ADVENT DAY 21: FRUITCAKE

"People don't eat like they used to," my hairdresser explained. "We'll have banana bread Christmas morning. People just don't eat such rich holiday food any more."

"My mother used to make me carry loaves of fruitcake she had baked to homes all over our neighborhood," a church member reminisced. "Folks were always really nice to me when I delivered the fruitcake, but I hated to do it. I didn't think the fruitcake tasted too good."

My mother was a true lover of fruitcake and believe me – she worked hard at the process of making it. In the fall, she would buy the candied fruit at a supermarket in Lewiston because it wasn't available in Orofino. Sometimes she would candy her own fruit, especially the pineapple. Her fruitcake recipe was more fruit than batter – just enough batter to hold the fruit together. Early in November she would bake the fruitcake so that it had time to "age" before the holidays. The baking process involved lining the pans – four of them – with brown paper, and she did that with her usual precision. To serve the cake, she would slice it thinly and arrange on a plate. She especially enjoyed holding her slice up to the light; she liked to see the light shine through the colored fruit – like stained glass.

I don't bake fruitcake. My concession to fruitcake is an old Farm Journal recipe called "fruitcake squares." On the same order as "magic bars" or "hello dolly bars," you start with melted butter and sprinkle graham cracker crumbs, then coconut, then fruit and nuts, then pour a can of sweetened condensed milk over the top. I use radiant mix but also raisins and dates. The other day I added some candied fruit to banana bread. KW