Peanut Butter Frosting - Broiled

It was Ryu's birthday Monday and I overheard him talking with Jun about what they both liked. He loves peanuts and said he also liked peanut butter. I had no idea! So, as we were going out for dinner to a Christmas party, I decided to make up the brownie mix I had in the cupboard and find a new frosting to celebrate at snack time. This is in Betty Crocker's Cookbook from 1978. Can that really be 32 years AGO? Anyway, another great NO POWDERED SUGAR recipe!

Broiled Peanut Butter Frosting

2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter - softened
1/4 cup peanut butter (chunky or creamy is fine)
3 Tbsp. milk
1 cup finely chopped peanuts

Mix brown sugar, butter, peanut butter and milk. stir in peanuts. Spread frosting over warm 13 X 9 inch cake. Set oven control to broil and/or 550F. Broil cake about 5 inches from heat until frosting bubbles and browns slightly, about 3 minutes. (Watch carefully - frosting burns easily.)

I kept the oven door open to keep an eye on things and set the timer. This frosting on brownies (with a few handfuls of chocolate chips thrown into a box mix) was too perfect. The saltiness and the crunchiness of the peanuts was a good contrast to the moist sweetness of the brownie. Mmmmm!

I'm going to make this for my Mom's birthday today!

Fudge - Five Minute!

I have wanted to make fudge for years and years and years. But, I was too cheap to buy sweetened condensed milk in Japan and had no idea where to find marshmallow fluff. And I certainly do NOT put REAL fudge in the "Kantan" (easy) category.

Then, a few weeks ago our neighbor had a box of canned things they didn't need and asked if we could use. Yep! There were a few cans of evaporated milk (non-sweetened). Now my mother and grandmother always use/d this, but I rarely if ever buy it. But, for some wonderful reason I looked at the label. There was this 5 Minute Fudge recipe that DIDN'T call for sweetened condensed milk nor marshmallow fluff! If I'd have had this recipe in Japan...I just might have made it - I wonder if you can use milk for the condensed milk? Hmmm.

Five Minute Fudge

2 Tbsp. butter
2/3 cups undiluted Evaporated Milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine above ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Bring to a full boil. Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in the following ingredients:

2 cups (4 oz) miniature marshmallows (or cut up a bunch of bigger ones?)
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts.

Stir vigorously for 1 minute (until marshmallows melt and blend). Pour into a buttered 8-inch square pan. Cool and cut into squares.

It was simply heavenly!

Note: I tried to make vanilla fudge for Ryu using this recipe and substituting vanilla white chocolate chips. Hmmm. I don't like white chocolate, but even so, it turned out quite a bit softer than the "real" chocolate fudge.

Egg Nog

In my attempt to do some pre-Christmassy things this year, I decided to start with the ABC's. The letter "E" became "Make Egg Nog" day. Ryu doesn't care for really thick or sweet egg nog. We are tea totalers (sp?), so were looking for a non-alcoholic drink. We also have lived in Japan where raw eggs are OFTEN mixed with soy sauce and poured over hot rice in the morning for breakfast. So, when I found this recipe on About.com, it seemed to be right up our alley. I am typing it out with my notes as well as putting a link to it as sometimes...links - and thus recipes - disappear!

Easy Egg Nog

2 eggs beaten well (Why couldn't you use an egg product that is...pasteurized? if you were worried?)
3 Tbs. sugar (I wouldn't have minded a full 1/4 cup = 4 Tbs.)
1 tsp. vanilla (We could have upped this too. Yum!)
1/8 tsp. nutmeg, ground
2 1/3 cups milk

We washed the eggs before we broke them, and then whisked them well before gradually adding each ingredient. The three of us drank the whole batch for lunch today. Yum!