Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Ghirardelli Fudge Recipe ~ Easy

Every year I make this decadent fudge, which tastes like I spent hours in the kitchen whipping up. It is the best gift to bring to a gathering and you can literally throw it together in less than 15 minutes.


  • 1 package of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Line a small shallow baking pan (8 x 8 x 2) with wax paper. 


Stir the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk together in a medium glass mixing bowl. Microwave/stir for 30 sec intervals, until just melted -- usually takes about 1 minute. Stir in the vanilla extract. 


At this point, you can add chopped dried cherries or mini marshmallows or white chocolate chips or nuts ~ or nothing at all!  The cherries are always a hit and taste like chocolate covered cherries.


Pour into lined baking pan ~ for a sweet and salty treat, you can sprinkle some slightly crushed coarse sea salt and colored sugar crystals on the top, prior to refrigerating.


Refrigerate (or freeze for 5-10 minutes if in a hurry). 


Pop the fudge out of the wax paper and cut into small bite sized pieces. Arrange on a festive Holiday plate and you have a fabulous hostess gift! To make it extra special, I like to make sure that the recipient knows that the plate is theirs to keep as well.


I recently gifted this to my sons Middle School Teachers on a large platter surrounded by grapes and pears and wrapped up in a large cellophane gift bag ~ healthy and decadent are always a good pairing!


Enjoy!



Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Simply Taking Care of Yourself During the Holidays

Good Morning everyone! I just saw a status from Canyon Ranch on Facebook that said "How will you nurture yourself today?" Love that this simple reminder is phrased as a question which tends to get ones mind thinking ...... "I DO deserve to nurture myself" and the creativity of just thinking "how will I do that?" is just a delicious way to start the day.


At my stillness meditation group yesterday, I was reminded to take care of myself during this hectic time of the year. Drink water, slow down, forgive yourself and others, continue with daily meditation ..... simple things really, but crucial in taking care of ourselves emotionally, physically and spiritually. Practices that we tend to put on the back burner when we are multi-tasking and our days are filled with urgency.


So, I ask you, how will YOU nurture yourself today? 


Have a wonderful Tuesday ...... Namaste ......

Monday, December 19, 2011

Supadupa

I was one of the lucky ones to set up a free lifetime storefront on supadupa.
carolines.mysupadupa.com/


So easy to set up, great templates and am looking forward to putting some more work into it!


Looks like it would be a worthwhile thing to check out, even though the freebie has ended -- who knows, maybe they will offer it again!