Black Walnut-Caramel Fudge

It's the day after Halloween and I know lots of you have an abundance of candy. I don't remember that much store bought candy from Halloween in the hollow. There were only a few houses that Mom would take me for Trick or Treat. These were close friends and neighbors. Unfortunately, even back then, there were evil individuals bent on doing harm. I grew up in a time when children were cautioned to have their candy checked for razor blades. So, we never went to a stranger's house. Of those times, I remember two neighbors most. One always gave me a shiny red apple which probably came from their tree. I can hear children and adults groaning over that, but I loved those apples! The other was Miss Hattie's house. Miss Hattie always gave out home-made fudge. I have never tasted fudge since that compared.
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When I was looking through one of my vintage cookbooks for a fudge recipe, I came across one that called for black walnuts. Since black walnuts and hickory nuts were plentiful in the hollow, both found their way into lots of our recipes. So, in honor of Miss Hattie and Halloween's past, I hope you will enjoy this recipe. (Please note that whenever I post a 'vintage' recipe, I print it 'as is' without spelling or grammatical corrections.)
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Black Walnut-Caramel Fudge
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Butter an 8x8x2in. pan. Set out a candy thermometer and a heavy 3-qt. saucepan. Chop and set aside 2 cups of black walnuts. Measure into a large, heavy light-colored skillet (a black skillet makes it difficult to see the color of the sirup) 2 cups sugar. Put the skillet over low heat. With back of wooden spoon, gently keep sugar moving toward center of skillet until it melts. Remove from heat and set aside.
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Mix together in the saucepan 4 cups sugar and 2 cups milk. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat and bring to boiling. Add the melted sugar very slowly, stirring constantly. Put candy thermometer in place. Cook, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching, until mixture reaches 234F (soft ball stage), remove from heat while testing. During cooking, wash crystals* from sides of pan. Remove from heat.
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Set aside until just cool enough to hold pan on hand. Do not jar pan or stir. When cool, add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Beat vigorously until mixture loses its gloss. With a few strokes stir in the chopped nuts. Quickly turn into the buttered pan without scraping bottom and sides of saucepan and spread evenly. Set aside to cool. When cool, cut into 1 and 1/2 inch squares. Makes about 2 doz. pieces of fudge. (You should have a child ready to lick the remains of warm fudge left on the sides and bottom of pan.)
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*WASH DOWN CRYSTALS from sides of pan during cooking with a pastry brush dipped in water; move candy thermometer to one side and wash down any crystals that may have formed under thermometer.