On Fri, 22 Dec 2006 00:12:56 -0500, "~steve (east tn)"
> wrote:

>Hi All:
>Sorry for such a newbie question, but i was 'helping' my darling wife of
>35 years make some fudge for the holidays. The fudge tastes great, and
>it is thick, but will not set up hard enough to cut and serve. we would
>like to have some homemade peanut butter fudge for family gatherings for
>the holidays.
>
>What did we do wrong?
>
>Recipe:
>1 cup miniature marshmallows
>1- 12 ox jar chunky peanut butter
>1 tsp. vanilla
>1 cup evaporated milk
>2 cups sugar
>1/4 cup margarine
>
>Combine milk, sugar, margarine in heavy skillet on medium heat until
>boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add marshmallows,
>peanut butter, and vanilla. Blend well and turn into a buttered pan and
>chill. Cut and serve.
>
>We followed the recipe closely and it all went off without a hitch. we
>were completely stumped as to what we did wrong. my wife confesses she
>has tried fudge in the past and it always failed to harden. the
>ingredients were fresh (as i munch some marshmallows between typing
>--just to make sure they are ok, of course.)
>
>Items we can think of:
>1) we used real butter instead of margarine (my prime suspect)
>2) the mixture was boiling all over, but we did not cook it very long.
>there was plenty of heat and time to pour and melt the marshmallows, so
>it was hot enough. we stirred with wooden spoon. no scorching.
>3) we stirred the full mixture until the marshmallows were melted and
>the mixture appeared smooth. i don't think we stirred too much or
>whipped the mixture to death.
>4) we used JIF p-butter. might have added a little too much, but not
>more than a measured tablespoon or so. it was fresh and had some oil as
>is common with quality p-butter.
>5) we used a stainless steel sauce pan, not an iron skillet and poured
>the hot stuff into a Pyrex bowl with the other stuff waiting
>6) obviously we could have mismeasured something, but i don't think we
>missed it much. and it tastes too good to be far off-- at least in my
>opinion.
>7) there is a typo in the recipe. it was one of those everyone bring
>your recipe's and we'll sell it as a book collection of from a
>relative's church.
>
>--while i am newbie to cooking groups, i have been active in several
>other newsgroups and i want to thank you resident experts in advance for
>helping a newbie trying to get started in the kitchen. please excuse
>any violations of group rules with this post. oh, if i picked the wrong
>newsgroup, please point me in the right direction and i'll go away.
>
>thanks ever so much for your time and attention,
>~steve
>---remove the CANofSPAM from the return address if you want to reply
>directly. you may dispose of the spam anyway you wish....
>
>(i have recently become disabled and am finally able to join wifey in
>the kitchen, so i don't much about cooking much paste boiling water.
>still working on cracking an egg without getting shell in the mix...
>i spent over 30 years working as an engineer so i pay a lot of attention
>to details)

You didn't cook the fudge long enough after it came to a boil. When it
reaches boiling, it's 212 degress (Farenheit). You need to continue
boiling it until it reaches about 235 degrees (Farehneit). This is the
soft ball stage, and pretty much the standard temperature necessary
when making fudge. If you Google peanut butter fudge you should find a
lot of recipes with the same ingredients, but more detailed
instructions. You might try one of those.

Cathy