So here's the short of it, 
All these years ...  and tonight I think of the Crock Pot.

And here's the long.

For almost 20 years I've been making a chocolate sauce recipe that I serendipitously discovered when I was making an ice cream pie that called for a layer of chocolate fudge on the graham cracker crust before the ice cream went in.  Pennie always asked me to bring it along when we were planning who would do what for dinners at her house. And because it's just so darned easy it became a go to for gifting the neighbors on the circle and a few others.

For all these years I've made it in small batches in the microwave - which involves lots of interrupting and stirring and making at least 4 batches because of space.  Tonight I thought about just using the crock pot!  What a great discovery!  I'll always do it this way from now on!

The recipe is really simple. It is my variation of the fudge sauce in the Classic Mud Pie recipe from Toll House Treasury which was published in 1986.  (it's on page 9 in the pie section)

Chocolate Sauce
1 12 oz bag of Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
2/3 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
4 Tablespoons of butter. 


Melt ingredients above together 
Do NOT boil. 


Add 1 Tablespoon good vanilla


Stir until smooth. 
Refrigerate in microwaveable container

This is good on ice cream, cake, cookies, well for that matter on your finger.

I've discovered that it is especially delicious paired with some of the preserved cherries that I made earlier - poured over some really good vanilla ice cream.

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Well tonight I made the recipe X 8.  Usually I can double the recipe in the microwave.  Tonight I just dumped everything in the Crock Pot and went and did some other things.  I did keep going to check on it because I'm in the habit of having to be right there to get this recipe to come out right.  But I've learned a lesson.  I can just put this on and go about my business and hours later put it in the containers and be ready to go.  I got 20 of the ziplock 1 cup containers and all at one time!

So here's loving the Crock Pot!