The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 19)

br> -- Elaine Kyle /p>

I remember fruitcakes. My Grandmother, Mother and Aunts all made them, each a little different and then slowly phased out of the Christmas festivities. Definitely an acquired taste.

Of course "fruitcake" is also a term describing anyone a little out of phase with reality.

p>Considering he is outrageously "heavy," "liquor soaked," and has just enough blather to "bind" his brain together, could we use the term for Teddy Kennedy? br> -- Jim Woodward br> Fruitland, Maryland /p> p> I enjoyed Mr. Henry's ode to the lowly fruitcake. Like him, I also have great memories of the fruitcakes my mother used to make (and still does) around the Christmas holidays. Along with her Christmas cookies, these confections were the highlight of Christmastime for me as a boy. (OK, the presents were the highlight, but the fruitcakes and cookies were close behind.) I'm not sure where my mother got her recipes from, but she makes two types of fruitcakes. One is the more traditional dark variety, with dates, chopped nuts, candied fruit and so forth. The other is a light version, with coconut, candied fruit and ground walnuts. (The coconut variety was always my favorite.) These were nothing like the gloppy agglomerations of candied fruit you get commercially. Indeed, they were more like quick breads (such as banana bread or pumpkin bread), not heavy at all. My mother still sends me a couple fruitcakes each year. When I have the time, I also make some, using her recipes. I remember taking some to my in-laws one Christmas early in my marriage, but I had no takers. (My wife's family also doesn't like pumpkin pie -- go figure.) It wasn't until I became an adult that I realized that most people, apparently, have very negative views of this Christmas delight. Their loss. Thanks, Mr. Henry, for a very pleasant stroll down memory lane. br> -- Steve Cianca

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