Those Special Treats…

What is about Christmas that makes us want to consume sweet treats, we would not normally eat? Is it because taking the time making the special foods is just as much a gift, as being able to unwrap one?

At Christmas, my mother would buy Pickled Watermelon Rind. I asked her once why she only bought it at Christmas, she said because it was too expensive, thus making it a special treat.  So why don’t we buy it for the Fourth of July, Memorial Day or Mother’s Day? I think we do this, because it helps build the jolliness of the season and the spirit of Christmas.

My grandmother would make candied citrus peels; my Mother-in-Law, Paddy makes fudge and the fruitcake cookies I gave you earlier. My mother would make Mexican Wedding cookies among other treats.

I have on the carried tradition of cookies and sweets. Every year the kids and I sit down and make out a list. Most of the time there are more on list than we can make. The favorites though, are always at the top; we make those first. Those include Snickerdoodles for my daughter, the candied citrus peels for my son and white chocolate macadamia cookies for my husband.

My family likes fudge, I have never made it even though Paddy gave me the recipe 17 years ago. I decided to try making it yesterday. I followed the directions and still was apprehensive about how it would turn out. Four hours after pouring the candy into the pan, it looked like under cooked brownies…

My first thought was "3 cups of sugar down the drain," until my husband said we should mix it into in ice cream, ooohhhh yummy! That thought rolled around in my head all through dinner.

After a quick run to the store for vanilla ice cream, we got ready to scoop out the fudge only to find it finally harden. We still had ice cream, but the thrill of having gooey chocolate with it was gone. Oh, don’t fear, I broke up pieces of the fudge in the ice cream. It was not gooey but still spectacular!

So just a note to all of you if you have not made fudge before, it might take four to six hours for it “set up.”

I think the next time I make this I am going to experiment a bit, by adding peanut butter or marshmallows. I thought it might be fun to make both chocolate and peanut butter fudge, and then layer them. I can’t stand peanut butter, so I will have to have taste testers… does anyone want to volunteer?

Paddy’s Fudge

Ingredients:

3 cups of white sugar

¾ cup Hershey’s coco powder

1 ½ cups of milk (I used 1%)

½ cup of light Karo Syrup

1 stick of butter, halved

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of pecans, chopped (or nuts of your choice)

Directions:

In a large saucepan mix sugar, milk, Karo, ½ cup of butter and coco powder. Do not get worried if the coco powder just sits on top of the liquids, it will eventually mix in.

Bring mixture to a rapid boil until you form a soft ball in cold water ***I would suggest using a candy thermometer; it will make it easier to determine if the candy is done***

Remove from heat and add the additional butter, vanilla and nuts.

Beat until nearly cool, pour into a buttered platter. Cut when cool into desired size.

I used a glass Pyrex 9”X13” pan, and then cut into one-inch square pieces.