You ache. I ache. We all ache for fruitcake!

At our last conversation group, we talked about a traditional holiday food called fruitcake. The funny part is that most people don't actually like to eat it, yet it is still a traditional gift at Christmas time. What is it made of? That is the BIG question. The joke is that people save it in the freezer and re-gift it to someone else next year. It lasts forever!

Here is a traditional recipe in case you want to give it a try:

BASIC FRUIT CAKE BATTER
3/4 cup lightly salted butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
3 eggs lightly beaten
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. gr. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. gr. mace
1/4 tsp. gr. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. gr. cloves
1/4 cup apple juice 2-4 oz. brandy (poured on after baking)

ALL-NATURAL FRUIT
1 cup dark raisins
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup currants
8 oz. dates,chopped
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 cup chopped dried pineapple
1 cup whole almonds
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup apple juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 280*F.
To prepare pans (one each,or two 8x4-" loaves), butter the pan, then cut a strip of brown paper the width of the pan to line the bottom and two sides, and butter the paper too. For a ring pan, trace a circle on brown paper and line the bottom only.
Soak the raisins and currants in boiling water to cover, drain before using.
Cream butter with brown sugar until smooth.
Add lightly beaten eggs and oil. Mix well.
Sift in flour and spices, stirring.
Add apple juice and drained fruits.
Add additional apple juice and the nuts.
Mix very well, coating everything evenly with batter.
Divide into prepared pans,smoothing top with spatula.
Bake at 280*F. for 1 hour and 45 minutes or up to 2 hours depending on the size of the pan. Test for doneness with a toothpick in the center.
Leave in pan to cool.
Pour 2-4 oz. brandy over each cake in pan. Let soak overnight.
The next day remove cakes from pans and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Store in a cool place.

In case you get a fruitcake this season, here are some suggested uses:

-Door Stop
-Weapon
-Paper Weight
-Homeplate
-Hammer
-Bricks to make a house (watch out for mice)
-Foot Rest
-Liquify it and power a jet
-Gift for your "favorite" person
-Hockey Puck
-Surf Board
-Boat Anchor
-Individual Paperweights (slices)
-Use fruit to make some Sangria
-Football
-Heat it up to make an iron
-Weight for the back of your pick-up truck

Visit: I hate fruitcake for more information http://www.penfold.net/ihatefruitcake.html

Can you think of any other uses for fruitcake? Have you ever tried it? Anyone brave enough to bake one? Are there any traditional foods fin your culture that are like this?

First Friday Fun!

We started at the Davenport, the historic hotel downtown known as "one of America's exceptional hotels" since it was built in 1914. If you haven't been inside...you should check it out. Yes, that's REAL gold-leaf around the fireplace. Can you believe this hotel was almost demolished in the 80's before it was restored in 2002?

Here we are in one of the gorgeous foyers outside the upstairs ballroom. You can't see the blue color or the paintings on the wall, but maybe some of the people who went there can explain what it looks like inside. Tomoko, Jones, Yanni, Shirley, Lingsail, Xiao-Xiao, and Ai were all there!
We walked through several art galleries, saw masks, paintings, jewelry, origami figures, textiles, clay sculptures, among other things! For those of you who went, what was your favorite art piece?
Some people got REALLY into the art. Jones was busy talking all kinds of photos of the clay figures and masks! So, do you think they look alike?

We tried to have dinner at Ella's Supper Club and listen to some jazz, but they were PACKED! So we headed up to The Old Spaghetti Factory for some real Italian food (better than the PUB's said Xiao-Xiao). Ai used to work at an Italian restaurant in Japan. I wonder how it was different.
Yanni was brave (and smart) to pick a Mud Pie for her dinner. Dessert for dinner? I like that! But does Mud Pie sound appealing? Would you try it? Yanni shared it with the rest of us at the table. What did it taste like?
The artists and the gallery owners we met very interested in talking with all of us. Keiko (pictured here) talked with Ai and Tomoko in Japanese for quite awhile. They told me that because she has been living in Spokane for 40 years, she has an American accent when she speaks Japanese. Did anyone else have a fun conversation? (Neal and Lingsing were getting deep--talking about happiness.)

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