Easy Microwave Fudge

The various sounds and signals are so expressive. There’s the chirpy little tone that tells me they’re just checking in to text ‘hi’, a string of chirpy little tones when they have so much to say that their fingers can barely keep pace, and the slightly annoying intermittent chirps which mean they’re multi-tasking and don’t have time for my questions. The insistent bloop – bleeps of a video call usually means they’re missing home. And when a barrage of sounds peals forth from my laptop, followed by my cell phone echoing from the bowels of my purse, I know I’m needed, STAT.

Yesterday my youngest chirpped in from college with a request. She was in the mood to cook something, but her dorm only has a microwave, no stove or oven. My first suggestion was microwave fudge.  You can do that, she asked? Yup, I responded, and copied and pasted a couple of quick links her way. After a few back and forths…she wanted real chocolate, not cocoa powder, no marshmallow, etc…, we came up with the perfect recipe.

About 20 minutes later, another chirp. Same daughter. Turns out the basement ‘kitchen’ in the dorm didn’t have foil. Or the right kind of pan. And being Sunday night, all the local stores were closed.

My daughter’s college has amazing dining halls. One of them is directly under her bedroom window. She has all the food she could ever want. She can even go and get a pizza, or a cheeseburger and an ice cream shake in the wee hours of the morning. But all the food in the world can’t take the place of  being able to fix something for yourself when you’re hungry. There’s something elemental about that.