<p>Just popped the dark ones in the oven. White ones are waiting for oven space. 38 years I’ve been doing this. Seems impossible. Tree is up, lights are on. Snow is falling. It’s a funny year and doesn’t feel like the holiday season to me yet. Can’t decide whether I’m late or I’m early. Guess I better grab some holiday CDs for the drive back and forth to work!</p>
<p>Some years I wonder if I’ll ever get the Christmas “spirit”. It seems to show up when “it” is ready. :)</p>
<p>38 years of fruitcakes…I thought this thread was going to be about holidays with our families!;)</p>
<p>I’m finding it difficult this year. Oldest kid just moved this weekend to start a new job 1200 miles away. (
but 
at the same time ). Younger one has not told us her plans. She is engaged and last year was not going to eat with us at all but was planning to go to different parts of the Fiancee’s family for 3 separate meals (one parent the evening before, another parent Christmas day, some other family member the day after). I was not happy at all that her own family was just discarded for christmas (we’re not talking about family that live at the other end of the country here, just a couple of hours away) so plans were changed. I don’t know her plans this year. Don’t want to ask and really don’t have the energy to throw a hissy fit this time round. Kind of dreading Christmas to be honest. Vegas is sounding appealing right now :rolleyes: </p>
<p>Actually I really wish my husband’s health was good enough for him to fly. I would really love to spend at least one more Christmas with my Mum in England.</p>
<p>rom - ROFL!!! I thought it was a thread about in-laws ;)</p>
<p>LOL, I was making fruitcakes and not feeling the spirit…perhaps I need some “spirits” in me instead of on the cakes.</p>
<p>I was expecting it to be a thread about hating fruitcake!! A lot of people do seem to hate it. I actually like fruitcake but haven’t made it in years. </p>
<p>And I see you said fruitcakes. Goodness, how many do you make?</p>
<p>Swimcatsmom: If I remember correctly, the two weeks after Christmas are a big deal in England–why don’t you leave the day after Christmas and go see your mom? My mother used to go see her mother’s sister those two weeks, I think (from their letters) that it was a special time for both of them.</p>
<p>Momof3: I think making fruitcakes at all is great. I’m trying to get up the energy to think about having a tree. My son wants a “little tiny tree” this year so it’ll be easy to clean up after!</p>
<p>I make 5 dark (w/Guiness Stout) with “dark” fruits like figs, dates, dried cherries, nuts etc. and 5 light (w/rum) w/yellow and orange fruit,nuts, etc. Its actually getting easier than a couple decades ago because there are so many wonderful dried fruits available these days. I even saw dried blueberries this year, but was nervous that they would turn my fruitcakes blue!</p>
<p>I am making fruit cake for the first time, I think…cannot remember for sure, and decided to marinade the dried fruit in booze first…is this a bad idea? One recipe said to marinade overnight, and the other said for a month…hmmm, something in between ought to work. Should I douse it again after it cooks? Clearly I do not know what I am doing, but SIL assures me he loves fruit cake, and H says he loves any menu item that has cake as part of the title, so here goes!</p>
<p>Ooh - can you share the recipe for the one with the guinness/stout and cherries and stuff? Sounds yummy.</p>
<p>One of the best fruit cakes I ever had was decades ago in Ireland visiting my first husbands family. It was amazing, really dark and rich so I wonder if it had Guiness or stout in it. I asked for the recipe but she was one of those cooks that just said add some of this and some of that till it feels the right consistency and stick your hand in the (wood) stove to fell if it is the right temperature. I’m not that expert a cook I’m afraid.</p>
<p>I thought this was a fruitcake thread as well
My hubby LOVES fruitcakes & have gotten my kiddos to as well. Fortunately the rest of my family doesn’t like them much & saves them all for us.
When S got a job offer in Feb, one of the things he was asked was when he wanted to start his job. He replied, “After the Christmas holidays.” They said, "OK.’ We’re hoping they will still be hiring him with all the turmoil about the federal budget & other issues. Technically, since they made him the offer in Feb, that was when he was “hired,” but who knows what the future holds?
We may need to spend the next Christmas on the East Coast with him. That will be different!</p>
<p>Swimcat I don’t measure either LOL. I can just tell…however since I just did this:</p>
<p>1 box raisins: put in sauce pan with 1 bottle Stout heat until fruit is plumped. Turn off and let sit. Sometimes I use yellow and black…sometimes just the black…sometimes currants and raisins. Depends on my mood.</p>
<p>Cut (I use shears): figs, dates, apricots and put in bowl. Chunky is good…usually I cut in thirds.
