Three pounds heavier and one week later…
Yes I gained three pounds, actually two and three quarters but who’s counting. I did exactly like I said I would do, ate too much and drank too much, then try to eat some more and drink some more. Got to spend time with some of the family, which is always an adventure. We watched old home movies, looked at yearbooks, played games, and made fun of each other. Good times.
And since Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever it is you celebrate is coming up I didn’t want to give the traditional where and why the holiday came about. So instead I chose the mighty fruit cake to talk about this week. Also because I mentioned it last post.
The fruit cake has been around literally for centuries and the recipes range from candied fruit, dried fruits, nuts, spices, spirits, basically whatever you want mixed together into cake. The recipes have changed over the years and are different from country to country and family to family. In 1913, mail order fruitcakes took off in the US and even though mass produced cakes are alcohol free, traditional recipes include brandy or wine and covered with powdered sugar. I can’t say that I have ever tried fruit cake, so I guess I don’t understand the joke of the fruit cake, well I didn’t until I looked it up. Apparently Johnny Carson started the joke of there only being one fruit cake in the world being passed from one family to the next. The joke was carried on by “the Fruitcake Lady” that appeared on the tonight show after Johnny passed. Since then the cake was a ridiculed dessert. Aside from there only being one fruit cake in the world, there could actually be a cake passed from one fam to the next for years. If a cake is made with our dear friend alcohol, then it can remain edible for years. In Michigan there is a cake that was baked in 1878 that a family has kept as an heirloom and was tasted by jay leno in 2003.
So, fruit cake, my holiday challenge, I will taste, bake, and mail a fruit cake. I wonder who will be the lucky one that gets the cake, and if they will send it on to someone else. Until next time, shake it out.
“Great things happen when men and mountains meet.” -William Blake
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