The name Dennis always brings to mind a phone operator I used to have at Ticketmaster.
He was one of my supervisors and a hard working and reliable employee.
On special occasions Dennis would make his mother’s peanut butter fudge. He’d make me an extra batch because he knew I had children and this sweet confection was a family favorite.
I tried making it once but the knack of adding the marshmallow cream completely eluded me so we waited patiently for his signature fudge to make an appearance in the break room.
This was probably best because it you’ve ever tasted this melt-in-your-mouth treat you’d understand that resistance is impossible.
Dennis is no longer with us but a copy of his mother’s hand written recipe lives on…it’s been a long time since I’ve thought of him and an even longer time since I’ve tasted this creamy fudge
but my film-maker son in California and his girlfriend recently adopted a dog from a shelter that jogged some memories.
He’s not a tiny, under-your-feet kind of dog but he definitely is of a sturdy chihuahua and terrier mix. His bowed back legs and brute strength are physical attributes that make him a bruiser and his fearlessness of bigger dogs gives him his self-assurance.
He’s won their hearts with his easy going ways and good looks.
And the name on his adoption papers?
Dennis.
Immediately I started craving fudge, Dennis’s Fudge as we called it all those years ago.
Dennis, the dog, lives up to his sweet-making namesake.
On the first day we met he snuggled up to me on the back seat of the car.
His limpid, brown eyes and those Dumbo ears that look as though they could defy gravity if only he could run fast enough and the wind was just right, are, rather like the fudge, difficult to resist.
He loves the dog park and runs around like a whirling-dervish daring the other dogs to chase him,
“How do you know that’s why he’s running around like a crazy dog?” I asked, “What if he’s trying to take-off?”
“Well, when there are no other dogs in the park I’ll take him up on the invitation…” my son said with a sheepish grin, “and he loves it!”
One day at home he swallowed a magnet and we all made jokes about the dangers of walking past the fridge.
All I could picture was Dennis hung up on the refrigerator door as a reminder to feed him perhaps, or to take him out, or to take him down so he could continue harassing Izzy, the long suffering cat.
Recently he went on holiday with his humans and posed on a rock ledge,
quite the outdoorsman.
One ear pricked the other neatly folded to show off his nod to the creamy fudge his namesake made.
Now where’s that recipe…?
Dennis’ Peanut Butter Fudge
Boil 2 cups of white sugar and 2/3 cup of milk (I use Milnot)(half & half) to soft ball stage. Remove from fire and add 1 t. vanilla and 1 cup peanut butter. Stir well then add 1 cup marshmallow cream (this is my undoing!) Mix fast when cream is well blended with other ingredients. Pour into an 8×8 buttered pan. Chill.
Can you just eat one piece?
Well hello there! My name is Vivienne McNeny.
I am an empty nester exploring life as a Boomer…you could say I'm happily Boomering along!
As a homeschooling Mum I have finally quit the job of role model and mentor to my four children. I do what I want to do, eat when I feel like it, enjoy life with my blue eyed cowboy and clean my house once a month or so whether it needs it or not!
In true English form I write about the emergence of my true identity now that I can no longer hide behind my children as their Mum.
No comments so far!
2019-06-28 21:44:22
Best Fudge yet! Good Ole’ Dennis!
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