Irregular Blog: fruitcake

Showing posts with label fruitcake. Show all posts

Sunday, December 25, 2016

A Belated Christmas Letter (to most who sent me letters and to some who didn't)

Oh, the momentous choices! What font to use! I didn’t want to use my usual Helvetica or one that was fancy but hard to read. So I chose Kailasa, mostly because I tired of looking at all the choices. (Blogger doesn't give me this choice.)

Here I sit on Christmas Day having procrastinated for one reason or another. The last reason took over two days before I gave up.

The reason: having already put this off, I thought I had the perfect photo. It was a waist-high stump at our cabin that was coated with snow and was topped with snow that had slid to one side, giving the impression of a head. I was going to put under the picture:

I am not the grouch that stole Christmas;
I just procrastinate too much!

Problem is: I can’t find the picture! I spent two days looking at all my devices for the picture. I looked at some folders two or three times. NADA! Why do I have such a clear memory of a picture I can’t find? I am sure I saw it in front of the printer two weeks ago.

To make up for this procrastination, I am sending this by email. Otherwise, I might not get the envelopes done until next year!

So, here we sit in Duluth, wimping out on going to our cabin because of a predicted snow storm. Also we are getting leery of driving in the dark (now at five in the afternoon). About six weeks ago Jan hit a deer, in daylight but heavy shade. She looked for the deer but never found it. Her car was drivable, but it took a few days of body work.

Otherwise, it has been a usual year: fitness center, cabin, meetings, plays, concerts, and family visits: in person, by telephone, or FaceTime.

We are slowly growing older, sometimes feeling it, sometimes doing things better than we ever did before!

May your coming year be one of good health and interesting activities, even if it is only lots of good books.

P.S. A sister-in-law has already responded. She misses my fruitcake of yore. I replied that the recipe is at http://magree.blogspot.com/2014/12/fruitcake-doorstop-or-holiday-treat.html.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

A Note from Scrooge

No, I am not like Scrooge who hated Christmas and all of its cheer. It’s just that it seems to be the same old, same old, and too much effort to decorate and to select presents.

When I was a kid, I looked forward to the toy catalogs in the Sunday paper. Gosh, I wanted that gas station set, and the chemistry set, and… Actually, all things considered I and my brother wound up with quite a pile of toys and books. As a parent, I enjoyed selecting toys and books that my children would enjoy. Even as a grandparent, I did the same. But now with half my grandchildren being adults, it seems all we do is come up with clever T-shirts or sweat-shirts. Or maybe a book or two.

And despite what the ads say about “perfect gifts”, I think that a gift card for a store that the recipients rarely enter is not a “perfect gift”. Nor is a $1,000 computer for somebody who already has one, especially in a family where the gift budget rarely exceeds the cost of the aforementioned apparel.

I once was a mall Santa. That was quite an adventure, but I never did it again or wanted to. Believe it or not, I was told I was the best Santa at that mall. Apparently, some of the others weren’t good actors or just didn’t like little kids.

I have all but given up on sending Christmas greetings. I just haven’t put any effort into selecting a different wintry picture for a card or newsletter. Just as I don’t really care about other people’s grandkids, I don’t care to burden them with what my grandkids are doing. Do I tell them that we have given up downhill skiing? My wife did write a bunch of cards this past weekend, but I didn’t even look at what she wrote.

For many years I made a fruitcake that definitely was not a door-stop. At the peak, I made 24 one-pound cakes each season. Maybe about ten years ago, it just was too much effort to order quality ingredients, cut the fruit and nuts, beat the eggs, stir in the flour and butter, mix the fruit and nuts in, and… There were a lot of disappointed people when I stopped making fruitcake. See the article list below for the recipe and more.

We haven’t put up a tree for years, even though we have hundreds of nice-looking balsam fir at our cabin. Partly because I’ve developed an allergy to balsam, partly I just don’t want to make the effort to select a tree, cut it, bring it back to Duluth, decorate it, then take it down, and haul it back to our cabin. But my wife still buys a wreath and hangs it by the front door.

For many years, we did a Julbord or Christmas Smörgåsbord. This was a five-course buffet, starting with herring, potatoes, and cheese, and ending with three desserts. All of it accompanied by snaps (aqvavit) and beer. I forget why we stopped. Although my wife did the bulk of the cooking, maybe I got tired of doing the shopping or just being on my feet for so long. Or maybe it was because one relative would only eat bread and nothing else until dessert.

I do get tired of walking by Salvation Army kettles. One year I bought a money order and put it in a kettle. I used a money order so that I wouldn’t get appeal after appeal in the mail for the rest of the year. This year, I just keep my pocket full of change. As I go in or out, I just grab some change without counting it: pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Maybe I should go back to dollar bills so that whoever counts all the change doesn’t have so much work.

But others are not going to give up their Christmas traditions because of my disinterest. And if someone says “Merry Christmas” to me, I will respond with a smile.

