Much Maligned Christmas Accoutrements

[Cin]

Such as fruitcake.

Everybody has a fruitcake joke.

It makes a good doorstop, paperweight, boat anchor, shot-put, anvil...
You can get in shape lifting fruitcake.

Well, I happen to love fruitcake and I’m tired of hiding my feelings. There is no shame in openly indulging my desire. I’m stepping out of the closet with my fruitcake.

I really do love me some fruitcake. Every year I buy one of the fruitcakes with frosting and enjoy pieces throughout the holidays. Yes, partly it is an excuse to eat frosting. And I would probably eat mud if you frosted it, or at least I’d lick the frosting off. But I actually like the fruitcake part too. And I love a good homemade dark fruitcake. I enjoy a slice with cream cheese. Delicious.

I guess I’m really in the minority when it comes to fruitcake. I’ve heard people comment how nobody actually eats the stuff. Well then, I wish they would give them to me instead of letting them go to waste. I eat the stuff.

Speaking of stuff, I also love stuffed dates. And figs. And prune pie.

Does anyone else have some sharply criticized, judged or otherwise vilified aspects of Christmas that they secretly (or not so secretly) love? Perhaps some adornment, decoration, tradition, food, trapping or trimming that is oft maligned that you really enjoy despite public opinion and all the bad press? Do share.

Or maybe you would like to malign some aspects of Christmas that you think aren't getting the traducement they deserve. Nothing like some good natured aspersions to get in the spirit. So please have at it.

[1QuirkyKiwi]

Fruitcake, I agree is maligned and although, I’m not a cake and biscuit eater, I like a little, and I mean a little Fruitcake. A friend sometimes makes me a vegan Fruit-cupcake; only it has an inch thick of Marzipan covered with a foot thick of solid Icing….ugh! I’ve ALWAYS hated the taste and textures of them….Icing so overly sweet with its powdery texture that grinds against my teeth and Marzipan, again overly sweet with an Almond taste that is almost alcoholic, and a gritty texture that along with the icing gives me the same sensation as nails do down a chalkboard! *Shudders* ….So, I will malign those, lol!

[midwest chick]

I like sugarplums, but a little goes a long way!

[Truly Scrumptious]

Okay, I admit to being a fruitcake maligner from way back, but I may have to change my tune.

The Great Fruitcake Recycling Project (http://www.fruitcakerecycling.com/)
has some fabulously crafty ideas for unwanted fruitcake. My favourites are:

hollowing it out and using as a festive picture frame
making a kitchen untensil caddy
making a Christmas wreath (beats the one we made out of trash bags)

I will definitely try this one:
Take out those bits of candied fruit nobody wants to eat and arrange them on foil. Spray them with Crystal Clear Acrylic to crystalize them. Then pour a clear casting resin over them and let it set. I'm going to make a mosaic with them.

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Truly Scrumptious

I will definitely try this one:
Take out those bits of candied fruit nobody wants to eat and arrange them on foil. Spray them with Crystal Clear Acrylic to crystalize them. Then pour a clear casting resin over them and let it set. I'm going to make a mosaic with them.

Not with my fruitcake you're not!!

[Cin]

Originally Posted by midwest chick

I like sugarplums, but a little goes a long way!

What are sugar plums? I always thought they were linked to fairies in some way. Popular misconception I guess.

[Liam]

I like fruitcake, I've never had any with frosting, so perhaps I should qualify that and say I like fruitcake without frosting. The gelled texture of the candied fruit combined with the crunchiness of pecans makes some good candy in my opinion; fruitcake is super sweet, a little goes a long way.

[1QuirkyKiwi]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

What are sugar plums? I always thought they were linked to fairies in some way. Popular misconception I guess.

Candied dried fruits made famous at Christmas time from the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky.

I love dried fruits, but, not when they are sugared (candied)....Chocolate is as sweet as I'll go, add fiery ginger to it and I'm one VERY happy Kiwi, lol!

[The JD]

I'm not a fan of fruitcake, or any Christmas food, even the good stuff....not turkey, not ham, not sweet potato pie. So I can't confess any weakness for holiday food, maligned or no....but there's one holiday standard that I'm fascinated by, in a horrified kind of way: Jellied cranberry sauce.

You know the image. It's the quivering red unappealing mass on the plate that nobody reaches for. It still bears the shape of the can it plopped out of, even after being sliced into half-inch thick medallions. You can even see the ridged indentations on the sides.

