Hello, hello--hello!

Well, we now officially have exactly one week until Christmas, and exactly two weeks until we enter into the notorious New Year of 2012.  Everyone, it seems, is going into the home stretch.  The trees are up, the decorations are out, and the menus are prepared, and the ingredients are gotten.  So are the gifts.  Now, I'm sure you all have been good Santa's little helpers and gotten everything for all your loved ones this year:  dolls, trains, stuffed animals, candles, colognes, and of course, the edible gifts:  cookies, cakes, and the official confection of the Yuletide season, chocolate.

Yes, chocolate is the most favorite candy to give, and to get, this time of the year.  It even beats out peppermint, which comes in at a very close second.  And it isn't very hard to see why.  So dark, so rich, so very decadent.  And that was before the milk and sugar and nuts and fruit (and, yes, peppermint) were added.  Ever since the Mayans had made cocoa a gift to the Spaniards, chocolate has become the gift to the entire world.  And we all know the names of the main distributors of this gift, many of whom have become household names over the past century:  Baker's, Giradelli, Nestle, Hershey, Mars, See's, Godiva.  But the most special you can get is the one someone made for you in their own home.

Take this recipe for homemade fudge.  All it is basically is cocoa, condensed milk, sugar, and butter stirred together in a heated dutch kettle, poured into a greased square cake pan and allowed to set before cutting into bite sized squares.  Now this is the chocolate your grandmother used to make to give as Christmas gifts back in the day.  A true testament that the greatest gifts are the ones you make yourself.

Well, that's all the time we have for this week.  Until next time, be well, stay well, and remember to help the disaster survivors!

Sincerely,



Marley Sue