Not even kidding.

I found this in a cookbook from our church in South Dakota. Thank you, Phyllis Kruiter.

Velveeta Cheese Fudge

1 lb. butter
1 lb. Velveeta cheese
1 c. cocoa
4 lb. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
walnuts, as desired

Mix butter and Velveeta cheese; melt in microwave. Add 1 cup cocoa and 4 pounds powedered sugar. Then add vanilla and nuts. This makes 2 9x13 inch pans of fudge.

Then I did an image search, and there are lots of results. Could this actually be good? It's even on the Kraft website! The cream-of-what New Year's challenge : make and eat Velveeta Cheese Fudge, and like it. We could all do it on the same day (or in the same week) and blog our reactions. Eh?

Raiding Mom's recipe closet

The pictures should speak for themselves. Click for larger images.

Now available everywhere books are sold!

The Joy of NOT Cooking

by Snaggle Tooth



For Snaggle Tooth, busy lady, serial blogger, and budding librarian, cooking for loved ones is a burden that cramps her style and stifles the warmth that is the heart of family life. It's a chore to be avoided like the Black Death. In this irresistible kitchen companion, she invites you to rediscover the pleasures and rewards of ignoring the whole cooking process. She shares crowd-pleasing ideas for everything from a Tuesday-night TV dinner to a showstopping special-occasion one-dish meal, including breakfast dishes (Quaker Peaches 'n Cream Instant Oatmeal) , cocktail nibbles (cheddar cheese slices), main-dish salads (Bacon & Ranch Suddenly Salad) , soups from concentrate, and stews (throw it in a pot and let it sit!), irresistible breads (the pre-sliced kind!) and unforgettable desserts (did I just eat a cup of chocolate chips?). Satisfying dishes include Tuna Casserole, boxed frozen Pierogies, Spaghetti with tomato sauce, French Bread Pizza, and Mac 'n Cheese with hot dogs. To make time in the kitchen more productive, Snaggle includes notes on multi-tasking for every recipe. Especially useful are "Potatoes while painting your nails", "Turkey Tetrazzini and Tae Bo" and "Goulash while going to see The Golden Compass". In addition, an invaluable chapter on creating a "Homemade Pantry" explains how to buy and stock such staples as Cream of Mushroom Soup, French fried onions, no-boil lasagne, and canned mandarin oranges.

Snaggle's skill as a non-cooker and her warm enthusiasm for loafing shine through in each and every hastily written recipe, designed to inspire anyone looking to subvert the idea that good cooking is what makes a house a home. Vibrantly illustrated by Dan Awesome(click to see example!), The Joy of NOT Cooking brings the pleasure of avoidance and sloth back into the modern kitchen.

xx crossposted to snaggletoooth xxx

Congealed cocktail

from the 2006(?) edition of Joy of Cooking:

Broth on the Rocks

A salty-sweet refresher with a beautiful tangerine color. Be sure the broth is not too rich in gelatin, or it may congeal. For each serving, combine equal quantities of:
Chicken broth or beef consomme
Tomato juice
Orange juice

Pour over ice cubes and add:
A squeeze of lemon juice


And now a holiday beverage for those of us who aren't 97 years old, or who require vegan drinks:

Across the globe, there are very few people who take Christmas as seriously as the Germans do. Germans gave us the Christmas tree (Tannenbaum), the advent calendar, and Silent Night. Unfortunately, they also gave us...fruitcake. Perhpas in recognition of the dyspepsia often caused by ingesting rocklike fruitcake, Germans have also given us another holiday tradition: Glühwein, "glow wine" - their version of mulled wine. Grandmother's punch (Großmutters Punsch) is an elaboration of tradional glow wine, which is nothing more than heated red wine with cinnamon, lemon, sugar, and cloves. Rich, smooth, and strong, this very special punch is traditionally served at midnight on Christmas Eve.

Serves 12

1 cup packed brown sugar
25 whole cloves
25 allspice berries
1 cinammon stick
2 vanilla beans, finely chopped
2/3 cup loose black tea
Two 750 ml bottles red wine
1/2 cup dark rum

In a large pot, combine the sugar, spices, and vanilla beans with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook over high heat, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes or until half the liquid has evaporated and teh remainder is syrupy. Remove from the heat, stir in the tea, and allow to steep for 10 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into another large pot and stir in the red wine and rum. Warm over medium heat until steaming, about 7 minutes. Serve warm, garnishing each glass with a cinammon stick stirrer, or chilled, over ice.



-Punsch recipe from Hot Toddies by Christopher B. O'Hara. New York : Clarkson Potter, 2002. This book has nice pictures. I recommend.

Gifts for the homemaker

I heard about these two books through Neighborhood Librarian, and thought it necessary that the widespread readership of this blog know about them:

Esquire's Handbook for Hosts

"Complete with everything from directions on how to stock the bar to tips on making conversation to hilarious party games and 400 delightful and useful period illustrations, Esquire's Handbook for Hosts is a delightful reminder that even the most hopeless host can give a terrific party, whether it's New Year's Eve 1949 or 1999."

Sitcom Style : Inside America's Favorite TV Homes

"[The author] fixes famous television homes on the page like a photo album annotated with insider trivia. She divides five decades of hit shows into eight categories, like "Home Sweet Home" ("Leave It to Beaver," "The Brady Bunch" "The Cosby Show"); "Single and Sassy" ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Friends," "Sex and the City"); "Honey, I'm Home" ("I Love Lucy," "Mad About You"); and "Fashionable Fantasy" ("I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Flintstones").

She puts each program in cultural context to show how social trends in America guided the story lines and how set designers shaped the interior spaces to send class messages. "

Diana?!?!

Stay tuned for the grossest cocktail recipe ever, courtesy of Joy of Cooking. One word: chicken stock.