Nov 27 2009
A Plate of Fudge
My Mom told me she was thinking of calling me at midnight before Thanksgiving since she suspected that I was up “clanking around the kitchen.” She didn’t call in case, for once, I had gotten my preparations done ahead of schedule. I had such good intentions as always, yet there I was at midnight, pouring fudge onto two buttered plates.
When Dale was growing up, the favorite holiday dessert was peanut butter fudge. Cakes, pies, cookies, and fruit salad were ok, but the holiday wasn’t complete without peanut butter fudge. He asked me to make it when we first married and I vividly recall attempting to make a batch in Germany that turned out like cement and was completely inedible.
I tried again and again without success until one day in Colorado when Dale’s Mama came to visit. I made her show me. Now Dale’s Mama did not measure anything. She would pour the approximate amount in and I would take it out and measure it. She then cooked it to “just so” and I had to figure out what “just so” meant.
After the fudge was cooked she would pour it onto two buttered plates. She did this for two reasons: 1. Her 9×13 pans were either being used for something else, or were lost or damaged. 2. One plate was saved for Dale’s Daddy so the kids wouldn’t eat it all before he got home from work.
When making the fudge, I had usually poured it into a buttered 9 x 13 glass pan, but the night before Thanksgiving, I felt the call to tradition and poured it instead onto two buttered plates.
The two buttered plates worked out quite well this time. I brought one plate of fudge to our friends house for Thanksgiving dinner and Dale and the kids were thrilled to have another plate at home waiting for them.
Peanut Butter Fudge:
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
1 t vanilla
1 T butter
1 28oz jar smooth peanut butter
(I recall Dale’s Mama telling me her brand preference for use in fudge was Peter Pan, then Skippy, then Jiff. However, Tami claims Skippy was most preferred. This is an unresolved family dispute.)
Pour sugar and evaporated milk into thick bottomed pan. Stir to combine. Bring to boil on top of stove. Lower to simmer. Stir often. Color of mixture will turn caramel. Cook to soft ball stage. (When mixture is dropped off a spoon into very cold water, it forms a soft ball) Remove from heat. Add vanilla and butter. Stir. Add almost entire jar of peanut butter. (The amount of peanut butter left in the jar is the cooks preference. Dale’s sister Tami uses approximately 2/3’s of the jar. I use approximately 3/4’s of the jar.) Stir until fudge starts to stiffen or arm grows tired. Pour into buttered 9×13 pan or onto 2 buttered plates. Place in fridge until set and store in fridge. It is a soft, not hard fudge.
