Who likes fruitcake?

[Zen]

I could go for a hunka good fruitcake right now.

What is Christmas pudding?

[SlowButSteady]

We're such rednecks. The brick-like fruitcakes we used to get as gifts? You could underpin your trailer with them.

[spazzdog]

I could go for a hunka good fruitcake right now.

What is Christmas pudding?

See Wikipedia link for all things "Christmas pudding"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_pudding

[Zen]

"Christmas pudding is a steamed pudding, heavy with dried fruit and nuts, and usually made with suet"

Suet?

[VeloVT]

I'd say I prefer fruitcake to mincemeat pie.

[MomOnBike]

OK, we're talking my soul foods here.

We called it either suet pudding or plum pudding, and it was steamed. My great-grandmother made it for Christmas, and I recall it as being quite good. It was served with a hard sauce, so called because it was made with a fair quantity of hard liquor. Whiskey, I think, with butter and powdered sugar. (That was good, too! )

My grandmother made mincemeat pies with venison. Again, quite good, and made with whiskey. (There may be a theme here. . .) There were other ingredients, raisins, I think, and apples (?).

I'm suddenly rather hungry. Sadly, I didn't get the recipes for either one.

[bmccasland]

I made shortbread cookies with mincemeat filling. Layer of shortbread, layer of mincemeat, another layer of shortbread - bake, cut into bars. I fell in love with these years ago while on vacation in Scotland.

[katluvr]

Ok, can't say I have ever had "homemade" fruitcake. Nor do I eat the store bought bricks, however...
I have a friend, she is an awesome cook. She does recipe's from all over the place...on line, food network, anyplace.
So for our "Christmas gathering" we did more appetizers. I don't know where she got the recipe but it was....
a cream cheese type mixture w/ savory seasonings (not sure what kind) and on top of this was crumbled (toasted) fruit cake, and bacon (yes!) and nuts. Then you put the spread on sliced toasted fruit cake. (yep, like a like spread on your cake).
It was oddly weird, sweat and savory (and a bit toasted)...can't say I liked it, but I had more than one. Very, very interesting mix.

K

[malkin]

Suet is a kind of fat.

I think pudding is an ancient version of what fruitcake was before those colors were invented for the fruit.

[spazzdog]

I think "bird feed" when I see the word "suet"... from the birdie aisle in the pet food store.

Somehow eating that stuff is not a pleasing thought

[malkin]

Thinking about eating fat doesn't really appeal to me much.

Actually eating it is really quite a pleasure under the right circumstances; especially when I'm blissfully unaware of it.

And you don't eat it plain fercryingoutloud.

[redrhodie]

Aw shucks! I finally had real fruitcake today for the first time since I was little, and I was going to vote, but the poll is closed. I liked it. It was made by the mother of one of the kids in my lbs, with no booze, but otherwise very traditional, even baked in a can. Lovely dried fruit and nuts, no florescent colors. I was thinking the ice cream would be good.

[Jenerator]

"Christmas pudding is a steamed pudding, heavy with dried fruit and nuts, and usually made with suet"

Suet?

Suet is fat off beef (or maybe also mutton) kidneys. It's a fairly hard, white fat that doesn't really have a lot of taste, just a unique melting point that makes it useful for steamed pudding.

It's one of the secret ingredients in my Mom's family's Carrot Pudding, traditionally served for desert around Christmas time (at least it was, until everybody got worried about eating too much fat and/or any meat products at all). I wouldn't use the stuff sold for bird feed and always used to get mine from the butcher, usually by special order.

Meanwhile, back on topic, I like good fruitcake, but can't be bothered with the store-bought stuff with artificially green & red things.

[malkin]

Fat in foods should always be a secret ingredient!