I recently put out a call on Facebook for local folks who have beloved holiday food traditions. I received a lot of responses, some of which will appear in this paper in the weeks and years to come.

Jeanne Douillard of Greenfield remembers both Tourtières (Canadian meat pies) and Bûches de Noël (Yule Logs). She can’t show me how to make the latter until her daughter is around; her daughter is the family baker.

To up the Yule Log ante, baking expert Dédé Wilson of Amherst explains that she makes a differently flavored Bûche each year.

Carol Lively of Rowe produces a bevy of German holiday treats, from marzipan to Lebkuchen. Barbara Ann Veal of Sunderland remembers delectable iced cookies and a neighborhood eggnog party. Sarah Riley of Greenfield enjoys a holiday cheese ball.

Denise Schwartz of South Deerfield recalls Christmas Eve gnocchi, along with Brown Cows (Root-Beer Floats) after decorating the tree. Elaine Reardon’s Armenian family always made Paklava and Choreg (Easter Bread).

Catherine Halberg of Shelburne Falls recalls pierogi plus 13 (wow!) non-meat dishes on Christmas Eve, plus a ton of baking. Sharon Harmon of West Royalston remembers a lovely fruit and nut dessert consumed with whipped cream while watching Christmas specials on television.

And Becky Baxter Clark … well, I’m saving Becky for next week because her recipe comes with rich family lore.

Oddly, the recipe below was inspired not by one of these posts but by a conversation. I stopped to buy gas last week from Sarah Davenport in Shelburne. Sarah told me that she had been enjoying reading all the food memories on my Facebook page.

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Her favorite holiday treat, she told me, was chocolate fudge. I didn’t get her recipe, but our conversation put me in mind of my own basic recipe.

I love to cook, but I don’t love cooking that involves a lot of work. I seldom make a recipe that takes more than an hour or so to prepare. I figure I have better things to do with my time than linger in the kitchen — like talking on the phone or watching holiday movies on television.

The exception to this “no fuss, no lingering” rule is a culinary form perfectly suited to cold weather and holiday gift-giving, making candy (fudge in particular). In this mode of food preparation, taking your time is the whole point.

When I think of making candy, I picture cool, crisp nights and soft, powdery snow. I also think of friendship. Candy is best made with others.

I grew up in a candy-making household. When I was little, my mother frequently organized taffy pulls for my birthday, which falls at this time of year. Carefully supervised taffy tugging kept small hands busy and provided treats for party guests to take home.

In my teenage years, I spent what now seems like hundreds of happy hours with friends gathered around the stove waiting for fudge to reach the soft-ball stage. As we watched the confection form, our friendships took on more lasting form as well.

Candy making has always seemed to me an ideal social tool. With its long waits and pauses, it is structured to foster conversation.

You don’t dare to leave the kitchen while you’re waiting for your sweets to reach just the right temperature, so you chat with those around you. Candy also encourages teamwork in those frenetic moments when you’re beating or pulling your treats.

The creation of confections is a delightful ritual with its own pace. Somehow even in its busiest moments, it seems to epitomize leisure. Today as an adult I still relish making candy with my family members and friends.

The ritual fills chilly evenings with warmth and conversation. It even takes advantage of the cold weather. One of the quickest ways to cool candy is to stick your pan outside (well covered to discourage animals from sampling) in the December air.

Before I share my recipe, here are a few candy-making hints:

Testing candy by hand (to see whether it makes the appropriate type of ball in cold water) is great, but I like to use a candy thermometer as well, just to be certain. If your candy comes out a congealed mess, chances are you need a new thermometer. They don’t last forever.

Always use a wooden spoon to beat fudge. And beat your fudge hard. My grandfather, whose only culinary accomplishment was fudge-making (unless you count mixing Old Fashioneds, Martinis, and Manhattans as cooking!), always said that the secret of good fudge was in the beating.

Aim for relatively dry weather. Candy forms best when the air isn’t too humid.

Be sure to invite a sizeable crowd to share in your candy creation. Not only will you have livelier conversation and easier labor; you’ll also end up with fewer calories ingested by any one candy maker. Just make sure that someone is delegated to keep an eye on the candy thermometer while everyone else talks.

Never try to rush your candy. It will be done when it is good and ready. Relax, and concentrate on the friendships simmering around the stove.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup rich milk (milk with cream added or half & half)

2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 tablespoons sweet butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions:

Line a 9-by-9-inch pan with aluminum foil, and butter the foil.

Place the milk in a 3-quart saucepan, and heat it until it is warm. Stir in the sugar, salt, chocolate, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, stirring.

Cover the fudge mixture and cook it for at least 1 minute over low to medium heat (watch to keep the pot from boiling over) to absorb any sugar crystals that have formed on the sides of the pan.

Uncover, and cook, without stirring, until the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage (234 degrees).

Remove the fudge from the heat, place the butter and vanilla on top, and cool without stirring until the candy is lukewarm (about 110 degrees).

At this point, beat the fudge until it just starts to thicken, and pour it into the prepared pan. (Be careful, or it will get too thick!) Sprinkle with festive sprinkles if desired. Cool and cut into squares. Makes about 16 pieces.

Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook author and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.