A Tradition Lives On...

During the second World War, the Sprinkle family (I was 8-10) lived in Welch Cove, N.C. where my father helped build the Fontana Dam. Workers from all over America had come to build this dam for the war effort. As often happens when women get together they exchange recipes. Our next door neighbors (the Burn's family) were from Mississippi. and the mother, Ida Mattie, shared their family receipe for Buttermilk Fudge. For the past 65 years, this recipe has been a favorite at Christmas time.
Of all the sharing of this candy through the years, I have never found anyone who had ever heard of or tasted it yet enthusiastly loved it.
BUTTERMILK FUDGE
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon soda - dissolved in buttermilk
2 tablespoons white karo
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup chopped nuts
Mix sugar, milk, soda, karo and butter in pan. Cook over medium heat.
Mixture will bubble up to the top of the pan changing colors from white to cream to tan to brown.
When the mixture bubbles to the top of the pan, reduce heat to med-low. Scrape the mixture on the sides of the pan while cooking. This keeps the mixture from crystalizing on the sides and also keeps the mixture from bubbling over the top. Cooking will take 30 to 40 minutes to cook. As it cooks and darkens, it will then begin to shrink back down in the pan.
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Drop a small amount of candy into a cup of cool water. When the drop becomes a firm ball, remove pan from stove. Let pan cool until you can comfortably touch the sides of the pan.
Pour in chopped nuts. Beat until mixture becomes very firm. Pour onto waxed paper.
When you cut into the candy, it will be firm on the outside but creamy on the inside. Yum-m-m!