Chocolate Fudge
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons cocoa (for dark chocolate, use 4 tablespoons), sifted
4 tablespoons butter, separated
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
OPTIONAL: 1/2 to 3/4 cup coarsely chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts or other nuts

Combine milk, cocoa, 2 tablespoons butter, sugar, salt and corn syrup in a saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.

Increase heat and bring to a boiling point and boil gently WITHOUT STIRRING until softball stage (234-236F), then remove from heat.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cool for 10 minutes. Add vanilla and optional nuts; beat until it thickens slightly and starts to lose its gloss. Pour immediately into greased pan. Cool and cut.

Divinity
I haven't had the best of luck with divinity, but I discovered that I wasn't beating the mixture long enough!

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
Dash salt
2 egg whites room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or *other flavorings)
1 cup chopped pecans

Spread out a couple of sheets of waxed paper. Butter two large spoons and set aside.

In a 3-quart sauce pan, bring the sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt to a boil, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Once at a boil, stop stirring and cook to 260F - hard ball stage.

While the mixture is coming up to temperature, whisk egg whites on high speed in a heavy duty mixer until very stiff peaks form.

Once the syrup has reached 260F, remove from heat. Turn the mixer to medium-high and carefully and slowly pour the syrup into the egg whites. Do this very slowly, it should take about 2 minutes to do this.

Add vanilla, and continue beating until the mixture loses its gloss, and holds its shape when dropped from a spoon, approximately 4-6 minutes. This is the "magical" stage - if you don't beat it enough, you'll have divinity soup, and if you over-beat it, you'll have divinity crumble.

If you aren't sure if you've mixed it enough, drop a bit of the candy on the wax paper to see if it stands up and doesn't melt into a puddle. If it melts into a puddle, beat a minute or two longer and check.

Stir in the nuts, and then spoon out a heaping spoon of candy, one at a time with greased spoons. Use one spoon to hold the mixture, and the other to scrape the candy off the spoon.

Let candies set out on waxed paper for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight before storing in an airtight container.

*Other flavor variations of to try:

• Jell-O divinity: add in 3 tablespoons of Jell-O gelatin powder flavor of your choice to whipped egg whites before you add the sugar mixture.
• Maple walnut: substitute maple flavoring/extract for the vanilla, and use chopped walnuts instead of pecans.
• Peppermint: add in 1/2 cup of crushed peppermint candy and optional 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract.
• Chocolate mint: add 1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips, 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract and optional 2-3 drops of green food coloring.
• Cherry: add 1/2 cup of chopped maraschino cherries, substitute 1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice plus 1/4 cup water for the 1/2 cup water, substitute almond extract for the vanilla, and optional 2-3 drops of red food coloring.
• Coconut: add 2 cups of shredded coconut.
• Miscellaneous fruit: stir in your favorite dried fruit (i.e., cranberries, cherries, figs, peaches, dates, raisins, apricots, etc.) or candied fruit (pineapple, cherries, ginger, dates, orange/lemon peel, etc.).
• Almond: substitute almond extract for the vanilla, and chop up a cup of slivered almonds.
• Nut variations: substitute chopped pistachios, walnuts, macadamia, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, cashews, or even hazelnuts for the pecans.
• Peanut butter: substitute 1/2 cup chunky (or creamy) peanut butter for the chopped pecans.
• Coffee: stir in 2 tablespoons of instant coffee at the same time you add the vanilla extract.
• Chocolate: melt 2 squares/ounces of semisweet chocolate and stir it in when you add the vanilla.
• Chocolate butterscotch: stir in 1/2 cup butterscotch chips and ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips at the same time you add the vanilla extract.

Buck Eyes
If you don't know where the paraffin wax is down at the Piggly Wiggly, then just substitute some regular chocolate almond bark for the paraffin wax and bag of chocolate chips. Momma said the milk chocolate chips are the best, if you do find the paraffin wax and chips.

1/2 block paraffin wax
1 small bag chocolate chips
1 stick butter
1 box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup milk

Melt paraffin wax and chocolate morsels in double boiler. Do not overheat. Mix butter, 10x sugar, vanilla, peanut butter and milk; form into small balls. Pierce each ball with a toothpick and dip into chocolate mixture, leaving a small spot to look like buck eye. Place on waxed paper to cool.

