Recipe time! The start of the holiday season brings on the need to create sweet treats for family and friends. One of my favorite candy recipes is a knock-off of the NUT GOODY recipe from a family owned candy factory in St Paul, Minnesota. If you like flavored fudge and peanuts, you will LOVE this recipe! Great for cookie/candy swap at school, church or work.

 Servings: 150 pieces (1 inch square serving if made on a 10x15" pan)

• 1 (12 oz) pkg. chocolate chips (semi-sweet or your favorite)
  
• 1 (12 oz) pkg. butterscotch chips
• 2 c. creamy peanut butter
• 1 c. butter (unsalted if possible)
  
• 1/3 c. evaporated or 1/2 c. regular milk
• 1/4 c. regular vanilla pudding mix
• 2 lbs. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. maple flavoring
•  2 cups - 1/2 lb. Spanish peanuts, skinned (depending on how crunchy you like your candy)

In double boiler or microwave, melt chips, peanut butter and chocolate. Spread half of the melted chocolate mixture in a foil-lined buttered 10 1/2 x 15 1/2 inch jelly roll pan. Refrigerate or freeze until set (about 30 minutes in freezer). Reserve remaining chocolate mixture in double boiler.

In heavy saucepan, combine butter, milk and pudding mix. Bring to boil over low heat and cook 1 minute. Remove and let cool. Using a mixer, blend in powdered sugar and flavoring until creamy. Spread mixture over chilled chocolate. Stir Spanish peanuts into remaining chocolate mixture and spread over top. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Peel off foil and cut into 1 inch squares. Keep refrigerated.  

This candy won't last long!  Feel free to tweak this recipe to taste...

Estate Sale Jackpot

When I scan the paper or web sites for estate sales, rummage sales, etc. I look for the keyword: COOKBOOKS. I don't need any more in my collection, but I have to look. Well, I got around to checking for sales a bit late one day, but found a professionally run estate sale that listed 100's of cookbks. What?! An abbreviation?! Oh well. Have 90 minutes before the sale ends.

Arrived to find a large folding table filled with cookbooks, and a few that I didn't have. Felt a bit disappointed that I hadn't seen the ad earlier in the day. Was beginning to get the cookbooks written up to check out, and the clerk asked if I had been in the basement to see the other cookbooks. Headed downstairs, and found myself in heaven! There weren't 100's of cookbooks--there were 1000's! A room FULL of bookcases FULL of books! Heaven with a view!

Better news! Only a few others going through the cookbooks. The woman who collected this treasure of recipes had excellent taste, and had them arranged them by category. Spent as much time as the clerk would give me that first day, came back the next day for a few hours and even the last day where I picked up a few more. Would have given my eye teeth to have that collection. Just wanted to thank this woman for being "one of us" in her love of all things COOKBOOKS!