Steve Wertz wrote:

> For all those people considering passing out fruitcakes for Christmas:
>
> PLEASE... DON'T.

Send this. Margaret Suran gave me the recipe, and even some of the breads, and this
will melt the heart of many of fruitcake haters.
<begin paste>
Fruit Bread

2 cups flour

l teaspoon baking soda

l cup sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten

l cup raisins, soaked in 1 to 1 1/2 cups of boiling water (depends how
dried out the raisins are) and a walnut sized piece of unsalted butter

l cup diced dried California (not the Turkish, they are too sweet)
apricots

1/2 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries

1 cup mixed fruitcake fruit

1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, broken into small pieces

1 cup chocolate chips

Put first three ingredients into a large bowl and mix with wooden
spoon. Mix in the eggs, which will not moisten the dry stuff
completely. Add the raisins with the liquid and stir well. Add the
other ingredients and just mix to incorporate.
Spoon batter into buttered and floured loaf pans. I get two to three
from this recipe. If you just put it into two pans, you have to bake it
for too long and the bottom may burn, if you put it into three pans,
bake for about an hour in preheated 350o oven, until top feels solid and
wooden toothpick comes out dry.
blacksalt

Any fruitcake or bread or cookie recipe that requires candied fruit is much
improved by homemade candied citrus peel. Chop the peel of 3 oranges and 3
lemons (or the equivalent of your choice of orange, lemon and grapefruit
peel). Simmer in water to cover for just 10 minutes, then drain. Stir in a
cup of sugar and simmer until the liquid (which appears from nowhere) is
cooked away. The fruit peel comes out tender and tastes like a good
marmalade. Replace storebought citrus peel with that. If a recipe calls for
candied cherries, replace them with dried cranberries for color and better
flavor. If it calls for candied pineapple, replace with light-colored dried
fruit like golden raisins or apricots.

I'm convinced that the much of the general antipathy to fruitcake is due to
commercial candied fruit. The only flavor is corn syrup, and the consistency
is like paraffin.

Kathy

When you say citrus peel, do you mean the whole rind including the white
bitter part, or just the thin colored part that I call the zest? I'm
about to try this. How well does the candied citrus peel last, and how
do I store it?

--Lia


Kathy wrote:
> Any fruitcake or bread or cookie recipe that requires candied fruit is much
> improved by homemade candied citrus peel. Chop the peel of 3 oranges and 3
> lemons (or the equivalent of your choice of orange, lemon and grapefruit
> peel). Simmer in water to cover for just 10 minutes, then drain. Stir in a
> cup of sugar and simmer until the liquid (which appears from nowhere) is
> cooked away. The fruit peel comes out tender and tastes like a good
> marmalade. Replace storebought citrus peel with that. If a recipe calls for
> candied cherries, replace them with dried cranberries for color and better
> flavor. If it calls for candied pineapple, replace with light-colored dried
> fruit like golden raisins or apricots.
>
> I'm convinced that the much of the general antipathy to fruitcake is due to
> commercial candied fruit. The only flavor is corn syrup, and the consistency
> is like paraffin.
>
> Kathy
>
>

"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
news:AGHwb.302559$Fm2.322719@attbi_s04...
> When you say citrus peel, do you mean the whole rind including the white
> bitter part, or just the thin colored part that I call the zest? I'm
> about to try this. How well does the candied citrus peel last, and how
> do I store it?
>
> --Lia

I just peel the fruits and chop the peels, white and rind both, the same
part I would be throwing away if I ate an orange any other time of the year
(except for the green stem nubbin). If I use grapefruit and get a really
thick-skinned one, I'll remove a little of the white pith. But you're aiming
for something that looks like the tiny cubes of candied citrus peel that you
might buy at the store, not something shaped like zest shavings. I make
candied peels along about Thanksgiving and store them in a jar in the
fridge. If there's some left by next Thanksgiving, out it goes and I make a
fresh batch. I've never experimented with keeping it more than a year.

