Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Peanut Butter Fudge

It's been a long time since I have posted another one of Gram's recipes. And it seems only fitting that Christmas is upon us and this next recipe was one of Gram's signature Christmas recipes. She made this fudge every year. My husband loved Gram's fudge, especially this peanut butter one.

I have a very sweet memory about this recipe. I tried making this to surprise my husband a few years back. It was a disaster. My fudge ended up the consistency of a thick soup. It tasted good, but looked awful. I called Gram all upset because it didn't turn out. She said "well you'll have to try it again" So I got out all the ingredients again and she walked me through it on the phone. She was confident I would get it right. I scribbled down the instructions on some piece of paper that has since been lost. But today when making it I remembered her little 'tricks' to getting it right.

That's one of the things I love about having memories. They can't be taken from you. It's so important to share life stories with those we love, write them down, preserve them for generations to come. Here it is recipes with stories, but yours might be trips that were taken, birthday that were celebrated, hardships you went through, or the story of God's faithfulness in your life.

I have so many amazing memories of Gram. This is our first Christmas without her. Her passing is ever more on my mind these past weeks. I found a sweet Christmas card she sent to my Hannah. It read "Merry 1st Christmas Little One...Bless you my little Hannah love Memere" That was just this time last year. It was this time last year she sent a beautiful Maine wreath to hang on my door because she knew how homesick I was. It was just last year she told me how proud she was of me for moving to Washington with my family. It was last year this picture was taken of her opening the gift card to CVS I sent her for Christmas.


As a child I loved waking up Christmas morning and opening gift after gift. I loved the sound of wrapping paper ripping. It was awesome. But my favorite thing about Christmas was after all the gifts were open and put away. My Gram would come over with my Aunt and Uncle for "Christmas part 2" Gram was always thoughtful and practical with her gifts. First up socks, new clean socks. Sounds crazy but I looked forward to getting those socks every year. The next part of her gift was more personal. It could be a favorite colored sweater or a snowman. One year she bought the boys soft fleece blankets. They loved them. We still use them today. Those blanket made me think of my Pa and now they make me think of both him and my Gram.

The Recipe

2 5 oz cans evaporated milk
2 cups sugar
1 stick of butter
16 0z (one big container) Fluff
2 tsp vanilla

Ok so here's the trick...melt all these together on medium heat. Keep stirring. Bring to a boil...a full boil, make sure it's not just air bubbles. Stir and stir and stir for at least 10 min. TEST take out a little bit of mixture on a spoon and let cool. If you can roll it into a firm ball then it's done.
Remove from heat
1/2 cup peanut butter
fold into mixture
pour into greased 9x11 pan

I divided into two pans but these creates a thinner fudge and Gram's was thick!
You could add nuts if you wanted too. Gram did sometimes.



It came out pretty good....if it was thicker it would look just like Gram's. It tastes just like it though =)

1 comment:

  1. Hi Bethany,
    I just found your awesome blog featuring Gram's recipe stash along with the delightful memories. What an amazing tribute to a wonderful woman. You ROCK girl!
    Later,
    Dale

    ReplyDelete