Boil, Bubble, Toil & Trouble

Today for #NationalFudgeDay we made two variations of fudge, a simple microwave peanut butter deal with only 3 ingredients, and then an old-fashioned chocolate variety, cooked on the stove that required a candy thermometer and way too much of my time. I figured, why not? I have a candy thermometer in the closet that I have had for 10-15 years that I haven't ever used. #NeverHaveIEver has become a theme with doing these National Days, somewhat. We've used them for learning and trying new things, it's led us into a few somewhat ridiculous undertakings such as smoking a brisket back on Otis' birthday, which we had never done, but #NationalBrisketDay fell on that day so why not? Life should be playful. That one didn't really turn out so well, though, but we learned a lot and most importantly we tried something new. We tried something new today in making fudge as well as using a tool that I had all the intentions of using in the past but didn't. Ironically, I intended it for candle making, all those years ago, but broke it in today with candy making. Luckily, the same tool can often be used for different jobs. We spent most of the time waiting, it seemed. There is so much waiting in fudge making, both varieties; even the easy kind needed to set up in the fridge 2 hours.

The fancy kind had several stages of waiting, though: wait for it to boil, then let it simmer and wait for it to heat up, then let it sit and wait for it to cool down; don't stir me now or I'll crystallize, waaaaaaa, now stir me or I won't set up right! Fudge is sure finicky. We mixed it up and Celie did the constant stirring part, but soon after we came to a boil, she bailed on me. She came back for the next stage, but I got stuck with the waiting while she went off to more interesting things. She came back around before it was all said and done, though. It was a process, but in the end, I'll be damned, we made fudge. Maybe Tom Petty was talking about fudge making when he said the waiting is the hardest part? #CelebrateEveryDay