During the holidays, many people may have a favorite recipe or signature dish that they fix. For Timothy Buit, president and chief executive officer of the The Bellevue Hospital (TBH), his specialty is his holiday double decker melt away fudge.
“The recipe is a family tradition that was passed down through the generations,” Buit said. “I remember my grandmother making it during the holidays. Then, my mother began making it. It is a tradition I have continued and now my son also makes it and gives it as gifts.”
Over the years, Buit has brought his legendary fudge to gatherings and gifted it to TBH colleagues during the holidays and other special occasions. Each holiday season, the caring CEO easily makes more than 140 pounds of fudge for family and friends.
When TBH’s executive team was brainstorming desserts and gifts in November to provide during this year’s annual employee holiday luncheon, Buit’s fudge was a topic of conversation and the group talked about what it would take to provide this famous fudge to everyone at The Bellevue Hospital. It was decided that making enough fudge for 500 people was too much work for one person to accomplish in such a short amount of time.
So, TBH’s HR department reached out to the Candy Depot in Bellevue to see if they might have any solutions. LeRose Meadows, co-owner of Candy Depot, spearheaded the project and offered to make the fudge with the help of her seven “elves.”
What does it take to make 250 pounds of fudge?
- 36 packages (20 ounces each) Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
- 112 pounds of sugar
- 72 cans (12 ounce) evaporated milk
- 18 pounds of butter
- 9 bottles (16 fluid ounces) light corn syrup
- 36 (40 ounce) jars of Jif Peanut Butter
- 72 (7 ounce) jars of marshmallow cream
- 4.5 cups white vinegar
And, a group of candy-loving ladies with a lot of determination to complete the task. Candy Depot began their mission on Sunday, Dec. 11 in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church’s kitchen in Bellevue, and by Tuesday, Dec. 13, TBH picked up 500 4-inch by 4-inch containers of fudge. To add their own twist, the Candy Depot team added a green candy tree on top.
“Thanks to the help of our friends at the Candy Depot, Tim was able to pass out the fudge, along with a copy of the recipe, to employees as they stopped in the Main Station Café for a holiday lunch,” said Lisa Sartain, vice president of human resources. “Employees were excited and it provided a nice personal touch for TBH’s Family to receive fudge from our president and CEO.”
To keep it local, TBH’s Holiday Lunch was catered by Bubbarock Meat Company in Bellevue and employees also received Chamber of Commerce of Bellevue Chamber Checks.