I have very fond Christmas memories. It is my favorite time of the year. Christmas is actually the reason I enjoy Thanksgiving. Once Thanksgiving is here, it means Christmas can begin! For me Christmas is so much more than one day. It is the whole season.
I love Christmas lights. I love Christmas ornaments. I love Christmas music. I love decorating the tree. I love decorating the house. I love shopping for others and finding just the right gift (and I am NOT a shopper. My usual idea of shopping is getting online. Malls and stores are my idea of miserable!) I love the excitement of kids. I love the feel of magic in the air.
As much or more than any of this, I love making Christmas candy.The candies my mom has always made range from chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, peanut brittle, peanut clusters and toffee to cinnamon hard candy and cookies. She uses pounds of sugar and butter (I mean POUNDS! I am sure it is close to 50 lbs of sugar the month of December. And I am not sure how many pounds of butter, but probably close to 20 lbs or more.) She starts right after Thanksgiving. Every evening, weekend and even some mornings before work you can find her in the kitchen with Christmas music playing, making candy.
She makes all of this and puts an assortment on plates. She then delivers it all over Franklin. From her dentist office, to the many court officials she works with, to individual families. She does all of this with joy. She loves it. 
I have so many fond memories of sitting on the counter, watching the peanut brittle "spin a thread" and stirring fudge. There is also the Christmas that we were making cookies. Will and I were on the counter helping pour ingredients into the Kitchen Aid mixer. As the mixer was stirring the dry ingredients, Will decided to lift the top of the mixer. In an instant, the whole kitchen was covered with flour. The paddle continued to "stir" and send more and more flour around the kitchen. All the three of us could do was laugh. From the ceiling to the floor, there was flour EVERYWHERE! Even now thinking about it, it makes me laugh. It is memories like these, that encourage me (as if I needed any more encouragement to cook...) to get out the pot, wooden spoon, butter, sugar and turn the Christmas music on.
Growing up with Christmas starting this way, it is all I know. It is now what I do. Actually this year, I am behind. I have been so enthralled in the information I brought home about Papaw's life, that I have not started until now. I am just getting my first batch of fudge made. (Well, to be honest, I did start a couple of days before Thanksgiving and made a batch of peanut clusters, much to my mother's dismay. She was appalled that I started before Thanksgiving! I gladly accepted the title of "Rule Breaker" and went on with my plans.) But now I am WAY behind, so I plan to spend the day in the kitchen. So, I say, let the candy making begin!

Chocolate Fudge
3 sticks butter
5 cups sugar
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 1/2 sq semi sweet chocolate (I pkg=1 square)
1 1/2 sq unsweetened chocolate (1 pkg=1 square)
1 bag chocolate chips
1 large jar marshmallow cream
2 cups pecans (optional)
Put sugar, butter and evaporated milk in pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it reaches a boil. Once it reaches a boil, SET YOUR TIMER for 8 minutes. (Can you tell I have learned the hard way that if I don't set the timer I end up with 5 lbs of grainy fudge that no one wants to eat?!) As it boils for 8 minutes, stir frequently. It will begin to thicken and turn just a shade darker.


At the end of 8 minutes, turn the burner off (and remove from heat if cooking on an electric stove). Add chocolate squares, chocolate chips and marshmallow cream. Stir. I then let mine sit for several minutes and I stir occasionally until it is all incorporated. While it is all melting, I line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and spray it with Pam. (I, like my mom, make many, many batches. I don't have that many 9x13 pans. The foil allows me to, after it has cooled, remove it from the pan and wrap the whole thing tightly. I then store it in the refrigerator.
Now, if you are like me and have some at your house that don't like pecans, this is the point where you pour them some out into a smaller dish. Tommy gets his own without nuts. (The girls don't really like fudge, it's the peanut brittle and toffee they are after!)
Let cool. Store, wrapped tightly, in the refrigerator.
And if you enjoy chocolate (which I could do without...not really my favorite), make sure you lick the bowl and spoon. Warm, right out of the pot it is really good (and again, chocolate is not really my "thing"!)
Peanut butter fudge, peanut brittle and toffee recipes to come.
ENJOY!


****Note****My mom called after reading this and said she usually uses 90 lbs of sugar and 30 pounds of butter from after Thanksgiving until Christmas. That does not include the Land of Lakes Margarine used for Peanut Brittle (it takes 1 1/2 sticks per batch). Recipe for Peanut Brittle in upcoming post.