Everyone has their favorite name to call their grandma and grandpa. For my sister and I, we call{ed} our grandparents, Nini and Grumpy. My sister is older so I always blame her for the weird names she came up with! LOL
My sister and I were Nini and Grumpy’s only grandkids for 10 years, so we were a little spoiled. Some of the things I remember growing up is that they liked to take us on weekend trips and surprise us with gifts at random times. I remember coming home from school one day and they had bought me and Julie brand new bedroom furniture! I was so excited. Emily is actually using that same furniture in her room today.
My Grumpy passed away when I was 14 years old and it was really hard on us all. Even though he had been sick for the previous 9 years and we knew it was coming, it was still hard to lose him. My Nini is such a strong woman and after my Grumpy’s death she didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her. She just kept living her life the best she knew how. Sure she was sad and it was a big adjustment, but she never let us see her stop loving life.
There is so much I could say about my Nini! I am so thankful for the relationship we have together. She is always there for all of her kids and grandkids and we know without a shadow of a doubt that she loves us unconditionally. She is a go-getter and is always busy. {She just retired last year at the age of 73!} She is a neat freak and believes everything has a certain place it belongs. I am so much like her when it comes to both of these traits! Chris jokingly says that me and Nini will go right behind someone and dump their glass of tea or soda before they’ve even drank it all because we can’t stand to see a cup sitting on a table!
Another thing about my Nini is that she makes the best fudge around! I am determined to make it as good as her, so I spent all day today at her house learning her secrets on how to make her famous fantasy fudge.
I am blogging about it so I can always refer back to this post. Again, this blog is more for my personal use and memories I can look back on for years and years to come. I am delighted at the number of people that tell me they enjoy reading my blog. I definitely don’t feel like an adequate writer and am no one special, but I do love my family! Blogging has become my escape and “me” time, so I am glad you enjoy reading it as well!
Making fudge was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I have watched Nini make it a few times before, but never paid close attention. Today, I did everything by MYSELF with only a little guidance from Nini.
Here is the recipe:
Nini’s advice was to make sure you have a heavy enough pan to boil all of the ingredients in. She said this will make a difference between your good fudge and bad fudge.
Also, stirring CONSTANTLY is the trick! My hand got a little tired, but it wasn’t bad at all. Once the fudge comes to a boil and you turn the heat down, the recipe says to stir it for another 4-4.5 minutes. BUT really it’s best to set your timer for 3 minutes and 45 seconds, and then take it off the heat. Nini also showed me how to look for it becoming a little thicker so you know it’s time to take it off the heat.
We made 3 batches of fudge today. One milk chocolate, one semi-sweet chocolate with nuts, and then a white chocolate batch with 1/2 nuts and the other 1/2 plain. I can’t wait for it to cool and try some of it! It only took us a few hours to make the fudge. I feel like I got the hang of it and will be able to make it on my own now. There won’t be a single time that I make it without thinking of my sweet Nini! I am so thankful I shared this day with her and will hopefully pass down how to make fudge to my girls as well when they are older.
While we made the fudge, the kids decorated sugar cookies. Zach was with my sister at PB today, so it was just the girls and Tyler. Elizabeth had a cheer sleepover last night and they didn’t sleep any, so she was exhausted. I wasn’t even able to get a picture of her with the finished cookies she decorated before she went to the couch and passed out. After we made fudge, Nini made us hamburgers and fries for lunch. After Nini’s house we went and visited with my dad for a while and helped him with his remote and made sure he took his medicine correctly! He’s been having a few bad days in a row, so it was nice to sit with him and visit for a while. All in all it was a great day in Doniphan! I can’t wait to be over there again on Saturday with the whole gang for Christmas Eve!
