Fiona is making fudge as we speak. She chose this recipe posted by a Pastry Chef with a passion for Fudge, who shares a recipe from a Pastry World Cup winner and Grandmaster Chocolatier (so it should be good!)

It's still setting but I got to lick the saucepan!

OK, I used the squidgy scraper thingy (image of Danny with head stuck in large stockpot)

It is really, really good. Tastes like fudge ought to. I think good fudge is my favourite candy of all time. I must ask Fiona to make a batch using Nigella's recipe so we can compare them. But this one is extra smooth because the method calls for blending after cooking to blend in the sugar better to make for a smoother texture.

Yes, that's the plan.

Fiona wants to try candy as a line to see how it sells. For me, the exciting aspect of the garden gate stand is the ability to market test different things at practically no cost. If something does not sell over, say a two week period, the she can just drop it. No significant losses and I can gobble up the condemned stock

Also, it will be interesting to see how sales go over the 4 days of the holiday Fri-Mon. We always see young couples walking through the village at this time - probably children and their partners home for Christmas. I suspect that the partner might like to bring a small treat/thank-you/bribe back home to mother-in-law-to-be.

On an aside, one of the quirky aspects of Christmas growing up in our family back home in West Cork was that my mum always put nougat in with our presents under the tree (we did not do stockings). It was the only time of the year when we tasted nougat. I have no idea why she chose that, but it was not available locally. It was bought on a rare trip to Cork city, 45 miles / 60 km away.