Ooey-Gooey Bowl of Hot Fudge Molten S’mores

It's Delicious Stuff!

I have china service for 100.  Yes!  100!!

Gorgeous, Johnson Brothers china for 100 people.

Well, Alfred Meakin china actually but the company was acquired by Johnson Brothers in 1908 so I guess it’s Johnson Brothers china although Johnson Brothers is now part of some huge international conglomerate.

“Fair Winds” is the pattern of my china.  Luscious café au lait colored tall ships (the kind they had in the 1700’s) sailing on plates and cups of creamy white - Johnson Brothers signature background color.  Very classic.  Very elegant.

Here’s how I happened to acquire china for 100.

My mother had a turkey theme, Johnson Brothers china service for 12 called “Barn Yard”.  It had a turkey theme and she only used only on Thanksgiving.  I loved that china.  Still do.

One of the dinnerplates was cracked so I went online (years ago) to try to replace it.  I was shocked to find that replacement dinner plates in “Barn Yard” cost several hundred dollars each and were hard to come by at that.  The pattern had been “retired” as they say in the china biz which meant they aren’t making it anymore.  Hence the high price.  Not willing to pay that much, I put my replacement idea on hold.

One day, while I was shopping my fav thrift store with a girlfriend, I found 4 dinner plates in the same café au lait colored pattern with the same creamy Johnson Brothers signature background but the pattern was “Fair Winds” (tall ships) not “Barn Yard” (turkeys).

“Oh go ahead and get them,” my friend nudged me.  “Look, they’re only $4 for all 4,” she continued. “You can do a shabby chic, mix and match table setting.  I’ll will look great!”

I bought them.  I mixed and matched like my friend instructed but I’m apparently not the shabby chic type.  It looked awful!  Oh, the colors matched OK and it would have undoubtedly looked terrific on my friend’s table but anyone sitting down to my table would only have thought that I couldn’t afford a whole set of matching china - not to mention gossiped about me at the next church coffee hour. (“Did you see those pitiful odds and ends of junk she calls  a china service? Disgraceful! Evidently her people didn’t pass any china down to her.”)

Eventually I bit the bullet and bought the expensive “Barn Yard” plate to compete my set.

But now I had 4 plates that didn’t go with anything.  I needed china for my soon to open bed & breakfast so I thought why not “Fair Winds”?

 I found dozens of people online selling bulk boxes of odd assortments of “Fair Winds” cheap like they were clearing out the remains of an old aunt’s home after she had passed away.  I bought it all.

Since the china was so cheap, I figured why not get service for 100? I’d need service for the large groups I was hoping to host. Using paper plates or renting china would be more expensive in the long run and using this china would make such an elegant statement. So I kept buying maybe spending a total of $300 when it was all said and done. 

Plates.  Cups and saucers.  Salad plates.  Bread and butters.  Serving pieces and platters. Service for 100 for $300!

Do you know anyone else who has china service for 100????

Or bought it so cheaply?

Well, maybe Martha Stewart.

Ooey-Gooey Bowl of Hot Fudge Molten S’mores

OMG….. could anything be better? You don’t need a campfire - only a microwave for the most hot, gooey, chocolate-y molten pudding with graham crackers and melty marshmallow fluff this side of heaven. An easy, life affirming mid night snack or a cozy, rainy-afternoon-on-the-couch-watching-an-old-black-and-white-movie snuggle.

Makes 1 serving (2 if forced to share)

Ingredients

2 whole graham crackers

2 heaping Tablespoons marshmallow fluff (marshmallow cream)

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 Tablespoon cocoa

1 Tablespoon all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons milk

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon dark chocolate chips (can sub semi sweet but dark is chocolatey-er)

Directions

Coarsely crumble 1 graham cracker into a small bowl that you will use for serving.  Bowl should be heat safe and hold about 3 cups in volume.  Dollop marshmallow fluff on crumbled graham cracker.  Set aside

Coat a second bowl with cooking spray.  It should also hold about 3 cups in volume.  Mix sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, flour and salt in the sprayed bowl.  Stir in the milk and oil till smooth.  Add the chocolate chips.  Microwave (tented with baking parchment to contain the splatters) until hot and bubbly – about 1 ½ minutes.  Do not overheat.  Mixture should look like medium thick pudding. Overheating will cook it like a cake or brownie which, now that I think about it, isn’t too bad although not as good as a gooey pudding will be.

Immediately pour chocolate mixture over marshmallow fluff in the serving bowl and coarsely crumble remaining graham cracker over top.  Serve. (Oh YUM!!)

Karla’s Tasty Tips

Be sure to tent the cooking chocolate with parchment and not cover it with a plate or anything that will prevent air circulation.  Without air circulation, the chocolate will volcano all over the microwave and make a horrible mess….. you have been warned.           

Cinnamon graham crackers would be good adding sort of a Mexican flavor.

Regular marshmallows not recommended but MIGHT do in a pinch but I haven’t tried them so I don’t know for sure. Mini marshmallows might do better than regular size because they’ll melt faster. Definitely don’t microwave marshmallows to melt as they get rubbery. If you go the marshmallow route, let me know how it turns out. OK?

You can top the finished s’more with additional garnishes to your taste…. nuts, more chocolate chips, raising, dried cranberries, sprinkles, gingerbread syrup, jigger of amaretto, whipped cream etc.

Hungry for more?

See what else I’m cooking up …..

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