Writing, Perfection, and Fudge

It’s the holidays! So let’s tie together writing and holiday food, shall we?

This week I was making some of my cheater fudge. I call it cheater because I don’t use sugar, so I don’t run the risk of that grainy taste many homemade types of fudge get.

Now my first batch started to go funky. The chocolate wasn’t melting right, and was clumping in a very bad way. In that, “oh crap- ruined the chocolate cause it got over cooked and is now seizing” way.

I was not happy to say the least.

But instead of dumping it, like I have in years past, I added more butter and beat the hell out of it.

It worked!

Instead of giving up, I fought to find a way to fix it and won.

How many times as writers have we tossed out the “bad chocolate” in our writing? We’ve worked on something, it gets tough, or screwed up, and instead of fighting through we just give up and start something new?

I think as creative folks, the urge to walk away from something that’s not “perfect” is probably pretty strong. We know how we see it in our heads, but often times that doesn’t make the leap to the printed page- so we walk away.

I know there are times when parts may have to be pulled and set aside- but completely dumped? I do have bits of stories that I never followed through on, but since I’ve gotten “serious” about my writing, I’ve fought against walking away. Sometimes things need a big change- but walk away? Hopefully from now on I can always find a way to make things work.

Have you ever walked away from a major project? When? Would you ever go back to it?

Here’s the recipe for my cheater fudge- in good writer fashion, I stole parts of it from many different recipes ;).

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ bag Hershey’s kisses
1 can sweetened condensed milk (that's why there’s no grainy sugar issue ;))
¼- ½ cube of butter
½ tsp vanilla
Half a jar of marshmallow fluff
1 cup of chopped nuts (more or less)

Melt the chips, kisses, and sweetened condescended milk. Stir often (I use a microwave and check every minute). Once smooth and all melted, stir in butter, vanilla, and fluff (you can add salt too- wouldn’t add much though). You will probably have to beat the heck out of it- but don’t give up and keep fighting until it's smooth!

Then pour into a wax paper covered dish (9X9). Let set in fridge for a bit. This is a great cheater fudge, but it dries out very easily. Keep it covered and in the fridge when not serving.
Enjoy!