Categories: Candies, Usenet 
      Yield: 3 pounds 
  
      1 lb Peanut butter, smooth 
           -(natural) 
      1 lb Sugar, powdered 
    1/2 lb Butter (2 sticks, 
           -save the wrappers) 
      1 ts Vanilla extract 
     12 oz Chocolate, semi-sweet 
           -(otherwise known as 
           -1 bag chocolate chips) 
  
  Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water or the top of a double boiler. 
  Make sure you don't get even a drop of water in the chocolate.  Stir 
  frequently with a spatula while doing the following steps and remove it 
  from the hot water just as soon as it's melted. 
   
  Melt the butter.  Mix together the powdered sugar, the melted butter and 
  the vanilla. Don't bother sifting the powdered sugar. Just stir everything 
  together with a wooden spoon until it's smooth and creamy.  Stir in the 
  peanut butter. This will break most flimsy wooden spoons if you're not 
  careful. Mushing everything together with your hands works well and is lots 
  of fun. 
   
  Press the fudge into a buttered 8 or 9 square pan.  You don't need much 
  butter, just wipe the butter papers over the inside of the pan.  You can 
  also line the pan with foil and butter that; this works especially well if 
  you're making several batches in a row to give to people as holiday 
  presents. Press the fudge in firmly; you don't want any air bubbles in it. 
  You will get your hands messy here. 
   
  Pour the chocolate over the fudge and spread it in an even layer.  The 
  easiest way to do this is to shake the pan gently until the chocolate is 
  even.  Let the chocolate cool to room temperature. DO NOT PUT IT IN THE 
  REFRIGERATOR. 
   
  Using a sharp knife cut the fudge into 1 squares.  If you defied my 
  instructions and put it in the refrigerator, the chocolate layer will 
  shatter when you try to cut it. Unless you are going to serve it 
  immediately, store it in the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature 
  before serving. 
   
  Again, don't scrimp on the peanut butter!  Skippy simply will not do. 
   
  NOTES: 
   
  *  An extremely rich candy -- I got this recipe from a friend, Ed 
  Firestone, who is arguably the best cook in Palo Alto. The results resemble 
  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups that have attained Nirvana. Don't scrimp on the 
  peanut butter; get the best you can find or make it yourself. If there's 
  anything besides peanuts and salt in it, find another brand. 
   
  *  Unless you use the foil method, you will inevitably destroy at least one 
  piece getting it out of the pan.  The best method is to line the pan with 
  foil, let the fudge cool, lift it out, peel off the foil, put it back in 
  the pan and cut it. This keeps it from sticking to the pan. If you try to 
  cut it out of the pan, it tends to fall apart. 
   
  : Difficulty:  moderate. 
  : Time:  20 minutes preparation, 15 minutes cooling. 
  : Precision:  no need to measure. 
   
  :    -paul asente 
  :        decwrl!glacier!cascade!asente  asente@SU-Cascade.ARPA 
  : 
  : You got peanut butter on my chocolate! 
   
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