Dump in a bag or container of dried cherries, dried cranberries, diced citron (I usually find it with the candied fruits), dried orange, a few pieces of dried sugared ginger (cut these small)…literally whatever you can find, I’ve used dried apples and dried pears cut up also. Dump in chopped nuts – about 1 cup - again can be walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts. Add about 1/2 cup flour and stir so that the fruit doesn’t stick together because the dates, figs and apricots are sticky. I usually toss in about a 6-7 whole green “glace” cherries and 6-7 red glace cherries just because it’s festive, but if you don’t like glace fruit it isn’t necessary. You want to end up with about 5-6 cups of this fruit/nut mixture minimum. The more fruit the denser the cakes are with fruit. Less fruit you have slightly more cake in between the fruit.</p>
<p>In a mixer: cream 1 stick of butter with 1/2 cup packed brown sugar. Add 3 eggs depending, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 cup of molasses, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. mace, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cloves (you can eliminate mace if you don’t have it and I’ve used alittle allspice some years) and a pinch of salt. Add 1/2 tsp. baking power and 1/2 tsp baking soda. The mixture will look curdled, don’t worry. Measure about 2 to 2 1/2 cups flour and alternate flour and about 1/2 bottle Guiness until well combined. You want it to be like a slightly thick cake batter if it looks or feels too heavy add a tiny bit of Guiness, if too liquidy add more flour.</p>
<p>Add the raisins and any remaining Guiness liquid into the dried fruit, then add the batter. Stir until the fruit is well coated. Now, I happen to line my bread pans with cut up brown paper bags that are greased because that’s what my Grandmother did. I’m not totally convinced that you need to. Pack the pans alittle over 3/4. Can’t tell you how many this will make because it depends on the pans (tube, big bread pan, small bread pan.) These don’t rise much. Anyway, bake them about 3 hours in a slow oven (275 - degrees) with a pan of water in the bottom. I start checking them after a couple hours. They are done when the toothpick comes out clean.</p>
<p>I pull them out of the oven and pour some Guiness on them while they are hot. When they are cool I put them on Saran, pour some more Guiness on them and wrap tightly with the Saran and then wrap them in aluminum foil and stick them in the fridge until Christmas. I don’t open them or “check on them.” </p>
<p>I’m not a purist, (who macerate fruit for long periods of time) and I don’t wrap with liquor soaked cheesecloth…but…they do taste good if you like fruitcakes and they aren’t sticky like the ones you see in the stores. They also last months…we cut into one a few years ago that was a year old and it was yummy. They are sweet, but it’s a different taste I think. My mom and grandmother used to paint the top with warmed Karo syrup to make them shiny, but not essential.</p>
<p>I made a dark fruit cake this year too. I did soak the fruit overnight in brandy. I made it
in early November and it’s in a ziplok bag in the refrigerator. The day before Christmas I’ll cover it will marzipan (almond paste) and royal icing. Those last too items are really what makes the cake in my opinion!</p>
<p>SCM- back in the olden days, my MIL (both before and after the wedding) was competitive with my family and MIL thought she’d “won” when she got us to attend her Christmas Eve party and her dinner. Sometimes my parents even came to her house for the dinner (MIL made a lot of points when she sat my mother at the kids/rejects table with the FIL’s cranky mother and his previously disowned gay son) MIl was big about dissing people and scoring points somehow.</p>
<p>What she did not realise is that my family were the real winners, we spent nearly every day & evening with them when we dated and even as newlyweds. Christmas dinner was just one silly holiday, my parents got the real quality time. Only in the past 5 years has my Mum shared some of the stories of my MILs nasty actions. I am soo grateful she did not tell me when I was younger as I would have fought the in laws about the treatment, my Mum’s graciousness made life easier at the time and she is the winner in the end (she happily lives with us now whilst the in laws are 1500 miles away)</p>
<p>So, be gracious and hope that it all works out in the end!</p>
<p>Somemom,
Glad to hear it has worked out well for your mom & family. I have a hard time understanding why people get their “jollies” by being as mean and unpleasant as possible. It seems to short-sighted and poor spirited.</p>
<p>Sounds like these fruitcakes are works of art and SO delicious! Am sad I have never acquired this talent but may take it up some day, or maybe H will when he retires in the next two years 
He’s the one who LOVES fruitcake anyway. It might be good way to use up some of he brandy & other great stuff we have stashed away & don’t drink. :)</p>
<p>somemom - I’ll try ;). I’m usually pretty gracious (I think/hope). I wouldn’t have had any problem with “can we do Christmas the day before, or day after” (we did Thanksgiving the day before this year), but I was hurt and surprised that we weren’t even getting the opportunity to have one of the three days and reacted (I’m actually not generally given to hissy fits!). We don’t have a large family near enough to spend Christmas with, (mine is in Europe) so the little family we do have is important to me. </p>
<p>I would never behave the way your MIL did though. Good Lord. She sounds really, er, special!!</p>
<p>Actually she sounds like a fruitcake :D</p>
<p>Don’t do fruitcakes (carrot-raisen loaves), but I have been making sandtarts with an older (now 86 year old) friend for at least 36 years. They are the thinnest things. She makes the batch up and we get together to roll, cut, sprinkle, and bake. It takes us about four hours. </p>
<p>I don’t like sandtarts, but I love this woman and she starts asking when we are going to have our baking day as soon as Halloween passes. It is also nice to have some sandtarts to mix in with other cookies - people are always impressed. </p>
<p>Tomorrow is sandtart day. I will report on our final count when I return.</p>
<p>SCM- I totally get your feeling of hurt & exclusion & sometimes I wonder how things were for my mother…was I cluelessly absorbed in his family? They entertained and traveled a lot so things were interesting, my family were homebodies. It was not choosing the in laws over mine, it was taking the opportunity to do something new & exciting, including Christmas with 10-30 people, etc.</p>
<p>“Actually I really wish my husband’s health was good enough for him to fly. I would really love to spend at least one more Christmas with my Mum in England.” - Maybe you could arrange for you husband to have time with his relatives and allow you to visit your Mum in England? OK, at this point it may need to be a New Year’s or Spring visit… but maybe she’ll leave up some decorations for you.</p>