From the kitchen of Todd and Susan Thacker.
It doesn’t have to be the holidays or “ugly sweater” season to enjoy some smooth, sweet fudge or give it as a gift. Susan Thacker, wife of long-time IFA board member Todd Thacker, makes fudge all year round and even sold her delectable at farmer’s markets and other local outlets for many years.
Ingredients
- 3-½ cups Sugar
- 1 cup Butter
- 1 pkg (10 oz.) Mini Marshmallows
- 1 pkg (12 oz.) Chocolate Chips
- 1 cup Walnuts, chopped
Directions
Mix sugar and butter in a large sauce pan and boil for 6 minutes. The more you stir the smoother the fudge will be in the end.
Put marshmallows and chocolate chips in a large bowl and pour the hot sugar and butter mixture over the top. Stir until all ingredients are melted and smooth. Stir in the nuts (cashews, pecans, macadamias or walnuts) and pour into a cake pan to cool. You can also experiment with sandwich layers around mint or peanut butter.
From the Farmhouse: Thacker’s Dairy Aires
Todd Thacker grew up on a farm/ranch in Talmage, Utah. He graduated from Altamont High School and married his high school sweetheart, Susan Fisher. After running with the pipeline for a few years, he decided to settle down and purchase a dairy farm in Upalco, Utah in 1971. Here he raised his family and taught them the importance of hard work.
In 1997, Todd decided to sell the dairy in Upalco and purchase a 1,000-acre farm in Jensen, Utah. Todd could take a rundown piece of farmland and turn it into top quality feed. Which is exactly what he did in Jensen. He farmed the land and raised dairy heifers for dairy farms around the world. He even sent some of his dairy heifers to Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
In 2014, Todd sold the farm to semi-retire, however, he purchased a 700-acre ranch in Meeker, Colorado, where he now runs beef cattle. Todd has an amazing talent and love for agriculture. He loves to take the scenic route wherever he travels to see the farms and herds.
Todd and Susan have five children, 19 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren and each one of them have been able to experience farming in some form or another.
Submitted by Todd and Susan’s daughter, Raima Colledge, and originally published in the IFA Cooperator magazine (vol. 84, no. 2) Summer 2018.