A Fruitcake

For Aunt Thelma

While going through all of Thelma's things....I ran across several bags ( at least 10... maybe more) that had little containers of candid fruit. Still in the grocery bags they came home from the store in. They had been placed in a room right off of the kitchen. Maybe she was buying ahead so she could make her annual fruitcakes without having to buy so many containers at once. I really have no way of knowing. I do know...that it caught my attention and I know she MUST have had big plans for that fruit.

About a week or so ago my mom and I went to visit with Thelma. On our way, my mom stopped by the store to get her some snacks, drinks and special little things she likes to keep stashed in her room. Among the things my mom bought that day was a little fruitcake....and I immediately thought back to all of those little grocery bags that contained the candied fruit that we had to pitch out.

During our visit I asked Thelma about fruitcake. If she liked it, who all she made it for, how she made it. Just typical fruitcake chat. :) She said she had made it many for people in her community...and for many years. She said she just found a recipe a long time ago but couldn't recall how to make it. So a mission was born... I asked around for a tried and true recipe. Someone I work with had a recipe that her husband's grandmother was famous for...so I chose to make that one.

Mix, stir, coat the fruit w/ flour, squeeze juice from oranges and a lemon, several flavorings, pecans, white raisens, flour, etc.......I ended up w/ a tube pan...filled to the rim....and weighing nearly 20lbs (or so it seemed). Curiosity got the best of me and i tried the candied mix fruit as I was putting it in the bowl to coat with flour... GAG... it was bitter. Maybe something magical happens when it cooks FOR 3 HOURS...low and slow. I took the cake to my moms at Thanksgiving. Unbeknown to me...my oldest brother (Big M) loves fruitcake. Since I had sliced it and put it in Ziploc bags for Thelma....Big M snatched a few pieces. He called me that night saying he was finished with buying fruitcake...this would be a holiday tradition for him as well. Like Thelma...I went straight out to get my fruit so I would have it available to fix and take to my parents house on Christmas Eve. Although Big Daddy assures me that the stores would never sell out..but I wanted to be prepared...just like Thelma.

I did not take ONE PICTURE...and I am truly mad at myself for that....but the next one...I shall post just a picture of the fruitcake.

I hope Thelma liked it....I realize how hard it is to try to imitate something that she probably perfected. But surely it was at least equal to Claxton's! :)

Yes folks....some people really DO like fruitcake and I must admit that I enjoyed the experience.