Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

2015 - celebrating the 100th birthday of Raggedy Ann. Cloth doll by Wilma Simmons from a Happy Hearts pattern.  “I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something. So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”  I wish I said this but the credit goes to  ―  Neil Gaiman

There's nothing more to say, except ....  have your cake and eat it too!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

After preparing this Advent blog series, I am more convinced that there are many more stories about fruitcake still to be told, but here we are at  Christmas Eve already. If you have been following the blog, I am sure you are someone who enjoys a piece of  scrumptious fruitcake with a cup of tea or a cappucino, or a glass of wine. Culinary experts say that these days our palates are becoming more sophisticated and adventurous , and  contemporary food pairings are exciting challenges.  For me, a piece of my mum's fruitcake and a cup of Lady Grey is just as perfect a pairing as you can imagine. However,  foodie bloggers offer many more matches to explore: Alcohol is obviously a tried and true partner of fruitcake : A great opportunity to show off a sweet sherry or Madeira. A sweet oloroso sherry ...is delicious with crumbly, rich fruit cakes as is a sweet 5 or 10 year old Madeira.... A richly flavoured whisky aged in sherry casks- can also be great with a fruit cake. As can a

 As we come close to the end of this Advent blog exploring all there is know about fruitcake, I felt there had to be at least one post sharing some of those terrible Christmas cracker jokes about fruitcake and some other forms of fruitcake humour. WARNING : Some of these jokes are pathetic! These ones are especially for one of my grandsons ... Q. What is the best thing to put into a Christmas cake? A. Your teeth! Q. What do crackers, nuts and fruitcake remind you of? A. You ! Q. Why is History like a fruitcake? A: It is full of dates! Q. Who beats his chest and swings from Christmas cake to Christmas cake? A: Tarzipan!  And if it couldn;t get any worse .... Knock Knock Who's there?  Nettie Nettie who?  You're Nettie than a fruitcake!  And here is And here is a recipe to be enjoyed .... so much better when listened to, so click the link at the bottom of the recipe. Christmas Rum Cake  Ingredients :  1 tsp sugar 1 or 2 quarts tum 1 cup dried fruit

from Best Tips and Recipes, Solutions for Ladies.  We all want to bake the perfect Christmas fruitcake, so for this blog, I searched for the tips and secrets of the most famous bakers around the world. Regrettably I cannot possibly share some of recipes and tips for the "world's best fruitcake" - not because I want to keep them secret, but because I simply cannot understand them - like the example above in Urdu. However, I consulted just one American, one Australian and one British  baking expert to make a "to do list" for the perfect cake.   Firstly from American author, Dolores Casella, renowned for her two classic cookbooks, Th e World of Baking and The World of Bread : Make fruitcake well in advance of the time that they will be used. One month of storage is the minimum. Freeze fruitcake only after it has been stored for at least 4 weeks. Take several days to make your cake or cakes. prepare the nuts and fruits, pour the liquo

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert HRH at the Women's Institute Centenary  Fruitcake fit for a queen! Sounds like a good marketing line, but  there are many claims which suggest that the fruitcake, has been and remains a royal favourite!  " Fruitcake gets a bad rap because so much of what's sold is really not good, " says Bob McNutt, vice president of the Collins Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas,  which has been making pecan fruitcakes for 95 years. " It's like cars. You can buy one off the used-car lot for $100 or pay $300,000 for one." McNutt, who sells cakes to the Aga Khan and Princess Caroline of Monaco, was recently happy to learn that Queen Elizabeth II always travels with a fruitcake, which she eats with her afternoon tea." www.collinstreet.com   How did it all start?  As far back as 1674, the Guildford (UK) Show records indicate that a large plum cake was presented to the Duke of York who later was crowned James II.

