I Hate To Cook

I never really liked to cook and since my husband thought his mother was a fantastic cook, I didn't even try to improve my culinary skills after we got married. I'm not foolish enough to compete with a legend. Although the kitchen and I are not on intimate terms, I do dabble upon occasion and I love to make home baked gifts for my friends.

Some of the holidays that I celebrate with family and friends are Chocolate Covered Cherry Day in January, International Pancake Day in February, Jelly Bean Day in April, and of course Fudge Day, June 16th.

In honor of Fudge Day, I am going to share one of my favorite recipes, "Festive Fudge". Here goes: 3 cups (8 oz) of semi sweet chocolate chips, 1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk), dash of salt, 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped nuts (optional), 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

In a heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt the chocolate chips with the sweetened condensed milk and salt. I prefer to melt the chocolate and milk in the microwave. Be sure to use a microwavable container not a metal saucepan!

When the mixture is melted remove from the stove or microwave. Stir in vanilla and nuts if you are using nuts. Spread this mixture evenly into a wax paper lined 8 or 9 inch square pan and chill for 2 hours or until firm.

Turn on to a cutting board, peel off the paper and cut fudge into pieces. Store in refrigerator.

Happy Fudge Day....Share a batch of homemade fudge with someone you care about!

Marie

Every Day is a Holiday!

In the gift basket business, we help people celebrate special occasions every day. Today we get to celebrate a special occasion in our own household. It's my husband's birthday. It's also the day in 1839 when baseball was born which is very appropriate since Vic is an avid baseball fan. Living in Massachusetts, he favors the Red Sox most of the time, but has enough enthusiasm for the game to spread around, especially during the playoffs and the World Series.

June 12th is also Magic Day, Machine Day and Crowded Nest Awareness Day. Being so involved with birthdays and baseball, we don't celebrate these other events too much.

I love holidays! I was born on Thanksgiving Day and for years I thought everyone got the day off from work and had a big party because it was my birthday. It's still one of my favorites. That's probably because we get to enjoy my sister's hospitality each year and I don't have to do any of the cooking. Bringing a fresh baked pie from one of the local farm shops and a bottle of wine is the extent of my contribution.

Sunday is Father's Day. I hope Vic is not expecting too much this year since the dogs and I have not had a chance to shop yet. The old saying about the shoemakers children not having shoes also applies to gift shop owners and their families not receiving gifts!

Have a happy June 12th! Celebrate your life!

Marie

Greetings From Laurel Mountain

Greetings from Massachusetts! My name is Marie. I live with my husband Vic and our two rescued dogs, Dana (left) and Fox (right) on a very large hill situated in a very small town in Western Massachusetts.

We own and operate Laurel Mountain Basket Company a full service gift basket company with a retail site in Easthampton and on line at http://www.laurelmtbasket.com/.

The company newsletter, in which I write about all kinds of irrelevant things, is called The View From Laurel Mountain. I wanted to keep my life simple so I gave my blog the same name.

Keeping life simple is getting more difficult every day. I am a very low tech person trying to get along in a very high tech world. Last week I changed the telephone service provider at the business and today I spent a good hour trying to reprogram my speed dial numbers. For someone who still remembers party lines, reprogramming a telephone is a challenge! My 15 year old nephew can't believe I am so inept.

I love living in the country. We have a little red fox (not the one pictured above) that has set up housekeeping down the hill, humming birds visit our feeder every evening, and a really insane Cardinal pecks at our family room window while we watch television. I wish I knew what she wants. She probably doesn't like my choice of programming.

Time to put on another hat and get back to work.

Thanks for visiting. See you again soon.

Marie