A Year of Blogging: December 27, 2011

December 27 is 'Fruitcake' day. Ah, fruitcake. That old holiday joke. You've heard of fruitcakes sticking around for years. Last week on the local news there was a story of a fruitcake made by the Kroger Company (a grocery store chain based in Cincinnati) in 1941. Someone bought it in 1941, and then proceeded to drag it with them as they moved around the country for 30 years. In 1971, they sent the fruitcake to one of the stores, with a letter explaining the adventures of the fruitcake. The owner thought Kroger might like to have it back. Kroger wasn't interested, but the manager of the store kept it anyway. This year an estate company put it up for auction. The 70 year old fruitcake sold for $525- with all proceeds going to charity. The TV station interviewed 'experts' who felt it would still be good to eat, because it was still in the vacuum sealed canister, and the seal had not been broken. Kroger immediately released a statement recommending that whomever bought the fruitcake should not eat it, but just keep it for a conversation piece. I have never eaten fruitcake. Mom never made it. When Mom was here for Thanksgiving, I found out that my Grandma Wager used to make fruitcakes. At first I chuckled. And then Mom told me that Grandma was famous in town for her fruitcakes. My grandmother was an incredible cook, so if anyone could make fruitcake desirable, it would have been her. But then Mom told me Grandma's secret. Mom said they started making the fruitcakes in September. I forget how many she said Grandma made, but I know it was several dozen. She wrapped each fruitcake in cheesecloth, and stored them in the basement on shelves. Each week until Christmas, Grandma went through the fruitcakes and doused each one with a healthy dose of alcohol (I forget if Mom said Brandy or Rum). So by the time Christmas came along, you could get quite a buzz off Grandma's fruitcakes. Which is why people lined up for them, and thought it was wonderful to get one. I'll never think of fruitcake in the same way again!