How do fruitcakes travel?  Stories of fruitcake on the Crusades, battles and pilgrimages as well as a more recent report of a fruitcake being taken up to Mt Everest are not surprising. My own travel story involves Papua New Guinea and my friend, Phil who makes fruitcakes and vacuum seals them to be opened later as a special treat when travelling and working as volunteers on special projects in the PNG highlands.  Not only did the cakes travel well, they were delicious and so welcome as a treat with  a cuppa, - always timed perfectly when homesickness  and fatigue set in after being away from home for  too long. Earlier in this countdown, I discovered that on some airlines fruticake is a banned substance becuase its density confuses scanners.. Phil's fruitcake has never had a problem travelling by plane! from http://mentalfloss.com/article/60595/15-fun-facts-about-fruitcake  So much for going to exotic places! T his fruitcake  I think has the best travel story - to the

from Facebook Page /The Fruitcake Lady  There are not many people who can say they showed Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise how to make fruitcake on TV. Marie Rudisill (1911-2006), known as the Fruitcake Lady was an author, a celebrated cook and a minor TV personality. She was well known on US television as a 90+year old who appeared regularly on "The Tonight Show" hosting an" agony aunt" segment, giving advice on all kinds of life's issues.  Her forthright answers and wicked sense of humour endeared her to audiences although she was outspokenly intolerant and irrationally biased. The Fruitcake Lady's other claim to fame was that she was the aunt of Truman Capote, highly acclaimed author, and this connection was used in her own writing. Her published works included: Truman Capote , The Story of  His Bizarre and Exotic Childhood by an Aunt Who Helped to Raise Him (1983)  Sook's Cookbook : Memories and Traditional Recipes from the Deep South (1989) 

from http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/barker/christmas/christmas.html Christmas Cake in Four Quarters  Where else in the world is the Christmas fruitcake?  Here are just a few of the more well known.... Germany :   Stollen is a traditional fruitcake for Christmas. It is loaf shaped and dredged with powdered icing sugar. The most famous recipe is the Dresden stollen sold at the equally famous Christmas markets. However, I tasted an absolutely scrumptious stollen just a couple of days ago (right in the heart of Newcastle NSW Australia)  and that's what inspired this blog post. Italy : I think they like fruitcake in Italy?   Panforte is a heavy Tuscan cake , from the traditions of 13th century, heavily spiced and baked in a shallow pan. Panetton e is a another sweet fruit cake, made with dried and glace fruits. Also well known is the fruitcake from Genoa. I remember it filled with lots of glace cherries, but I am not sure if this is what is called Pandolce.

Professional and amateur bakers alike might insist that baking a Christmas fruitcake is an art, but is it science? A couple of days ago I listed suggested crazy uses of fruitcake, but on none of the lists was as a science experiment. Again, I was wrong.... Fruitcake Science Festival; The Science Museum of Virginia conduct unconventional science experiments on fruitcake as an annual holiday event on 26 December.- 30 December.  Fruitcakes are burnt, dropped from great heights and even nitrogen frozen all in the name of science. In one demonstration, a museum educator found that fruitcake was so dense that  all attempts of  burning, freezing, and beating made much difference to the cake.  “Fruitcakes are like cockroaches, they’ll survive pretty much anything,” said Kramer, a science educator at the museum. Fruitcake Physics : For a more practical approach to fruitcake science experiments, Professor Braham of University of Bristol examines the crystal structur

Every year, at the beginning of Advent, I give each of my grandchildren a Christmas T shirt. I have never found a Christmas Fruitcake T shirt in the shopping centres in my neighbourhood, but obviously I haven't been looking hard enough. What a selection to choose from if "fruitcake" fashion is your T shirt  preference....  There are the inevitable "Keep Calm and .... While T shirts are the appropriate Christmas attire for the southern hemisphere, What about all those "thinking of a white Christmas" ... only if you are  want to attract attention... . And if you are celebratng your first Christmas, there is no reason to miss out. No more predicable plain coloured socks and matching tie as a gift , everyone can get in the spirit of Christmas fruitcake.... However, I think the ultimate in Fruitcake Fashion is  Fruitcake footwear - designed for  an Australian summer Christmas. Note: The fruitcake fashions shown on this b