I'm Still Here. Making Fruitcake and Remembering to be Thankful

My Swanky Office

I make fruitcake when things are going well.  

It's time consuming and expensive so it's a good sign when I make fruitcake.

This is the thing.  

I write a blog for a living now.  So it's just not so pressing to do it on my own anymore.  In case you missed the news, I'm the new Director for Evangelical Mission for the Northeastern Iowa Synod, ELCA.

It's a strange but wonderful position. As I described in my Staples post, I work for the ELCA but am deployed in the SYnod Office.  And I am doing stuff no other DEM is doing.  

Most DEMs are all about new starts and mission congregations.  Well we don't have many of those so my job description was written to include helping congregations use Social Media for outreach.  

It's kind of scary because I keep getting introduced as the "Expert in Social Media" when I'm really not all that expert.  I've just tried some stuff that works, read some stuff and know where to find answers,.  Usually.

I'm doing stuff I love.  I work with a Bishop I admire and other incredibly hardworking, knowledgeable, talented and downright pleasant to be around staff.  I wake up in the morning thinking "Yea I get to go into work today"  I travel around to different churches to preach and people are happy to see me.  People listen to me.  It is for me, anyway, the Best Job in the World.

But this is the thing. 

 There are parts I don't like. Sometimes I have to do things I don't want to do.  And even though just a few short months ago I couldn't breath I was so grateful and excited to get this job, there are times now when all I do is think and grouse about those silly things I have to do that I don't like.  

What the hell is wrong with me?  I guess that is what sin is. 

Because this is the thing:  Gratitude does not come easy to us.

And when it does, it doesn't stick around.  You have to work at Gratitude.  You have to make an effort.  Get lazy and you will default to bitchin and moaning about those things you don't have you wish you did or the things you do have and wish you didn't.

Don't get lazy.  It's Thanksgiving time for crying out loud. 

Maybe things are not going as well for you as they are for me. Let me tell you in the darkest of my times, I have found gratitude to be all the more important. 

 Thinking about what I did have that was good in my life has kept me out of some deep wells of despair I could have easily plunged into. 

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you"  I Thess. 5:17-18

Yea, what he said. 

Oh and here's my Fruitcake Recipe

Time to Make the Fruitcake~2011

Last year about this time I was desperately packing to be ready to move at the end of the month so I did not have time to make my usual Christmas fruit cake.  

I posted this recipe two years ago under the same heading "Time to Make the Fruitcake"

Yea I know all the jokes about fruitcake.  Just try it.  

This year's is especially good because I could not find any candied lemon and orange peel so I made my own - with this really easy recipe from the Food Network

These were so good they did not all make it into the fruitcake.  Some fell into some dark chocolate. I may never buy these again.

Do not skimp on these ingredients. Yes it is rich and unhealthy. So what? You make it once a year, you give all away except one loaf (unless you are having a party). Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 C chopped dates

1 c golden raisins

1 c. candied pineapple, thinly sliced

2 c. red candied cherries, diced

1 c. green candied cherries, diced.

1 c. candied lemon peel

1 c. candied orange peel

1 c peach preserves

about 1 c Apricot Brandy

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c pecans, coarsely chopped

1 c butter

2 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 pinch cloves

1 c. dark brown sugar

6 eggs

Directions:

The night before you bake, combine raisins, dates, cherries, pineapple, preserves with 1/2 C. brandy and vanilla in bowl. Cover. Let stand at room temperature overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 300. Grease and flour four 9 x 5 loaf pans.  Actually nowadays I spray the pan and then dust them with sugar rather than flour, works the same to keep from sticking but it make them EVEN sweeter.  And it's all about the sugar with fruitcake.

Add nuts to fruit mixture. Set aside. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar. Beat eggs separately and add to butter and sugar. Add spices. Add flour. Pour batter into fruit mixture and stir to get all of the fruit covered. The batter is just there to keep the fruit together.

Pour into loaf pans. Pat down with fingers. Decorate with half candied cherries and whole pecans. Sprinkle with red or green sugar if you like. 

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for two hours. Remove foil and bake 30-40 minutes or until cakes are browned. Cool completely in pans on wire racks.

When cakes are cool, pour 1/4 brandy over each. Cover tightly with aluminum foil or wrap in cheese cloth and store for at lease two but no more than 6 weeks before eating.

Note --if this is too much booze, you can pour orange juice over the cakes and it will be good too. But not nearly as much fun.

Time to Make the Fruitcake!

Actually I'm late this year. You really need to let it soak in the brandy for at least 4 weeks. Still time for Christmas though.

Trust me this is not the fruitcake people joke about. People always make jokes when they hear I am making fruitcake but if I can get them to actually taste my fruitcake they shut up real quick. There was a very nice gentleman in a former parish who always help me put up my Christmas tree in exchange for my fruitcake. He would talk about it all year.

There are mostly two reasons people don't like fruitcake. 1) they are into healthy food and don't believe in eating fruit that has been preserved in heavy syrup with artificial dyes. There's nothing I can do to help those people. They probably don't believe in Santa Clause either...

The other reason people don't like fruitcake is because they don't like citron and a lot of fruitcake is heavy on the citron. I don't like citron and so this cake does not have it.

Do not skimp on these ingredients. Yes it is rich and unhealthy. So what? You make it once a year, you give all away except one loaf (unless you are having a party). Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 C chopped dates
1 c golden raisins
2 c. candied pineapple, thinly sliced
2 c. red candied cherries, diced
1 c. green candied cherries, diced.
1 c. candied lemon peel
1 c. candied orange pee
1 c peach preserves
about 1 c Apricot Brandy
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c pecans, coarsely chopped
1 c butter
2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 pinch cloves
1 c. dark brown sugar
6 eggs

Directions:

The night before you bake, combine raisins, dates, cherries, pineapple, preserves with 1/2 C. brandy and vanilla in bowl. Cover. Let stand at room temperature overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 300. Grease and flour three 9 x 5 loaf pans --or smaller, I never know how many I'm going to fill.

Add nuts to fruit mixture. Set aside. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar. Beat eggs separately and add to butter and sugar. Add spices. Add flour. Pour batter into fruit mixture and stir to get all of the fruit covered. The batter is just there to keep the fruit together.

Pour into loaf pans. Pat down with fingers. Decorate with half candied cherries and whole pecans. Sprinkle with red or green sugar if you like. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for two hours. Remove foil and bake 30-40 minutes or until cakes are browned. Cool completely in pans on wire racks.

When cakes are cool, pour 1/4 brandy over each. Cover tightly with aluminum foil or wrap in cheese cloth and store for at lease two but no more than 6 weeks before eating.

Note --if this is too much booze, you can pour orange juice over the cakes and it will be good too. But not nearly as much fun.