Posted in family, food, holidays, photographs, tagged candy, christmas, collage, cooking, family, fudge, handwriting, penmanship, photograph, photography, recipes, traditions on December 3, 2007|

Long ago, before collecting recipes from the Internet became de rigueur, we homemakers often traded handwritten recipes. My cousin made the most delicious fudge and I was intrigued and asked for the recipe. I had stopped making fudge because I could only manage success about once in five tries. My usual result was a soupy concoction that could only be eaten with a spoon. Cousin Vi’s recipe changed all of that. It is simple – no boiling, and I make it in the microwave oven, which we didn’t have in those long ago days of yore.
Cousin Vi is now 78 years old and her handwriting is still as beautiful. That is because she has the genes of an artist coursing through her veins, as her father was my Uncle Ben, of whom I have written much. I made the fudge seen above, molding it into large cookie cutters of Christmas shapes. I used Google’s free Picasa2 software to made the collage of photographs.
The Recipe As Written by Violet –
INGREDIENTS:
- 18 ounces semisweet baking chocolate (such as 3 bags of chocolate chips)
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (I toast them in the oven first.)
PREPARATION:
In a heavy saucepan over low heat melt the chips into the milk, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat. Add the vanilla, salt and nuts, and stir until smooth. Spread evenly into a waxed paper lined 8 or 9 inch pan. Chill for 2 hours, or until firm. Turn fudge onto a cutting surface, peel away the waxed paper and cut into even squares. Store loosely covered at room temperature.
*MICROWAVE METHOD: Heat chips and milk on high for 3 minutes, depending on the wattage of your oven. Stir until smooth, then follow the traditional recipe.
Visit Neddy’s Archives for more of Edna’s writings.
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