“Grandma’s Fudge Recipe”
For most of my life, I have screwed up making the Christmas fudge. Either it was grainy, or it was syrupy and wouldn’t set.
It’s no wonder, really, because I am an inconsistent and easily distracted cook (stirring for six minutes? Seriously?!) Not to mention that many if not most of my mother’s recipe cards weren’t the REAL recipe. She always kept at least one thing to herself, like the extra package of yeast in the Parker House Rolls. Or left a major ingredient open to interpretation… on her original recipe card for this fudge, it says “1 large can Carnation milk”, which could be simply evaporated, or it could be sweetened condensed, or it could be skim, and who knows how many ounces equaled “large” in 1950 when she copied this recipe initially.
My niece must have had Grandma’s Cookbook out recently, which includes the photocopied version of most of her original recipe cards, because she posted that “who knew what a difference evaporated vs. condensed could make?” Sorry, kiddo, I should have written a warning on Page 1!
Over the years I’ve figured these things out, by trial and error, and by harrassing Mom for the true facts. And more’s the miracle, my fudge turned out creamy, rich, and delectable this year – WOOHOO! Above is the REAL recipe – good luck, and be sure to let that boil roll for a full SIX minutes!
Thanks, Joan! I hope you’re enjoying your new year and getting in lots of sketching and painting! I need to catch up with your blog also – on my list for tomorrow!
Just catching up with your recent posts. Love the sketch of the ingredients and recipe for the fudge. My mom was pretty good at writing down her recipes with all the ingredients, and since I helped her cook so many times it was hard not to learn them correctly. Your sketch of Pacific Beach made me smile. It is such a fun, non-touristy beach town from what I remember. Hope your holidays are merry!!!