When I was a little girl and we lived in the old house, one of the better memories of that time was winter time, when my mother made homemade fudge and popped popcorn. We always seemed to have a friend of one of us kids over and Mama would always make a big batch of fudge (the recipe she used is in this posting). She would pop a dishpan full of popped corn and we would eat ourselves silly. It sure was good. I did not have her fudge recipe. I did know what ingredients were in it, but didn’t know the amounts. But thanks to the internet I found the recipe.
As I mentioned above we lived in the old house. We were very, very poor when I was little and to this day I don’t know how my Mama and Daddy managed to keep us fed and the old tin roof over our heads, but they did. The house was four rooms and little storage room. Mama, Daddy, five kids, and Daddy’s mother (Grandma Ollie) all lived there.
We had no bathroom and no running water in the house; therefore, we had an old wooden out-house for doing our business and a big tin bath tub that Mama would heat the water for our baths. Needless to say, we didn’t get a bath every day – at least once a week and sometimes twice a week.
The kitchen was so cold in the winter that Mama wouldn’t let us eat in there. She would cook it and serve it in the living room. We didn’t have an electric refrigerator, but we had a big wooden ice box. It had one big door and shelves on one side and two smaller doors on the other side. We had big blocks of ice that would go in the top of the side with two doors. It kept the milk and everything cold. I remember it even was cold enough to make jello.
The only thing good about that house was the tin roof and how good the rain sounded hitting it. The tin roof reminds me of a funny story. My Daddy and younger brother, Ronny, were putting a new tin roof on. My older brother, Buddy, was sleeping and it was about noon time. Buddy yelled, “Quit making that noise! I’m trying to sleep!”
Daddy came off the roof in a flash. He let out a string of curse words that would put any sailor to shame and told Buddy to get out of that bed and help them. I have to admit I took the cursing like a sailor after my Daddy. I can let loose with some pretty choice words. I’ve done better through the years, but I still sometimes let loose.
Ma’s Fudge Recipe
Ingredients
3 cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/8 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cup milk
¼ cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions
Line an 8 or 9-inch square pan with foil; butter the foil.
In a large heavy sauce pan, stir in the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Mix well. Gently stir in milk with large wooden spoon.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to full rolling boil.
Boil without stirring to 234° F on candy thermometer. The bulb of the candy thermometer should not rest on the bottom of the pan. (Should take about 20-30 minutes.)
Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla. Do not stir.
Cool at room temperature to 110° or lukewarm. Do not stir. (Takes approximately 2 hours or more.)
Beat fudge with a wooden spoon or until it thickens and loosens some of its gloss (15-20 minutes – it will look more like frosting instead of syrup when it is ready). Quickly spread onto prepared pan; cool.
Cut into squares using a warm knife that has been dipped in hot water and dried off.
Wrap loosely in foil and place in refrigerator.
Dee Dee’s Fudge Recipe
Ingredients
3 cups sugar
¾ cup margarine
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 12-oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 7-oz jar Kraft Marshmallow crème
1 cup chopped nuts
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
Combine sugar, margarine, and milk in heavy 2-1/2 quart saucepan; bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate until melted. Add marshmallow crème, nuts, and vanilla; beat until blended. Pour into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Let cool and cut into 1-inch squares.
Addition by Lori: My whole family loves Dee Dee’s fudge, especially Mandy. Christmas is made even more special by the fact that we know that Dee Dee will be making big batches of fudge for everyone. I had to laugh when Mandy informed me several years ago that if I wanted to make sure that she came for Christmas every year I would have to learn to make Dee Dee’s fudge!
Dee Dee Adds: I have made fudge for the whole family at Christmas for over 30 years now. Last Christmas (2011) was the first time ever that I was not able to make fudge (I was suffering from pneumonia). Next year I plan to make doubles -- I guess that's the optimist in me!