I learned to do this from a recipe for chocolate dipped candied fruit peels.
Same recipe, only you cut the peels in strips instead of tiny cubes, candy
them the same way, roll finished ones in granulated sugar, and dip one end
in melted semisweet chocolate. The orange ones are yummy.

Kathy

kalanamak > wrote in message
>
> Margaret Suran gave me the recipe, and even some of the breads, and this
> will melt the heart of many of fruitcake haters.
> <begin paste>
> Fruit Bread
>
> 2 cups flour
> l teaspoon baking soda
> l cup sugar
> 3 eggs, slightly beaten
> l cup raisins, soaked in 1 to 1 1/2 cups of boiling water (depends how
> dried out the raisins are) and a walnut sized piece of unsalted butter
> l cup diced dried California (not the Turkish, they are too sweet)
> apricots
> 1/2 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
> 1 cup mixed fruitcake fruit
> 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, broken into small pieces
> 1 cup chocolate chips
>
> Put first three ingredients into a large bowl and mix with wooden
> spoon. Mix in the eggs, which will not moisten the dry stuff
> completely. Add the raisins with the liquid and stir well. Add the
> other ingredients and just mix to incorporate.
> Spoon batter into buttered and floured loaf pans. I get two to three
> from this recipe. If you just put it into two pans, you have to bake it
> for too long and the bottom may burn, if you put it into three pans,
> bake for about an hour in preheated 350o oven, until top feels solid and
> wooden toothpick comes out dry.
> blacksalt

I can vouch for this bread (Bishop's Bread). Margaret mailed me a
loaf a couple years ago, and it was just wonderful!

This year, Hag mailed me two loaves my mom's recipe fruitcake. Of
course, I snarfed one down immediately, but I'm saving the second for
Christmas Day.

(Thanks again, Hag and Margaret)

Back to bed for this flu-stricken Damsel ...
Carol

Damsel in dis Dress wrote:
>
> kalanamak > wrote in message
> >
> > Margaret Suran gave me the recipe, and even some of the breads, and this
> > will melt the heart of many of fruitcake haters.

> > blacksalt
>
> I can vouch for this bread (Bishop's Bread). Margaret mailed me a
> loaf a couple years ago, and it was just wonderful!
>
> This year, Hag mailed me two loaves my mom's recipe fruitcake. Of
> course, I snarfed one down immediately, but I'm saving the second for
> Christmas Day.
>
> (Thanks again, Hag and Margaret)
>
> Back to bed for this flu-stricken Damsel ...
> Carol

What a nice Thanksgiving gift, seeing posts from Carol after such a long
time.

I guess that you know what you will get for Christmas, unless you tell
me to send something else. I believe that you still have one coupon to
cash in, right?

If you would know how much you are missed, you would pop in more
frequently.

Hugs and best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving for you and the man who
changed you into a Trollop, Margaret

Get well soon!

"Damsel in dis Dress" > wrote in message
m...
>
> I can vouch for this bread (Bishop's Bread). Margaret mailed me a
> loaf a couple years ago, and it was just wonderful!
>
> This year, Hag mailed me two loaves my mom's recipe fruitcake. Of
> course, I snarfed one down immediately, but I'm saving the second for
> Christmas Day.
>
> (Thanks again, Hag and Margaret)
>
> Back to bed for this flu-stricken Damsel ...
> Carol

Hey! Wottayoudoinghere? Glad to see ya and hope you have a great
Thanksgiving!

Feel better!

Jack Outfluenza

Nice to see you posting, Damsel. Get well soon.

Becca

Hark! I heard (Damsel in dis Dress) say:

<snip>

> Back to bed for this flu-stricken Damsel ...
> Carol

Ooooh, drink lots of chicken soup and get better soon! It's nice seeing
you in RFC again...


--
j.j. ~ mom, gamer, novice cook ~
...fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!

