Like...when pest control comes to spray for ants and tells you ants are probably in the whole building and it's going to be really hard to get rid of them?

And...

Okay, so not everything is going wrong. Just ants. I'm on ant watch 24/7, and thank goodness they aren't on my furniture because I would seriously be going crazy.

Luckily they didn't get into any of my fudge ingredients! I would have lost my mind.

I needed to make fudge this week for two reasons: 1) I needed some comfort from my ant problems, and 2) it seemed like the best way to honor my grandmother's passing.

Grandma Ramsey and I when I was a baby!

My grandma was so lovely. She gave me my love for perfume, jewelry and people. She never went anywhere without lipstick on and she always had a ring on every finger. 

She lost her battle with cancer in October two years ago, but until that point she always had a smile on her face and was never without joy.

I wanted to share a little bit of that joy with you today by way of her famous fantasy fudge!

While her batch would have had chopped pecans mixed in, I prefer to go without. Feel free to add some in for extra texture!

Making fudge can get a bad rap because it can so easily turn out grainy. But there are a few simple tricks to make sure it's perfect every time.

Before you start heating the sugar, butter and evaporated milk, be sure you have the remaining ingredients prepped. Once the sugar mixture is ready it is essential that the remaining ingredients are mixed in as quickly as possible.

Make sure you're stirring the sugar mixture constantly so nothing sticks to the pot. From a young age I was taught to stir in a figure 8 (not just in a circle) to insure nothing was sticking.

Once the heating mixture has reached a rolling boil, cook for five minutes and then remove it from heat. Now add the chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, and vanilla as quickly as humanly possible. You want to get the mixture into the pan and into the fridge as quickly as you can to prevent unwanted crystallization, which makes the fudge grainy.

When the ingredients are fully incorporated, pour the mixture into the prepared pan. You may notice that it's already starting to set up, so keep movin'! I never spread the batter out with a spatula or spoon, I just tilt the pan until everything looks even and level. Now quick, pop it in the fridge!

Honestly, it's so tasty.

I used a 9x13 pan so I had a LOT to share with friends, but feel free to use a 9x9 pan if you want thicker fudge. I've only ever used a 9x13 pan, but (as my friend Sierra says) you're the gatekeeper of your own destiny. Do whatever feels right!

I recommend keeping the fudge in the refrigerator because it gets REALLY soft at room temp. It's still delicious, but a little trickier to cut and eat.

All in all, making this recipe was so good for my soul. I hope you enjoy it just as much!