Not-So-Frugal Fudge

Last night I decided to make marshmallow fluff fudge because I bought 2 jars of fluff a few months ago and I didn't want them to go bad like the jar from last year. I think that the reason I bought 2 jars was because the evaporated milk in the large can was on sale and in order to use it up I thought I would make 2 batches of fudge. I haven't made fudge in quite a while so I had to read the directions again. It said use 1 1/2 package (12 squares) of Baker's chocolate. Now I don't have any chocolate squares and I wasn't very sure how many ounces were in a square, although I thought it was one ounce. But for some reason I had the idea in my head that they were talking about 1 1/2 packages of chocolate chips. I was thinking chocolate chips because that is what I had in front of me but 1 1/2 packages of 12 oz. chocolate chips is 18 oz. To complicate things, I had a 16 oz measuring cup and I was trying to figure out what the right amount of chocolate chips was...12, 16 or 18 oz all while stirring the fudge to keep it from burning. Obviously, I cannot think under pressure at all and I definitely can't do any sort of math.

For the first batch I ended up putting in 16 oz of chocolate chips although it didn't seem right. I started the next batch right away, determined to do it right. This time I thought one 12 oz package plus one half of another package of chocolate chips is 18 oz so that's what I put in. Afterwards I was doing the dishes and realized that I had grabbed the 2/3 measuring cup for the sugar instead of the 1 cup. It was supposed to have 3 cups of sugar but I only put in...um, 2/3 times 3. (I'd like to say right here that I am lucky that I got the job that I have right now. My boss was hoping I was a "math person". In the interview he asked me what 10 divided by 6 was. I gave him a blank stare. He hired me anyway. Soon after I nearly quit over an incident involving molecular weight and a Reverse Polish Notation calculator. It almost pushed me over the edge. Now my boss reminds me that I am an artist and a "visual" person. I think it's funny when he tells me that.)

When I came home from work today I looked at the recipe again and realized that it meant 1 1/2 package of chocolate squares not chips. Oooooh. Gee. I put in A LOT of chocolate. Well, the good thing is it still tastes good. Fudge cannot be ruined by putting in too much chocolate. It also didn't seem to bother it when I put in less sugar. I call that batch the diet fudge.