What’s Your Favorite Christmas FOOD Memory?

One of my favorite websites just ran a “Christmas Food Memory” contest and –Woohoo! — I received an honorable mention for my entry. It’s about dark chocolate, of course.  I thought I’d share with you & ask about YOUR favorite holiday food memory.

Here’s my story:

It was the fudge. Oh, god, how I waited for Christmas each year, because my mom only made her two specialties then: cinnamon shortbread cookies and her famous fudge. My mom’s fudge was deeply, darkly chocolatey, and she tossed in a tiny bit of crushed candy canes for a teensy bit of peppermint. Once the fudge was set, she cut it into little one-inch squares, so one pan yielded hundreds!

Here’s how I ate that fudge (and I still eat it this way today): open mouth, insert one piece. Close mouth. Do not chew… just let it dissolve. Ooh, feel the buttery, chocolatey, slightly granularness of it on your tongue. Mash it up against the roof of your mouth with your tongue. Feel the chocolate juices running out of it. Patience…. do not chew. Feel the silky softness, and then the tiny shards of peppermint that touch the tongue as the fudge dissolves. Close your eyes and swim around in the darkness of it. Mmmm. Patience… wait for it…. and when there is nothing left but the peppermint with just a little pool of fudginess… it’s OK to chew up the rest.

You know, once I grew up and started cooking for myself, I learned that the Dark Chocolate Peppermint Fudge was the simplest thing in the world to make. Still, it’s never tasted as good as when I was a kid and it was a mystery. Merry Christmas!

If your mouth is watering, you can get the recipe here — including specific instructions on the proper method and accompaniments for eating great dark chocolate fudge!

And now, the question:  What’s YOUR favorite Christmas/Holiday food memory?  Please share in the comments

P.S.  If you’d like to see the rest of the winning Food Memories, visit Shelley’s blog.

Shelley at One Roast Vegetable is a Canadian entrepreneur I began following several years ago when she ran her kitchen out of Montreal, Quebec.  Then a couple years ago she and her hubby followed their dreams and moved to Paris, one of the world’s food capitals.  From her tiny French kitchen she video blogs and runs a membership site, along with a charitable wing that regularly bakes Banana Bread for the homeless!

Bon Appetit, and enjoy the happy fudgieness!

Jim’s Dark Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

By popular demand:

Jim’s Dark Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

Making the Fudge

Put 4-5 candy canes into a plastic bag.  Bang with a hammer till in small pieces.  Set aside.

In non-stick saucepan, mix the following over low/med heat:

• 1 lb bag confectioner’s sugar
• ½ cup powdered cocoa – Hershey’s Special Dark is wonderful.  If you can’t get Hershey’s try to use dark chocolate, dutch process cocoa
• 6 Tablespoons butter (3./4 of a stick — margarine also works)
• 4 Tbl milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt

Heat over low/medium heat, stirring constantly until JUST starts to boil.  Mixture will be dark and silky.

Remove from heat.  Fold crushed candy canes into mixture, and immediately pour into a buttered 9×9 inch pan.  Let cool, then refrigerate a couple hours.  Once set, can remove from fridge.

Storing the Fudge

Remove and cut into 1 X 1” squares. It’s very rich.  Keep in sealed container.  Hide it from strangers. Maybe even hide it from yourself, as you’ll find yourself eating a piece every time you walk thru the kitchen…..

Eating the Fudge

Oh, sure, you can just pop a square of fudge in your mouth, chew and swallow.  But where’s the joy in that?!  Here are my favorite ways to enjoy it:

1. Take a single square of the fudge, and bite it in half.  Let the fudge lay on your tongue.  As it melts, press it up against the roof of your mouth and let your tongue bathe in the sugary-grainy smooth chocolatey-ness of it.  Close your eyes and breathe in the wonderful, chocolately sensuality of the fudge.  Be one with the fudge. Ommmmm.
2. Sit down with a steaming cup of hot coffee, freshly brewed (I make mine strong, with a french press).  Sip of coffee, pop fudge into warm mouth.  As the fudge melts, sip gently on the coffee and let the coffee/chocolate combo swirl smoothly down your throat.  Do not try to speak — it will ruin the moment.
3. Try it with a short mug of Trader Joe’s Dark Sipping Chocolate.  Follow same process as with coffee, but be warned — this option is not for the weak! You must have a strong tolerance for dark chocolate-ness.
   WARNING: Have a glass of ice water nearby, in case someone needs to toss on you to bring you out of your ecstasy.

Enjoy the guilty pleasure!