Tis the Season

By fromskilledhands ( December 11, 2008 at 9:00 am) · Filed under Caring, Christmas, Love

My English mother-in-law is ready. A month or so ago, we took a trip to Holmes County, where there are plenty of Amish bulk food stores. She bought the candied fruit she loves to use in her fruitcakes. Soon she will begin the process of making the cupcake sized fruitcakes she makes for my husband, his brother and my father-in-law. Last year, she make 102.

The large stainless steel mixing bowl will come down from the top shelf, muffin tins will emerge from the cupboards, including mine, which will be taken over the stream and through the woods. The well-used recipe, now housed in a plastic sleeve, will appear on the sink shelf. Little bags of the cakes will be doled out to my eager husband; it is the one thing that will be his alone, as no one else covets that particular Christmas treat.
Over the past 25 or so years, I have tried these little cakes. On many occasions. With coffee. With tea. Even with a glass of wine. If they are an acquired taste, I have not yet done so, and it is unlikely that I will.

But there is no doubting the love that those hands put into them. One little cake at a time.

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13 comments »

  1. Cat B said,

    December 11, 2008 @ 11:35 am

    Oh, I love a fruit cake! Would mom be willing to share her recipe? My mom used to make one but she’s given it up now. She still makes her strawberry rhubarb pie though and it’s still fantastic.

  2. Laura/centerdownhome said,

    December 11, 2008 @ 5:47 pm

    They sound so charming! I really want to like them!

    I like eggnog, and that’s an aquired taste, I hear. So maybe if you tried the little gift fruitcakes with that? :)

  3. fromskilledhands said,

    December 11, 2008 @ 6:05 pm

    Cat–I’ll ask my mother-in-law for the recipe and post it here.

    Oh, Laura, I don’t care for eggnog, either :-) The love, however, goes with everything.

  4. Eryl Shields said,

    December 11, 2008 @ 11:42 pm

    I love fruit cake, but I haven’t got round to making one this year and it’s too late now. I’ll have to invent a new cakely tradition for this year.

  5. fromskilledhands said,

    December 12, 2008 @ 12:02 am

    Maybe you can make cheese-cakely ,Eryl :-)

  6. gerry rosser said,

    December 12, 2008 @ 11:37 am

    I often joke that there is only one fruitcake and people keep re-gifting it. Of course, being an educated person, I realize that there must be more than one for fruitcakes to show up as often as they do. So maybe there are 50.

    There’s a word for that candied fruit in these things, but at the moment I cannot come up with it. That stuff is just awful.

    The real issue is, of course, the lack of chocolate. Cakes are chocolate. Period. There are other items which claim to be cake, but there are people claiming to be reincarnations of Solomon, too.

    Anyway, as the Italians say, “Let them eat cheese.”

  7. Lisa Kenney said,

    December 12, 2008 @ 7:36 pm

    I come from a long line of English folk, so I suppose that’s why I LOVE fruitcake. Even better and probably less likable for people who don’t like fruitcake: Mince pie and/or Christmas pudding…with hard sauce :)

  8. Cat B said,

    December 12, 2008 @ 11:07 pm

    Hey Lisa, It’s my English Canadian background, I know, but I LOVE mince pies too and Christmas pudding with rum butter sauce. I have no time to make a pudding but will try to find one to buy now for Christmas, for sure. Thanks for the reminder! Food brings up whole worlds of memories, especially sweet foods!!

  9. fromskilledhands said,

    December 13, 2008 @ 9:17 am

    My mother-in-law also makes little mince pies. Wonderful!

  10. Mary Ann said,

    December 13, 2008 @ 9:37 am

    I’m thinking the Amish might not use that weird candy fruit stuff in their recipe so I might actually like your mo-in-law’s cake. And I’m thinking you might like it with a little rum on the side…

    Oh my. Your commenters have made me hungry (and I’ve just eaten 6 oz of strawberry-banana yogurt so I should be satisfied. HA!) I do love strawberry rhubarb pie and mince pie. Well, and chocolate, of course.

  11. sandy feet said,

    December 13, 2008 @ 12:45 pm

    They must smell good, at least, no? It sounds like a wonderful ritual. Maybe sneak some chocolate chips into the batter before they bake. :)

  12. Eryl Shields said,

    December 13, 2008 @ 11:14 pm

    Cheese-cakely sounds like a pretty good option.

  13. fromskilledhands said,

    December 14, 2008 @ 12:17 am

    When I asked my mother-in-law for her recipe so I can post it, her response was, “Oh, dear.”
    Seems like her written recipe is a guideline. Stay tuned.

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