Merry Christmas!

We had a beautiful Florida Christmas with temps in the 80's. Snow is pretty to look at but we like it warm. We spent the day eating chocolates we had given each other and trying to paint our front door red. I had no idea how many coats it would take to cover a white door. Getting ready to put another coat on now. Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Makin Fudge

I'm not sure where or when I had fudge for the first time but it is one of my all time favorites. I like it so much I only make it around Christmas. One year, when I had a little thrift shop, I thought I would make some fudge to sell but ending up eating it all and gaining 4 lbs!

In my 20's I searched for the perfect fudge recipe and found this one. I tweaked it a little by changing vanilla extract to almond extract. I consider this my secret ingredient.

My nieces and nephews don't just ask for fudge at Christmas time, they expect it. One of my nieces family thinks the almond flavor makes it taste like cherries. I have been known to add a dusting chopped pecans or even red and green sprinkles on top. But mostly I am a fudge purist. I made a batch this morning to take to a party this afternoon. Since there is only two of us in the house the job of cleaning the saucepan was left to me. And a tough job it was(since I didn't meticulously scrape into the square pan).

So here is the recipe, if any one is interested:

Nancy’s Fudge

2 ¼ cups sugar

¼ cup butter (1/2 stick)

¾ cup evaporated milk

5 oz marshmallows (about 1 ¼ cup mini)

6 oz chocolate chips (1/2 bag)

1 tsp almond extract

In large saucepan mix sugar, butter, evaporated milk, and marshmallows. Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Boil for 5 timed minutes, stirring constantly. You can reduce the heat a little but it must continue to boil. Be careful because sometimes the bubbles pop and send hot drops out. After 5 minutes are up remove from heat. Add chocolate and extract. Stir until blended. Pour into a greased square pan. Chill til set and then cut into squares.

Decorating

Since this is the first Christmas in our new home it took longer to decorate than usual. There were a couple of trips to Targé and Wally World to get more lights. Several weeks ago we picked up a 6 ft prelit tree at a yard sale. Since only the middle lights worked when we got around to plugging it in more lights were needed. New lights for the outside of the house and a really cute lighted dog in a Santa hat finished things off. There are little snowmen and teddy bears in sleighs through out the house.
I also completed a pretty pink bear, Dodi. I love brown and pink together. Poor Victoria has been sitting on the shelf for over a year. She was wearing a vintage piece of lace as a shawl so I decided she needed a dress. Now the vintage lace is a collar. Don't know if I will finish any more before Christmas. Need to do some baking and fudge makin!