Help! Recently, my maiden great aunt Maude passed away. I'm afraid that before she did... well, let's say she was acting out of character. Or perhaps more in character than ever. She'd always been a wealthy, old-fashioned dame who disliked most of her money-grubbing relatives. But, at the ripe old age of 97, after suffering through a holiday meal at my brother and sister-in-law's, she finally lost it. She wandered off into the woods in Greensfelder park for a day. When she returned, she barricaded herself in her room and spent hours doing nothing, as far as her doctors could tell, but reorganizing her recipes, muttering about "the end of days" and "frozen pie crusts." When they finally became concerned enough to break down her bedroom door, she'd passed away, her gnarled hands wrapped around her recipe box and pastry blender.
The bulk of her wealth consists of generations of family jewelry, which is now nowhere to be found. She cut the rest of my relatives out of her will, leaving me only her favorite fudge recipe and a cryptic note. Her only message to me was that following her special recipe exactly will lead me in stages to the remainder of my inheritance. I am at a loss, and I am willing to allow the FTF to have an item from the jewelry box.
I've copied the recipe below, complete with Aunt Maude's notes.
Maude's Rocky Road Fudge
Line a 9x5x3 inch pan with tin foil and butter the foil.
Place 1/2 cup miniature marshmallows in the bottom of the pan. Freeze pan while preparing fudge.
Bring 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon milk to a boil.
Remove from heat. Stir in the following until dissolved: 2 cups sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 2 oz chopped unsweetened chocolate.
Bring to a boil and cook covered for 2 to 3 minutes.
Uncover, reduce heat, cook without stirring to the softball stage (or 234 deg F on a candy thermometer).
Remove from heat, allow to cool to 110 deg F.
Add 2 to 4 tablespoons butter and beat a few strokes.
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat until fudge begins to lose its sheen.
Quickly stir in 3/4 chopped walnuts.
Transfer to prepared pan and cool until firm. Remove using foil and cut into squares.
Yields 52 pieces.
Maude's Notes:
The listed coordinates are for my favorite parking spot. Just so you don't get lost, I've provided checksums over all the digits in the coordinates.
to WP1: Where'd I leave that measuring cup? I'll make do with a tablespoon.
N plus twice the milk
W minus 16 times the sugar
Checksums N 33 W 30
to WP2: Emeralds! My favorite gemSTONE! It's a SIGN!
N 7th minus 1st, 3rd, 8th
W 4th, 6th minus 7th, 9th minus 8th
Checksums N 32 W 29
to WP3: You had to be there...
Checksums N 35 W 27 (alternate technique only)
to WP4: And there...
Checksums N 27 W 24
I know my favorite niece understands my hang-ups, don't you dearie?