[Sca-cooks] Of Fudge, and Mice, and Chickens, Oh My ;-)

[Phlip]

I'm still experimenting with getting the chocolate fudge to my preferred
texture, so last night, being out of fresh milk, I tried some of the
powdered whole milk that Margali has around. The recipe call for 3 level
tablespoons per "glass" of milk, so I figured, since my recipe calls for a
cup and a half of milk, which is 12 oz, and a standard "glass" would be 8
oz, to try 4 1/2 T of milk powder, and matching water. The standard recipe
on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa tin is:

3 c sugar
2/3 c cocoa powder
1 1/2 c whole milk
1/8 tsp salt,

then when the mix gets up to 234 degrees fahr., to add

1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 stick butter.

I was out of vanilla (or Rob had carefully put it away SOMEWHERE), so I did
without that. Humidity was 85%- usual, and about as low as it gets in this
area in the summertime, general temps were late 60s to early 70s.

The fudge came out with a nice, if somewhat hardish texture- I'm wondering
if I need to take it off the heat at a slightly lower temperature. Instead
of waiting until it cools to about 110, as it says to on the instructions,
I've found it's lots easier to stir at about 150 - when it's down to 110,
it's WAY too stiff, and gets very hard to transfer from the pan to the
cooling pan/mold.

The one thing I didn't like about it was that the flavor was rather like
that caramelized flavor I get (and dislike) from condensed milk. I think, in
my next experiment, I'll use somewhat less of the milk powder. Anybody have
any other suggestions?

The mouse comes into the equation, when it had mostly cooled and I had
broken it into squares and put it on a plate to cool further, leaving it on
the (cool) stove for the time being. I was watching Harry Potter on TV, and
I heard quite a clatter in the kitchen, so I went in to see what the cats
were into- not a cat in sight, and if disturbed when up to no good, they're
much more likely to stare me down and dare me to do anything about it, than
they are to pretend they aren't there- further, from where I started in the
living room, to the kitchen, there just isn't any way for them to escape
without me seeing them.

I observed that one piece of fudge had managed to move off of the plate, and
about a foot and a half across the stove, towards one of the known mousely
escape routes.

Now, the fudge I've been making is pretty dense, and I make fairly large
pieces- about 1 1/4 -1 1/2 inches on a side. Each piece easily outweighs any
mouse I've ever seen in this house by 2 to 1 or better. It seems Mighty
Mouse is a chocoholic, and has moved into our kitchen... Determined little
bugger, too- I think the noise I was hearing was the mouse trying to move
the chocolate up over the edge of the stove, and thence down the side.

.As far as the chickens, they're now two weeks old. Mama is a good mama, we
haven't lost one of them. They're all feathering in, but, interestingly,
unlike with the "pure" Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks we started with a
couple years ago, their feathers are all pretty much the same color as their
baby fluff, but appear to be developing the Barred Rock pattern, like
Cogburn. And Cogburn has been surprising me- it seems he's a good Papa ;-)
He's just as careful about stepping on them as Mama is, but he'll find a bit
of egg too big for the babies to handle, and will not only break it up for
them, but will hold it down for them to "steal" out of his beak, rather than
gobbling it up himself. Didn't know roosters would do that.

And the cats now give not only Cogburn, but Mama and the babies a wide
berth. It seems that interest in those little fluffballs running around has
Serious Consequences. I picked up one of the babies and showed it to
Pickett, and he looked at it, sniffed, identified it, and carefully found
something else to attract his attention- he didn't want any part of those
babies ;-)

Saint Phlip,
CoDoLDS

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....