I'm pretty sure that--somewhere, somehow--my Nana is laughing at me

In true holiday form for me, I decided to make something last-minute in the kitchen.

My grandfather has been feeling particularly lonely and blue lately, so I thought a batch of his special fudge Nana used to make him would be in order. I remember as a kid being fascinated by the fact that Papa had his own special fudge that would sit in a covered candy dish on the side table next to his rocking chair. I always thought it was disgusting--dark, dense, and on the bitter side. Why would anyone eat that when they could have some the other fudge, the "Fantasy Fudge", that was basically brown-flavored marshmallow fluff. That's really what it's called--"Fantasy Fudge"--I didn't just make that up.

Now, as an adult, I really appreciate his kind. Sure, it's still sugary, but I like dark chocolate better than milk chocolate. So when I was down visiting last week, I pulled out Nana's old recipe box and copied down the recipe for "Jackson's Fudge", as she had written on the card.

Side note: Anyone who has ever looked at old recipes from family members can tell you that often these recipes aren't complete or even precise. You are as likely to find "a handful of flour" on the ingredient list as you are to find an ingredient list without cooking/baking instructions following it. The latter was true of this recipe, but a quick search on the internet solved the dilemma. Thanks, Al Gore!

So I set to making the fudge last night. I had even bought a candy thermometer so I would know when the temperature reached "soft ball stage." But dang it, it never got hot enough, it just kept boiling and boiling...and boiling, until the moisture had nearly evaporated. A quick test using the "old-fashioned" method of putting a drop of the fudge in a dish of cold water told me that it had indeed reached soft ball stage. But probably 10 minutes earlier. It was most likely closer to hard crack stage when I tested it (and not that kind, either. At least I could have sold some of that to make a bit of cash.) So I immediately pulled it off the heat and added the butter and vanilla, during which the fudge started to set up and I had to scrape hard, dried up chocolate stuff out of the pan and spatula. It definitely still tastes fine, but it's dry and crumbly.

Papa's not getting any fudge this year.