a cookie tray is absent of it, I get a little sad inside. So I'll share a favorite recipe to adorn your cookie plates with.

Chocolate Walnut Fudge

-16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

-2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

-1/8t. salt

1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

-1 T. vanilla

-1 cup chopped walnuts.

Directions: Bring a 1/2 cup water to a rolling boil in a sauce pan. Set a stainless steel bowl on top, and add chopped chocolates and sweetened condensed milk. Stir until combined, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat carefully, and add salt, vanilla and chopped nuts. Press into a 9 inch square baking pan covered with parchment paper and sprayed.Put in fridge  at least 2 hours. Can be stored in fridge up to 3 weeks, and frozen for 2 months. ( if you freeze it don't cut it first, this dries it out.)

 

  Fudgey goodness.

If I had some of these to offer the really unhappy lady in the parking lot today, I bet she'd have wept with jubilation, and instantly embraced the spirit of Christmas...

 This recipe takes less than ten minutes to make, which is awesome because everybody is in such a crunch for time around the Holidays. Especially those of us in the midst of finals weeks... A tip I have is to let it sit at room temperature an hour or so before serving to bring out the flavors and the softer texture.

 It's easy to make, delicious, and a classic Holiday treat that I just can't do without myself to be quite honest, and I'm glad it's so easy to make because I have a  hard time sharing it and usually end up making  a few batches to cover all the places I need to bring it!