Annual Fudge Night (Pic Heavy)

Okay, so here is the long awaited Fudge Night post.Like I mentioned last night, There is a lot of stuff that goes in to four batches of fudge. You may remember, 2 pounds butter, 16 cups sugar, 8 bags chocolate chips, 4 cans of evaporated milk and some vanilla extract. Well, This is what that looks like (tins included).

My mom has been making this recipe for about 27 years now. We have found through the years that doing one stick of margarine and one stick of butter works pretty nicely, so that is what we use now.  Again, you can refer to this post for the full recipe.
It all starts with the sugar and milk in a big pot and the chips, butter and vanilla in a big bowl.

I like to break up the butter/margarine a bit so that it melts faster and things get all happy in the bowl quickly. The milk/sugar gets heated up on high until it starts to boil, then we turn it down closer to like 4-5 (just enough to keep a boil but not too much that it boils over). Boiling over is just a total sticky mess!

When the sugar is boiling and someone is stirring constantly for 8 minutes, we make sure we have our tins (or plastic containers) well greased with a cooking spray and ready to go when they are needed. Once the sugar is poured in to the chip mix bowl, things can move pretty quick, so being prepared is a good thing here. :)

My mom is always the one to pour the sugar mix into the bowl while I am at the ready, just waiting to start mixing like mad (without splashing hot sugar on anyone)

Mix, mix, mix until it is all happy and smooth (just make sure you don't take too long or it will start to set in the bowl) :)
Then we pour it all into the tins. Mom pours while I move the tins into place so she doesn't have to move the bowl too much.

When we have things set in their containers, we put them out on the back porch which acts as a second refrigerator in the winter.
Repeat all these steps for each batch. Yes, four batches can be fun and a bit of time. There is a reason we set aside a night to do this. You need a night to do that many batches.
Curious what it all looks like when things are done? Well, my sister and I love to make fudge so that we can lick the bowl when we are done. Here are my closing shots. First, the table of all of the fudge tins. Then Hubby took a picture of Sis and I licking the bowl and the spoon. Then of course he had to take a picture of the bowl when I was done with it.

Baby C loved mommy licking the bowl. She has made me all about the chocolate!






So, there you have it. Our Fudge Night in picture form. I know this may have taken some time to load because of all of the pictures, but I love to share. I hope you enjoyed.

Do you have a recipe you have to make every year? Make a night of things? I would love to hear all about it!

Until next time... Happy Christmas Preparations!