I remember watching my mom make fudge at Christmas time.
In fact, one of my memories of fudge making day is a funny one. We were in our old house on Laguna Vista Drive and we as we were making fudge, we used up the last teaspoon of vanilla. My mom asked me to run across the street to the Dodge's to borrow some vanilla.
I brought their container of vanilla home and my mom used what she needed and then told me to take the vanilla back. I remember turning back to the table and while she was facing the other way, I filled our vanilla bottle with the Dodge's vanilla and then returned an empty one back to them. It's such a laugh now because I can just imagine one of my neighbors doing that... and what I would think when they returned an empty bottle. :)
My mom eventually noticed that we weren't out of vanilla anymore and we replaced the Dodge's container, but I do still remember how stressed I was, trying to fill our bottle and spilling some on the table. So funny.
Anyway, on to the point of the post. Jake is always after me to make fudge. I always say no. For one thing, it's just sort of a December thing to do. He has been wanting to learn how to do things in the kitchen though, so when he asked this time, I decided to pass on the knowledge.
As I said before, I remember watching my mom make fudge and having her walk through the process with me. She learned how to make it from her mom.
When I was on my own, and decided to make fudge, I had to call my mom several times for clarification or advice. I remember reading Grandma's recipe and learning the hard way that when she said to add 3 bags of chocolate chips, it was olden day sized bags. They used to come in 6 ounce bags, now they're 12.
So, I taught Jake all the things. I taught him how to read how many ounces are in a bag of chocolate chips, and then I helped him pick up the 5 ounces of chocolate chips that had spilled on the floor when he got over zealous about opening the bag. (I've used scissors on chocolate chip bags for years now. He'll know better next time).
I taught him about using a thick bottomed pan. I taught him about having everything ready before you start. Grease your pan and have the dry ingredients out before you start boiling the milk and sugar.
Then, we had this conversation...
Me: Do you know why it boils?
Jake: Yeah, because the liquid turns to gas and the space that it leaves...blah, blah, science stuff, blah, blah...
Me: (laughing) No, I meant that the longer you boil this, the harder it is when it sets up.
Jake: That makes sense because blah, blah, science stuff, more blah, blah science stuff.
Me:...um...I guess... nerd...yeah. I just boil it for 6 minutes because my grandma told me to.
Jake: (laughing) It's not nerdy! It's like 4th grade science knowledge. It's not that complicated.
He's such a nerd. A cute nerd though!
Anyway, we had a great time making fudge. He spent a lot of that time trying to stir the pot and avoid pictures. I finally told him that I was posting pictures whether he liked it or not, so he better smile for one so he could be in control of what he looked like.
My new kitchen has been a bit tricky to take pictures in. The light reflects off the white and makes the camera think I don't need a flash, when I clearly do. So, I don't have the best pictures here, but it is what it is.
It's fun to hang out with Jacob. He is funny and pleasant. He's always happy to try new things and up for most adventures.
Now he knows how to make fudge. The fudge skills only add to his abilities in the kitchen. He makes eggs, Orange Julius, and toast. He's going to make some lucky girl a lovely husband some day. :)
