Oh Fudge!!

I am a lover of fudge. Of any kind really. When I went back to Banff the first thing I wanted to do was go to the fudge store. They have at least 25 different kinds of fudge. I remember my Grandpa making it when I was a kid. I think it was the only time he actually did anything in the kitchen. That and maybe open some cans of tuna for the cats. I prefer fudge when it's smooth, not granular. The smoothness gives it an extra little oomph.
All this to say, I suck at making fudge. The few times I have tried, it's been a disaster. Shouldn't I have some sort of fudge making gene from my Grandpa, or is it recessive? The last time, it was just plain nasty. I don't know what I did wrong but it wasn't quite solid, not quite liquid either. Flubber! That's exactly what it was. Tasty flubber fudge that was good for spreading on toast.
My friend gave me an easy fudge recipe. It's good, but it's got the granular thing going for it. That and I don't think fudge is supposed to have icing sugar in it.

My husband, the geek, after trying the Flubber Fudge sent me this, the science of fudge:



I chuckled at first but then when I actually watched the video it was quite helpful. I know where I went wrong last time. So, I made fudge tonight. I think I may have succeeded too! I've been typing this as I let it cool, then went back to it to stir it up. The recipe says to beat the mixture for a few minutes and that it will go from glossy to opaque and thicken up. At first I'm whipping it into a frenzy and nothing is happening. Oh crap! Was I supposed to use an electric mixer? I debate taking out the mixer and risking waking Alex up, but I check the recipe again. Hmm nothing about mixer speed. It must be by hand. I go back to the bowl and start mixing again. You guys, it was magical. I could see it starting to crystalize and become opaque. Suddenly it was the consistency of peanut butter cookie batter. Did I really get the fudge to work?

I'll post the results later, when it cools. For now here's the recipe for Incredible Brown Sugar Fudge.

Colours! A felt book for Alex.

I haven't been posting as much because I've been busily working every evening on this felt book I've made for Alex. I started it, hmm let me think, the beginning of October? Maybe September? I can't believe this book is finally done! I had seen the felt book at my friend Crafty Mel's house. She made the felt book for her son, and it was beautiful. I wanted to make one too! She lent me the pattern (sorry copyright!) and slowly I collected what I needed for the book. I started making a few pages from the pattern, but then deviated from it. About a third of the book is from the pattern, the rest I did on my own, making images that Alex would recognize. I tried to make it interactive, giving Alex stuff to do on most pages.

It took about 30-40 hours to make but it was a lot of fun. I did some hand sewing, machine sewing, embroidery, a quilted square and even a tiny bit of needle felting.

Alex loves fire trucks so this was a no brainer. The ladder is a working zipper.

Orange. This one was from the pattern. The goldsfish come out of the tank.

Banana! You can peel the banana. Meh, not my favourite page.

Another one partially from the pattern. The little bird comes out of the nest.

Whale! When I started this Alex didn't know whales, but now he says Whale. The airplane is a button.

This was supposed to be grapes. I'm happy with the butterflies. There's a second butterfly that comes out from the cocoon.

Watermelon. It's pink. There's an ant. Doesn't do anything.

Who is that squirrel sharing an apple with?

A friend!

 I needle felted the white around the eyes during an unusually long nap.

This page makes me very happy! I love the squirrels!

What do you think?

Eco Museum!

We went to a local zoo that houses animals native to this area. It was sunny and warm out (ha ha warm for mid-November). A good time was had by all. It was so nice getting out, our little family day trip. It's been too long.

Back by Popular* Demand

*Popular- Meaning two friends said "you should blog again"

Ok, so here's the thing. I went off the grid (offline? Absent? not sure what the proper blogger lingo would be) for a while. I missed it but at the same time I had nothing to say. Nothing good to say anyway. Yep, I was in that deep dark hole of depression again. Maybe I can write about it some day, but not right now. I can say that I'm in a much better place right now.
Husband has found a job he likes (he and his coworkers are having a robot building competition for fun). Alex has his own room (which he loves), he's sleeping much better and he eats more than just yogurt now. I'm still a stay at home mom but went back to work one day a week, good for me, great for Alex to get a guaranteed full day of daddy time. I weaned Alex from the boob, so, hello? Wine. Nice to see you again!

I'm getting out more! By myself! At night! One stormy night as I left the house my husband asked "so you're going out in a storm to go downtown to meet a bunch of strangers in a hotel that you met on the internet?". "Yep, don't wait up!" I answered as I left to meet up with a lovely bunch from the Dooce Community (AKA Doocebags). I came out of my shell for a bit and I liked it. Last night I stay out until 1 AM at a baby shower for a lovely friend. I chatted, I drank (a bit), I bought an awesome cake (story for another post) to go with the equally awesome food everyone brought, and I smiled. A lot.

It's a good thing.

Alex, my little Baby Gap model. Mama needs to be more like you.

A good day

I've had way too many rotten days lately. Lots of marital muck, sick baby (just a cold, but still hellish), the depression was back big time. I didn't post anything, because I couldn't put it all down. It upset me too much to see it in print. I went out with a friend last week and we had a great day. I knew her from work, but we never really chatted before (she worked at the other store across the street). We had a great breakfast, went for a stroll and hung out in the shade with the babies. I need more of that please.

Alex with his little friend Elliott, 4 months old.

Happy baby, happy mom.