Twelve Treats of Christmas

Could it be more perfect than this? Today is the official start of the 12 Days of Christmas, so I will do the 12 Treats of Christmas. I know, I know. I'm a genius. For the first treat of Christmas my true love gave to me--fudge. I like this recipe because it's hard to mess up and it's all in the microwave. No candy thermometers here.

The players:
3 c. sugar
1 1/2 sticks margarine
2/3 c. evaporated milk
2 c. chocolate chips (one package)
1 jar marshmallow cream (always use a name brand when using marshmallows for cooking--I learned this the hard way)
1 t. vanilla
1 c. nuts (optional)--we don't do nuts in my family since they have the ability to eliminate one of our own, but you do what you wish.

Melt the butter in a large bowl in the microwave. Add the sugar and evaporated milk and mix well with an electric mixer. Return to the microwave for 3 more minutes and beat again, making sure to scrape the sides. Microwave for 2 minutes, beat again. Then microwave for 3 minutes and beat. Microwave for 2 1/2 minutes. Add chocolate chips, vanilla, marshmallow cream and beat until smooth and well blended. Add nuts if you're crazy and like that sort of thing. Pour in greased (spraying with Pam or some cheaper version is absolutely perfect) pan and viola--delicious fudge. The beauty of the this recipe is that if you need to double it, it takes the same amount of time. While one bowl is in the microwave, you can beat the other bowl. My wonderful, beautiful, intelligent mother gave me this idea:

Bowl 1 Bowl 2
3 min. 3 min.
2 min. 2 min.
3 min. 3 min.
2 1/2 min. 2 1/2 min.

And then cross off as you go along so you know where you're at. This way you're doubling the recipe and making sure that you're beating it for the right amount of time. Pure genius. I doubled mine and put it in a 9x13 and it worked beautifully. If you want to be fancy, you can do one batch with regular chocolate and the other batch with white chocolate, then pour one on top of the other and swirl. Fudge anyone?