Damsel in dis Dress typed:

> I can vouch for this bread (Bishop's Bread). Margaret mailed me a
> loaf a couple years ago, and it was just wonderful!
>
> This year, Hag mailed me two loaves my mom's recipe fruitcake. Of
> course, I snarfed one down immediately, but I'm saving the second for
> Christmas Day.
>
> (Thanks again, Hag and Margaret)
>
> Back to bed for this flu-stricken Damsel ...
> Carol

HEY!
Where ya been? Have a Happy Thanksgiving and stop in to see us more often!

BOB
get well soon, too

" BOB" > wrote in message >.. .
> Damsel in dis Dress typed:
>
> > I can vouch for this bread (Bishop's Bread). Margaret mailed me a
> > loaf a couple years ago, and it was just wonderful!
> >
> > This year, Hag mailed me two loaves my mom's recipe fruitcake. Of
> > course, I snarfed one down immediately, but I'm saving the second for
> > Christmas Day.
> >
> > (Thanks again, Hag and Margaret)
> >
> > Back to bed for this flu-stricken Damsel ...
> > Carol
>
> HEY!
> Where ya been? Have a Happy Thanksgiving and stop in to see us more often!
>
> BOB
> get well soon, too

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I promise to stop in from time
to time, as long as everyone promises not to get horribly sick, just
to draw me back. <G> I hope Michael continues to improve with every
day.

Our car battery died, and we are both sick right now, so we figured
we'd be heating up some Marie Callendar pot pies for dinner. Then
Crash thought of the buffet at the local truck stop, and gave AAA a
call so we could get our battery charged up.

We hoped that the buffet would have turkey. Boy, did they have
turkey! And beef and ham, too. I had turkey and gravy, which were
pretty good, but needed salt. Everything needed salt. The mashed
potatoes were instant, and the dressing was flavorless. Crash claims
to have tasted a small amount of sage, but they must've missed it in
the portion I got. They had all the other usual suspects, too: yams
with marshmallows, creamed corn, green bean hotdish, cranberries,
dinner rolls, etc.

My favorite (not low-carb) thing was a pumpkin dessert. It had the
usual flour, sugar, and butter base layer, then a pumpkin pie type
layer, then blobs of gingerbread-type stuff, followed by a dollop of
whipped cream. DAMN! That stuff was good!

Anyway, that should bring everyone up to date. Hmmmm ... maybe not
....

We moved to a house in a small southern Minnesota city in August. I
could write a book about that whole experience, but who couldn't,
after a move? We're happy as clams down here, although we don't know
a soul.

I get my social interaction on the IRC and with my buddy, Crash.
Lately, I just haven't had the concentration to read newsgroups. I
try, but I just can't do it.

We're hoping to start decorating for Christmas in the next week or
two. We'll have some family over for Christmas eve, and Crash and I
will share one of his special lasagnas for dinner on Christmas day.

Take care, everyone!
Carol

Carol,

It is *really* good to see your name here on rfc again. I, for one, and
among many others, have missed you!

Wayne

"Damsel in dis Dress" > wrote in message
om...
>
> We moved to a house in a small southern Minnesota city in August. I
> could write a book about that whole experience, but who couldn't,
> after a move? We're happy as clams down here, although we don't know
> a soul.
>
> I get my social interaction on the IRC and with my buddy, Crash.
> Lately, I just haven't had the concentration to read newsgroups. I
> try, but I just can't do it.
>
> We're hoping to start decorating for Christmas in the next week or
> two. We'll have some family over for Christmas eve, and Crash and I
> will share one of his special lasagnas for dinner on Christmas day.
>
> Take care, everyone!
> Carol

Good luck in the new home, and it was great to see you again. Don't worry,
you'll have more new pals than you can shake a stick at before long.

Stop in again,

Jack Welcome

In article > ,
(Damsel in dis Dress) wrote:

> Back to bed for this flu-stricken Damsel ...
> Carol

Ooh! Nothing worse than being stricken with the flu in time for a big
eating holiday like Thanksgiving ... :-(

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. It was good to see your name on my
screen!

sd