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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 30, 2009 20:32:16 GMT -6
I don't think Vickie ever passed it on, so she's stuck with it now.
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 28, 2010 22:09:14 GMT -6
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Post by stepper on Jun 25, 2010 17:12:56 GMT -6
I'm not passing the famous Fruitcake to anyone - for which Phalon should be grateful. But in case anyone hasn't noticed today is 25 June and that means we're half way to Christmas! Get out those shopping lists! Times a wasting!
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Post by Phalon on Dec 16, 2010 23:38:01 GMT -6
Uhm....Stepper? Have you read that last post of yours in this thread?
I believe it specifically said, and I quote, because the board has that capability (eye-roll):
What happened? You not only passed it on....you passed it to me!
Don't expect me to be grateful now!
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Post by stepper on Dec 17, 2010 22:50:36 GMT -6
Why not? I left you alone for nearly six months! It was time to start passing around your favorite fruit. Or maybe fruits. Doesn't matter - you've had lots of time without a hint of your yearly visitor. I did you a favor - it was time.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 18, 2010 7:40:14 GMT -6
Yes, yes, I know....I shouldn't look a gift fruitcake in the mouth.
Or maybe that's suppose to be 'shouldn't put a gift fruitcake in the mouth'? It's the number one cause of most home injuries, I hear.
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Post by stepper on Dec 18, 2010 21:18:47 GMT -6
It might be an easy way to pull a few unwanted teeth.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 20, 2010 5:50:48 GMT -6
I'm quite attached to all my teeth, thank you very much. And so, I shall not touch the fruit cake with a ten-foot pole except to pass it on.
That was last year, and it seems Vickie doesn't want to touch it (can't blame her) this year either, so it's on the move again.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 13, 2011 8:16:14 GMT -6
So it's on the move again....
This thing has been passed around Whoosh for the past 9 years (8 on the current board, and one on ezboard Whoosh). Nine years! We should apply for the World's Record as having the oldest living fruitcake!
Pfft. We're not even close.
It seems there's three other long-living fruitcakes that already claim the title as the World's Oldest Fruitcake.
Kept under glass for preservation, there's a fruitcake in Michigan that's nearly 140 years old - give or take a couple of years depending on which of the oh-so-reliable websites you happen to fall upon. It was baked by Fidelia Ford in either November of 1873 or 1878 for Thanksgiving of the following year, (apparently it started off with the intention of living a long life). Unfortunately, Fidelia did not outlive her fruitcake; she died before Thanksgiving, and her relatives couldn't bear to eat or dispose of it. It became somewhat of a family heirloom, being passed down from generation to generation, making an appearance at every family reunion. It also made an appearance on the Tonight Show in 2003, where Jay Leno actually took a bite.
Jackson, Missouri also claims to have in captivity the World's Oldest Fruitcake. "Mary" (no last name is given to protect the fruitcake from would-be thieves) inherited the fruitcake from her father, Clarence Henry VanVelkinburg (last name given because thieves cannot steal from a dead man). The reason he hung onto it for so long is his mother made it for his 8th birthday (fruitcake as a birthday cake? poor kid) in 1907. Unfortunately, again the fruitcake outlived its baker. Clarence's mother died that night, and the fruitcake still lives on.
While Clarence's fruitcake might also be the World's Oldest Birthday Cake, there's a fruitcake in England that also dubs as the World's Oldest (Complete) Wedding Cake. Talk about a doomed marriage - what couple would want to start of their life of wedded bliss with a fruitcake? Apparently none. The elaborately decorated cake was baked in 1898 at a bakery in Bassingstoke, Hampshire, and put on display in the bakery's window. Window displays changed, and the cake was moved to the bakery's loft where it remained for nearly a century until the business closed in 1964. The baker's daughter, who never married, made the discovery late in her own life. Fearing someone would find it after her death and assume she'd been jilted at the alter, she donated it to a museum, where it's undergone preservation efforts. It seems the frosting cracked from bombing vibrations during World War II, and the weight of the icing threatened to pull the cake apart, (how they knew it cracked during WWII if, at that time, it was still hidden in the spinster's attic remains a mystery to me. Of course, it makes for a better story to have a little bit of wartime drama thrown in). Extractions using a syringe determined the cake to still be moist.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 13, 2011 17:10:53 GMT -6
Interesting. Talk about your pack rats.