Mock Toffee Bars
Try adding chocolate chips to these right after you take them out of the oven.

12 (or more) Graham Crackers (each cracker is made of 4 small crackers)
1 cup real butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup of finely chopped pecans (if you can heat these in a skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes, they'll taste better!)

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper, or greased tinfoil, or just grease a cookie sheet. Break up graham crackers into smaller crackers and place them on the prepared cookie sheet. Get as many crackers side-by-side as you can.

In a medium sauce pan, bring butter and sugar to boil and boil for three minutes, stirring constantly. Pour over graham crackers. Use a spoon to make sure all the crackers are coated. Sprinkle chopped pecans over top.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until it gets bubbly and golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. If you used parchment paper on your cookie sheet, you can allow the crackers to cool completely, and then store them in an air-tight container.

Store the crackers in an air-tight container.

Peanut Butter Cheese Balls
This recipe came from Imogene Merritt, Rhonda Garrison's mother. It is wonderful, tried and true!

1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup powdered milk
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 box powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla
Graham cracker crumbs

Cream the butter--do not melt. Mix with the powdered milk. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Mix in cheese and sugar. Roll into balls, and then roll in the graham cracker crumbs. Refrigerate.

Peanut Butter Dreams
Wow. I think I just gained 10 pounds typing this recipe in.

1 cup butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate morsels, melted
2/3 cup chopped peanuts

In medium saucepan, over low heat, melt butter. Add peanut butter; stir until well blended. Remove from heat; stir in sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Add 1/3 cup nuts. Pat into greased 9x9-inch pan. Spread melted chocolate over mixture in pan; sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup nuts over mixture. Chill until firm; cut into 1 inch squares. Store in cool, dry place. In your basement next to all of those dead bodies will do nicely.

Peggy's Perfect Peanut Butter Fudge
My mom's peanut butter fudge recipe and amazing! To make crunchy fudge, use extra crunchy peanut butter.

3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon corn syrup
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup (chunky is best) peanut butter

Cook first 4 ingredients until soft ball stage; remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients and set aside until peanut butter melts. Beat until it thickens then into pan.

Penuche (Brown Sugar) Fudge
This is pronounced "pee-noo-chee." Pay close attention to the temperature of the mixture while boiling and also stir/beat it until it slightly thickens and isn't as shiny.

3/4 cup milk or evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring or 2 teaspoons maple flavoring if you want a maple penuche
1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts), optional

Combine first 5 ingredients (milk, sugar, brown sugar, salt, and corn syrup) in a saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture is well blended.

Increase heat and bring to a boiling point and boil gently WITHOUT STIRRING until soft ball stage (236-240 ), then remove from heat.

Add butter, cool for around 10-20 minutes; until mixture is around 110º. Add vanilla (or maple) flavoring and nuts, if desired. Beat until it thickens slightly and starts to lose its gloss. Pour immediately into greased pan. Cool and cut.

Pralines
I got this recipe for old fashioned pralines back in the early 90's from a sweet Cajun lady I worked with, Deborah Jowers. Do not give these to children under four years old. I learned this lesson the hard way with Josh's help. On November 10, 1996, Josh inhaled some pecan pieces to his right lung and had endoscopic surgery the following morning to remove them. Whew.

NOTE: dump the pecan halves in an ungreased skillet and toast them for about 5 minutes before adding them to the mix.

1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
Dash salt
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Sheet or two waxed paper

Combine first 5 ingredients in a saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture is well blended -- about 4 hours. (Just kidding…it seems like that long though!)

Bring to boiling point and boil gently until soft ball stage (236-240F) WITHOUT STIRRING then remove from heat. Add the butter and then let this mixture cool for ten minutes.

Add vanilla; beat until semi-cool and it thickens and loses its gloss (this is the tricky part; you almost have to be psychic or psychotic or something to know when to stop stirring). If mixture seizes up, add hot water and continue stirring. Add pecans and drop by tablespoons onto waxed paper. Cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge.