Firefighter's Fudge

Wes, Ray and I make this fudge once a month to take over to our local fire department. We also make an extra batch every September 11 to give to our sheriff's office in addition to the fire department to show our appreciation to the men and women who protect us.

I think the firefighters have a GPS chip in my car--they are NEVER out on a call when we swing by. This is a variation of the recipe on the back of the marshmallow creme jar that my mother did.

1 jar of marshmallow creme
1 large bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 sticks of butter (the real stuff. Don't moan--you're eating about 1000 calories per piece so what's a little bit of fat)
1 small can of evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk)
2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange extract.

Line a large deep cookie sheet with foil and spray with Pam cooking spray.

Melt butter, sugar, and evaporated milk in dutch oven on stove top (medium heat) until sugar is completely dissolved. You need to stir constantly. It will take about five minutes. If you stop stirring, it will scorch. Tell your son to quit eating the open chocolate chips b/c you won't have enough for the fudge.

Remove from heat and immediately add chocolate chips and marshmallow creme. Stir until chips are melted and you no longer see the white of the marshmallow creme. Add vanilla and orange extracts and stir vigorously.

Pour into lined cookie sheet and refrigerate immediately to set (about 1-2 hours). Clean up the kids up as they'll have fudge in their hair from sticking their head into the cooled pot to lick the remnants.

Use a pizza cutter to cut fudge. The cut fudge needs to be refrigerate if you're not going to scarf it down immediately--it softens quickly.