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Post by stepper on Dec 13, 2011 17:11:45 GMT -6
Ya know. If a fruitcake can last that long, think of what the preservatives might do for you without embalming! They could dig you up 100 years after you pass and can't you just imagine one of those people saying "Hey! Guess what! She's still moist!"
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Post by Phalon on Dec 21, 2011 6:22:38 GMT -6
Actually, Stepper, fruitcakes are sort of embalmed. It's the liquor and powdered sugar that does it; both the high alcohol content and density of sugar prevents mold and bacteria growth. In ancient Egypt, a form of fruit cake was often buried with the dead, as food for the journey to the afterlife. Now, wouldn't that suck? Fruitcake To Go, and I wonder how many never made it to their destination because they'd rather starve than eat it.
But I'd bet there are a lot of people who would think being basted with liquor and covered in powdered sugar isn't such a bad way to go.
Speaking of on the go...
Ours is on the move again.
I handed it off to Joxie, who pawned it off on Angel, who quickly threw it back in my direction. Q got it next, where it stayed in her kitchen test lab for a couple days while she tried to doctor it up to make it more palatable. Unsuccessful in those attempts, she's given up, and tossed it....
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Post by katina2nd on Dec 22, 2011 20:49:53 GMT -6
Q can chuck it at me if she has a mind to, looks like I'm the only one around here who likes em, though after reading that bit about them being 'sort of embalmed' I'm having second thoughts now.
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Post by quettalee on Dec 22, 2011 23:46:47 GMT -6
Sorry Katman, I passed it along a couple of days ago....
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Post by Phalon on Dec 23, 2011 7:15:31 GMT -6
All these years, Katina!? Did I know this about you? It's kind of disturbing to find out, actually.....but then again, your fondness of Vegemite should have been a clue.
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Post by stepper on Dec 23, 2011 18:16:53 GMT -6
Q can chuck it at me if she has a mind to, looks like I'm the only one around here who likes em, though after reading that bit about them being 'sort of embalmed' I'm having second thoughts now. You're not alone Kat - there are a couple commercial versions that I like. I've never run into one as aged as we pretend they can be, but some of the fruitcakes are pretty good. I bet Q could make a really good one if she wanted to.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 24, 2011 7:49:00 GMT -6
And why would Q want to make a fruitcake? It might ruin her reputation as someone whose culinary masterpieces only delight....and not make people run in horror.
Just kidding, of course. Hubs said his grandmother made good fruit cake; she even dried her own fruit. It was good, that is, until it was fermented in brandy - then it was as bad as any fruitcake out there. She always made a couple non-brandy soaked ones for her grandchildren though - they were kind of like fruity zucchini bread, Hubs said.
I read that some of "the best" ones are aged for up to 10 years...on purpose!
Psst, Katina.....it looks as if you might have your wish. If you can find it.
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Post by stepper on Dec 24, 2011 8:38:18 GMT -6
Maybe that's the problem. I've never run into one that was "fermented in brandy" and if I did, I wouldn't be overly interested beyond taste testing- at least I don't think so. My alcohol intake is limited.
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Post by Siren on Dec 24, 2011 9:42:13 GMT -6
My mother makes a truly good no-bake fruitcake. It has all those required jellied fruits, which can be easily picked out. But the cake part is graham cracker crumbs, orange juice....some canned milk, I believe, butter, along with nuts and marshmallows. That part is delish. And no alcohol is included.
