confused yet? you see, my wonderful uncle bill used to make "aunt bill's" candy every Christmas.....and by every Christmas, i mean E V E R Y Christmas...... it would always come cut into tiny sqares in a Christmas tin with waxed paper dividing the layers....some uncle bill's /aunt bill's enthusiasts used to say annually "it just wouldn't be Christmas without your special candy"...which made my sisters & me chuckle annually because, of course it would still be Christmas all over the world in every corner of the Earth without it, but it just goes to show how much a part of the whole celebration & time together uncle bill & that tin of candy was.............
it's really rather delicious- uncle bills' was a light colored version that was a little bit sugary & i loved it- which is saying something because i, as well as my entire 27 member immediate family, adore our famous see's candy company chocolate fudge, which we make only at Christmas.....actually, that is a lie, we make it almost as often as we re-watch *ELF* during the year, which is ridiculously regularly.....but somehow it tastes even better at Christmas....THAT, my friends, is a blog entry for another time & you DO NOT want to miss it- it is heavenly- God definitely poured out His favor upon all of humanity when the see's candy company invented that recipe & we have it.... have had it since 1972 & it's been changing lives one piece at a time (the recipe makes a whopping 6 1/2 pounds-lots of pieces).......can't wait to boil up some evaporated milk & sugar in the coming weeks...........stay tuned.
ok, back to uncle bill- sadly, he is gone now, but he was just a wonderful man...wonderful.....gifted on so many levels & a truly charming gentleman- a retired civil engineering professor who had a love of restoring old model -T fords.......one of which was featured in the sally field movie "places in the heart"....the man could tinker.....patience & care & a lot of little tools & parts soaking in solutions of heaven- knows -what & just a few years later a dingy old rusty frame miraculously turned into a shiny motorcar- just like the ones mr. toad drove way too fast in the wind in the willows, i think.....
uncle bill graciously shared his recipe with the world in 1984 in his houston neighborhood's cookbook, A Taste of Briarmeadow, which auntie gave me as a wedding shower gift 25 years ago & it's a treasured part of my rather extensive cookbook collection.
here's the deal -so if you want it to *really* be Christmas around your house this year give it a try....may make some myself for old time's sake.......gotta go dig up a little tin & some waxed paper.
uncle bill's aunt bill's candy (aka: caramel fudge)
1 large can evaporated milk
3 1/3 cups white sugar
3 T. white corn syrup
1/2 square semi-sweet chocloate
cook in a heavy pan for about 30 minutes....then add:
2 heaping spoons of butter (that's what the recipe says- i think i'll take it to mean large spoons:)
2 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
1 cup chopped nuts, optional
beat vigorously then pour into a buttered 9x13 pan- sets up fast.....(all the better to get it sampled, cut into tiny squares & shared in pretty little tins) miss you, uncle bill! thanks for the memory & the legacy of your candy!
-the snackmom (& snackniece)
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