Now the real Scrooges are those who object to cashiers and other retail people saying “Merry Christmas”. Way back when I was a grocery cashier I found it repetitive, but I did it with a smile. But now some object because it is unfair to those who aren’t “Christians”. One should say “Happy Holidays”. For them, I have an Italian saying, “Ch’é paese vai, ch’é usanze trovi.” “Wherever you go, follow customs you find.” Or “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” I don’t believe in the words of Handel’s “Messiah”, but I enjoy performances of it for the music, and I certainly don’t make a fuss because of the words.

Tom Batiuk, who draws the comic strip “Funky Winkerbean”, is having a ball with excessive sensitivity to the words of Christmas music. The principal is vetoing song after song for the Christmas concert because somebody might be offended by the words. Somebody should tell those like the principal that “White Christmas” was written by a Jewish immigrant. The same guy that wrote “Easter Parade”.

For a list of some of my previous Christmas articles, see “Christmas blog links” at
http://magree.blogspot.com/2015/12/christmas-blog-links.html. Many of them are more upbeat than this.

Oh, by the way, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Also published in the Reader Weekly, 2015-12-16 at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2015/12./16/6409_a_note_from_scrooge

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Christmas blog links

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Ghosts of Christmases Past

Our saddest Christmas was after a trip to Japan.

We escorted my wife’s mother on a multi-stage trip from Ontario to Japan and back to visit our son and his wife, new-born daughter, and many Japanese relatives. I spent so much time crammed into an airline seat that I didn’t want to ever fly again. Although Grandma at 92 didn’t have a lot of stamina for long walks, she greatly enjoyed the sites and the people.

Near the end of the trip, she awoke with jaw pain. Our son took her to a hospital where she was diagnosed with a heart problem, but she was cleared for the return flights to Canada.

After she was home she had more heart problems. She was hospitalized, had surgery that wasn’t successful, and slowly declined, dying at ten Christmas morning.

Almost all of our other Christmas celebrations have been joyous occasions in many different settings.

My earliest memories are great dreams looking at toy catalogs, seeing the train layouts in the department stores, and visits to Santa.

About Santa, I was Santa once at Mariner Mall. Never again. I never lied so much in my life. “I would like a Britney Spears…” “I’ll see what we can do about that.”

Several of our Christmases were spent at ski resorts. Twice with Club Med in Misurina, Italy, once in Kitzbühel, Austria, and once in Big Sky, Montana.

We’ve had many Christmases with a houseful of guests. It always seemed that everybody was sitting in front of the fireplace, eating sweet rolls, and waiting to open presents. That is, everybody, except an adult male. We had to wait for whoever it was that year to get up, shower, and shave before we could proceed. Was I irritated on the kids’ behalf or my own?

When we lived in Sweden, we picked up two winter solstice traditions: Sankta Lucia and julbord.

We had a Luciafest at work in Stockholm. One year I was appointed Stjärnpojke (Star boy), the guy with the pointed hat who was an attendant to Sankta Lucia. After singing a round of Sankta Lucia, we had glögg and princess torta. Glögg is a potent mixture of wine, vodka, raisins, and spices. Princess torta is a layer cake with whipped cream and custard between alternating layers and green marzipan covering the top and sides.

Julbord means Christmas table and is a variant of a smörgåsbord. No, it is not an all you can pile on your plate pig-out. It is a five course meal where you take certain selections for each course. You can repeat a course if you like. And have all the beer and snaps you want. (Snaps is akvavit, vodka, and their cousins.) We had a julbord for many years, but have given it up as too much fuss.

Another Christmas tradition that has succumbed to “too much fuss” is fruitcake. I am insulted whenever anyone refers to fruitcake as a doorstop. People looked forward to the fruitcake I made based on a recipe that my mother had found. One of the secrets is quality ingredients. You can find the recipe at “Fruitcake: Doorstop or Holiday Treat”.

We have given up on gift exchange in our family. We became too predictable: sweatshirts and t-shirts with funny logos or books. I like each of my sweatshirts but the pile threatens to fall off the shelf each time I pull one out. Many of the books are interesting, but I think most of us have only dabbled in some of them. I know I have one by a very famous author sitting on the desk at our cabin that I keep telling myself to read a few more pages of.

For awhile, I printed cards and a letter. Then I got a new printer that didn’t do the colors well. Then I felt I was writing the same old, same old newsletter, some of which would be about grandchildren the recipients would never meet. The good news is that by using different software I can print cards with great color. Now, I only have to finish this column on the Saturday before Christmas and address those cards.

Church Christmas caroling did give my singing career a boost. The choir was going to be singing at St. Ann’s Residence in Duluth, and the director invited others to join. I drove the good singer in our family to the event and joined in the singing. I stood right behind the director and she invited me into the choir! I think it was my energy, not my skill. From there I went from being a timid off-key singer to a singing student to a singer who got invited to do solos to a singer who doesn’t practice much.

I think one of the best things I did for Christmas happened on our first Christmas together. We were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and I knew there was a policeman on foot patrol at Shaker Square, a five minute drive away. I took him some cookies and coffee. He was standing in a doorway and really appreciated it.

However you celebrate this solstice time, may the return of the sun bring you wonder and joy.