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Post by katina2nd on Dec 24, 2011 20:36:58 GMT -6
All these years, Katina!? Did I know this about you? It's kind of disturbing to find out, actually.....but then again, your fondness of Vegemite should have been a clue. Think I mentioned it somewhere back in the mists of time Gams, you've probably blocked it from your mind as a kinda defence mechanism. Ummmm, ya got me thinking now, Fruitcake and Vegemite, I wonder if ............................ naw probably not. ;D You're not alone Kat - there are a couple commercial versions that I like. I've never run into one as aged as we pretend they can be, but some of the fruitcakes are pretty good. I bet Q could make a really good one if she wanted to. Well done Step' looks like it must be a 'guy thing' maybe we have stronger stomachs, or less sensitive taste buds [ or no taste buds at all as I'm sure Gams would say ] Psst, Katina.....it looks as if you might have your wish. If you can find it. Ah'ha, found it yesterday thanks Gams, [ thanks Siren ] was toying with the idea of hanging on to it, but being the kind hearted kinda bloke I am [ and knowing how much you love em ] I'm willing to forego my own pleasure and pass it along to you ............... enjoy. Guess this is as good a place as any to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a happy and healtly New Year.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 24, 2011 22:05:47 GMT -6
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Post by quettalee on Dec 24, 2011 22:09:58 GMT -6
For everyone except Kat and Step... www.2camels.com/great-fruitcake-toss.phpBaking is not my forte...and since there isn't much decorating to do, I think I'll steer clear. But I do appreciate the vote of confidence, Step.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 26, 2011 10:28:48 GMT -6
HA! The fruitcake hurling sound effects in the YouTube video remind me of the sound effects during Xena fight scenes.
A couple more trivial fruitcake snippets before it's packed away for another year....
During two periods in its long history as a much hated hunk o' dessert, fruitcakes were actually banned...
The first ban was during the early 18th century, when fruitcakes were banned across continental Europe. They were thought to be too rich and decadent, and therefore sinful.
The second ban of the offensive fruitcake is still in effect. In 2005, fruitcake was officially listed as a national security threat. Their heavy density makes it nearly impossible for airport x-ray machines to detect objects that may be hidden among the fruits. Thus fruitcakes are banned from commercial airline flights as carry-on items.
"Lethal Weapon V: The Fruitcake".....not too far-fetched after-all. Oh! How about "Fruitcakes on a Plane", starring Samuel Jackson? I'd certainly pay good money to go see it, (eye-roll).
So it looks like I'm left holding the fruitcake this year - and having a hard time doing it; it weighs a ton! Katina, and Stepper, if you'd like a slice before I pack it away, you're welcome to it. It'll make it easier to haul up to the attic.
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Post by stepper on Dec 26, 2011 16:08:44 GMT -6
Attic?? Won't that sort of imbibe a musty flavor? Then again, that might help you get rid of any bugs up there - or make 'em all drunk. It could even chase off the squirrels! Okay - you get to leave it in your attic until next fall.
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Post by stepper on Nov 19, 2012 16:28:06 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Nov 19, 2012 17:18:40 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 25, 2012 15:25:37 GMT -6
I think Phalon ended up with it.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 26, 2012 5:41:41 GMT -6
I did? Again? Shoot. I wasn't even aware it was in motion until I saw Siren with it yesterday morning.
Ah, well....I'd better fire up the chainsaw to slice into it. Everyone is welcome to a slab. They make wonderful paperweights, doorstops, or commemorative bricks for your front walkway.
Enjoy!
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 26, 2012 17:25:51 GMT -6
Yeah, and she passed it on to me, and I quickly tossed it to you. I think it's only been in play for a few days, and tossed 3 times.
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Post by Siren on Dec 27, 2012 22:25:32 GMT -6
I think it was parked at my place for days, until a friendly elf gave me the heads-up. Seems I dished it just in time. *whew!*
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