Back To Fudge Making :)

My neice, on hearing that I had made fudge for my household, talked me into making a batch for her family also.  Who can resist a 9 year old?  So last night I made another batch of fudge, and today I've packed it, written out a nice old fashioned note card (does anyone else still send notecards anymore?), and followed the time honored tradition of copying the recipe onto recipe cards to send off with the goodies, along with a couple of hints on how to make it if it goes wrong lol.  I've shared the recipe at the bottom of this post also :)

I remember when it was tradition for the "Welcome Wagon" to arrive when a new family moved into the neighborhood.  The neighborhood committee would put together a basket with home baked goods, a sign of welcome to the newcomers.  When someone was ill or when someone passed on, the mourning household would receive gifts of food from neighbors, friends and more distant relatives.  Exchanging foods, the stuff of life, was recognized as a caring gesture, the unsaid expression of the sentiment "We're glad you're a part of our lives," and the generous sharing of one family's bounty with another.  Recipe cards were also often shared.  This passing on of not only foods but also the knowledge of how to make them was a treasured tradition, given and received as special gifts from one person to another. 

I'm glad to be able to recall and share in this old tradition today with my neice :)  Here's the recipe.  :)

Old Fashioned Fudge
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Grease 8" square baking pan.  Set aside.
2. Combine sugar, cocoa, and milk in a medium saucepan.  Stir to blend, then bring to a boil over med. high heat, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat and simmer.  Do not stir.
3. Place candy thermometer in pan and cook until temp. reaches 238 degrees F (or soft ball stage).
4. Remove from heat.  Add butter and vanilla.  Beat with a spoon until fudge starts to lose it's sheen.
5. Pour into prepared pan and let cool.  Cut into squares.

*If fudge hardens before it's poured, it can be reheated until liquid over med. heat.  Without adding more ingredients, repeat steps 4 and 5.