Also published in the Reader Weekly, 2014-12-24 at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/12/24/4568_ghosts_of_christmases_past.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Fruitcake: Doorstop or Holiday Treat

This is a little late for this Christmas, but who says fruitcake is only for Christmas. After all, those who can restrain themselves will eat a fruitcake over a week or more. To those who can’t, and several relatives have demolished one of my fruitcakes in a single sitting, I hope you don’t overdose on the sugar.

For the last two or so years that I made fruitcake, I ordered all the fruit and nuts from nutsonline.com, now simply nuts.com.

Originally published in the Reader Weekly of Duluth, 2005-12-08.

Are you a fruitcake conservative or a fruitcake liberal? A fruitcake conservative has had one bad fruitcake or had some authority figure say that fruitcake is bad and so won’t even try any fruitcake. A fruitcake liberal may or may not have had any bad fruitcake but is willing to try more fruitcakes looking for better fruitcakes or a diversity of fruitcakes.

In keeping with being a party of one, I think my fruitcake is very good and there may be some other good fruitcakes somewhere. I can say that many people have asked for my fruitcake and look forward to having another each year.

My fruitcake isn’t strictly “my” fruitcake. It is based on a recipe my mother gave us years ago. Her recipe in turn was based on a Mrs. Lamberth’s. We kept my mother’s hand-written recipe in a cookbook and the cookbook disappeared. Fortunately, I had the ingredient list on a computer and was able to reconstruct it.

Before you start, be sure you have a 12-qt bowl or pan for mixing the fruit and nuts and an 8-qt mixer bowl for the batter. You will want an extra large spatula/mixing spoon. I broke a large wooden spoon one year. You will need an electric mixer, and if your hands tire easily, you’ll want a stand-alone mixer. Some of the other equipment needs will become apparent as you read on.

In the 12-qt. bowl mix

	1-½ lbs.	seedless raisins
	1 lb.	golden raisins
	½ lb.	candied citron
	½ lb.	black walnuts
	½ lb.	English walnuts (also just called walnuts)

Make sure all the clumps of raisins and citron are separated.

If not already cut in half, cut in half

½ lb.

candied red cherries (also called glazed cherries)

Set aside 14 red cherry halves for decorating the cake tops. Add the remainder to the fruit-nut mix. Repeat with

½ lb.

candied green cherries

Cut into wedges

1 lb.

candied pineapple

If the pineapple rings or wedges are more than 3/8 inch thick, split them. Set aside 28 pineapple wedges for the cake tops. Add the remainder to the fruit-nut mix.

From

1 lb.

pecan halves

select 28 pecans for the cake tops. Break the remainder into smaller pieces and add to the mix.

Grate the rind of

2 oranges and 2 lemons

and add to the mix.

Stir the mix to distribute the fruit and nuts evenly. Sift

2 cups

flour

over the mix, a small amount at a time, stirring the flour into the mix as you go.

Don’t worry if you don’t have the exact amount of each ingredient. I think I put in two few pecans and too many walnuts in my first batch this year.

For the batter, start by whipping

½ lb.

butter (two sticks)

in the 8-qt. bowl until it peaks and stays in one piece. Add

2 cups

brown sugar

and beat until the mixture is smooth. Add

7 eggs

and beat until the mixture is consistent. Sift together into the mixture

	2-½ cup	flour
	1 Tbsp	ground cinnamon (Tbsp means tablespoon)
	1 tsp	salt (tsp means teaspoon)
	1 tsp	allspice
	1 tsp	cloves
	1 tsp	nutmeg
	1 tsp	baking powder (which I forgot one year)
	½ tsp	baking soda

Sift the dry ingredients a bit at a time and mix into the batter. You’ll get some sense as to how much can be mixed in without undue clumping.

Add directly to the batter or in another bowl

	1 cup	cherry jelly, cherry conserves, or currant jelly
	½ cup	cherry juice (enjoy the remainder, it comes in 46-oz. cans)
	¾ cup	dark molasses (now you will understand “slow as molasses”)
	½ cup	red wine (you might use the red wine to “rinse” the molasses cup)
	1-½ oz.	brandy (and maybe 1-1/2 oz. into you)
	2 tsp	vanilla
	½ cup	pie cherries (mash these well)

Mix each ingredient or the mix of liquids thoroughly until the batter is smooth (except for lumps of pie cherries).

Add the batter to the fruit-nut mix and blend thoroughly. Now you’ll know why I said you should have an extra large spatula or spoon. Be sure to get all the fruit and flour that “hides” in the bottom, especially the center or the edge.

Grease with butter 14 “baby loaf” pans. These are about 3x5 inches and available in packs of five at most supermarkets. Don't wait until the last minute to buy. You and I aren’t the only home bakers in town.

Spoon the cake mixture into each pan up to about an inch from the top. You might think you don't have enough pans at first, and then suddenly you find you have to fill the last pan from the others.

Bake for two hours at 250° F. At 1-1/2 hours poke about six holes in each cake with a toothpick and pour

1 Tbsp.

dark rum

on each. Put the set-aside fruit and nuts on each and then dribble

corn syrup

on the tops. Return to the oven. They are ready when you poke them with a toothpick and it comes out with almost no dough stuck to it.

Be forewarned, your fruitcake liberal friends and relatives are going to expect this every year.