Peanut Butter Fudge

While shopping at the grocery store the other day, my sister, Wilma, met an elderly woman who was so excited about a recipe she had discovered that she couldn't wait to tell everyone.

That's one thing about being a senior citizen--it's okay to talk to total strangers in the middle of the baking isle at the grocery store. So I would like to thank the creative chemist who thought up this recipe with only two ingredients! Yes, you read that right--just two.

Ingredients:

2 cups peanut butter
1 can vanilla or white icing (or chocolate if you prefer)

But wait, there is a caveat. Make sure you buy the cheap peanut butter, not the all natural with just peanuts and peanut oil ( The fudge will turn out too soft.) If you prefer to use natural, try peanut butter with coconut oil or something that makes it homogenized--in other words, it should have a spreading consistency without having to stir it.

1. Pour the can of frosting into a medium-sized microwave safe bowl.

2. Heat in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes.

3. Add peanut butter and mix until smooth.

4. Pour into a buttered 8x8 baking dish.

5. Place in refrigerator until set.

6. Cut into cubes and serve only when you are having guests. Otherwise you're likely to eat the entire dish yourself--not good for you, unless you are a senior who is of a mind that you should have dessert first because life is short.

I used Chocolate icing for this batch:
 

This is great to make with children, but be sure only adults handle the icing while it is hot. Making goodies with your kids is great fun. Make enough to give some to their favorite people, like Grandma, Grandpa, and their teachers.
Wrap it in a gift bag and see if they can keep a secret until the holidays!

How to Make a Dump Cake

Are you a survivalist?  Perhaps you don't consider yourself to be one and yet find yourself putting stuff away for a rainy day.  I've always done that--buying canned and packaged food when it's on sale and working it into my menus.  Since I've moved in with my son and his wife, I help out by preparing many of the meals during the week.  They store even more food than I do and have made me more aware of rotating stored food by expiration date.  Yesterday I made a green bean casserole--one of our favorites--using canned green beans, mushroom soup, and dried onion rings.  When we go shopping, we replace the cans we've used with new ones.

My daughter-in-law recently noticed they had a lot of canned fruit while we were shelving the food in the storage area, so she asked me if I could make a dessert with some of it.  We perused the shelves and found several cans of pineapple chunks and a family sized can of sliced peaches that had been setting a while.  Then I spied a box of yellow cake mix and decided to make a dump cake.

I collected my items and headed up the stairs and in 15 minutes my dessert was in the oven.  This recipe is also great to make even if you don't have electricity!  You can also bake dump cake in a cast iron Dutch oven using coals from a fire -- just assemble the dump cake in the same way and cover the lid with hot coals until fully cooked.


                                             Dump Cake

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:
1 large can sliced peaches
1 medium can pineapple chunks or tidbits
1 box white or yellow cake mix
1 stick butter (no substitute)
Cinnamon sugar

Spray oblong cake pan or large rectangular baking dish with cooking spray.
Dump peaches and pineapple along with juices into the pan.
(You may substitute fresh or frozen fruit along with 3/4 cup of water.)
Sprinkle dry cake mix over top of fruit and pat down to cover fruit evenly.
Thinly slice butter and place on top of cake mix covering completely.
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar to taste.
Place pan in preheated oven and bake 40-45 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.
Serve warm or cold with ice cream or whipped cream.
Best if shared with kids.  (Refrigerate leftovers.)