Since I've never actually seen anyone EAT this stuff, I'm not sure how it's used. Do you layer it on top of potato salad, slice off chunks and eat it by itself like a steak, or use it as a garnish to cleanse the palate? Can someone please explain this to me?

JD

[Liam]

Originally Posted by The JD

I'm not a fan of fruitcake, or any Christmas food, even the good stuff....not turkey, not ham, not sweet potato pie. So I can't confess any weakness for holiday food, maligned or no....but there's one holiday standard that I'm fascinated by, in a horrified kind of way: Jellied cranberry sauce.

You know the image. It's the quivering red unappealing mass on the plate that nobody reaches for. It still bears the shape of the can it plopped out of, even after being sliced into half-inch thick medallions. You can even see the ridged indentations on the sides.

Since I've never actually seen anyone EAT this stuff, I'm not sure how it's used. Do you layer it on top of potato salad, slice off chunks and eat it by itself like a steak, or use it as a garnish to cleanse the palate? Can someone please explain this to me?

JD

Some people like ketchup on their meat, others like gelled cranberry sauce; personally I prefer the whole berry kind.

[Cin]

Originally Posted by 1QuirkyKiwi

Candied dried fruits made famous at Christmas time from the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky.

That's why they are dancing in the heads of the kids in "The Night Before Christmas".

And there are actually sugar plums. But they're not plums at all. I'm sure I would like them. I like anything sweet. It is very hard to have something be too sweet for my liking. As a matter of fact, I don't recall that ever happening. I might not like the taste of something, but it's never because it's too sweet.

[ButchEire]

Every year growing up, we'd receive a homemade fruitcake from cousins in Ireland. These were, and are, like no fruitcake you will ever buy in the states, because they soaked it in pure Irish whiskey for weeks (perhaps months) before packaging it off to us. I'd regularly get loopy as a child, from eating said fruitcake, which was more like pieces of fruit and nuts barely pasted together with bits of dough. Dense is an understatement.

[LeftWriteFemme]

I don't care what anyone says or thinks about Peeps these are my new holiday tradition.
If you haven't yet, please try these peppermint peeps!!!

[Cin]

I gotta agree with you there JD. What is the point of jellied cranberry in the shape of a can? Although I have seen people eat the stuff. And maybe like me and fruitcake there are people who really enjoy an occasional slice of what looks like cranberry flavored jello to me.

And I suppose why not, people seem to have a strange attachment to jello. People i know have even thrown it (jello I mean, not cranberry sauce, though that might work for all I know) together with fruit placed it in a mold and then put cool whip on top of it and tried to serve it to me as dessert.

Maybe jellied canned cranberry sauce should be placed in the dessert category as it's so sweet.

Personally I like my cranberries mixed with caramel and dipped in chocolate. They're called cranberry bogs. hmm good.

[Cin]

Originally Posted by LeftWriteFemme

I don't care what anyone says or thinks about Peeps these are my new holiday tradition.
If you haven't yet, please try these peppermint peeps!!!

Peppermint peeps. Yay!

I haven't seen these around yet. Awesome. I love peeps. Sometimes I put them in the microwave.

[Cin]

Another thing about Christmas is Christmas music. Which I love. And I can't wait to start listening to it. So I have to take some of the blame for what happens. I start hearing it in malls right after Thanksgiving and then as soon as December rolls around I find myself listening to stuff online. By the time it's a week before Christmas I've had it with Christmas music.

[The JD]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

Peppermint peeps. Yay!

I haven't seen these around yet. Awesome. I love peeps. Sometimes I put them in the microwave.

Oooh, check out the "scientific" research on Peeps: http://www.peepresearch.org/ Be sure to click on Fear Response for the experiments on Peeps in microwaves...

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

I gotta agree with you there JD. What is the point of jellied cranberry in the shape of a can? Although I have seen people eat the stuff. And maybe like me and fruitcake there are people who really enjoy an occasional slice of what looks like cranberry flavored jello to me.

And I suppose why not, people seem to have a strange attachment to jello. People i know have even thrown it together with fruit placed it in a mold and then put cool whip on top of it and tried to serve it to me as dessert.

Maybe jellied canned cranberry sauce should be placed in the dessert category as it's so sweet.

Personally I like my cranberries mixed with caramel and dipped in chocolate. They're called cranberry bogs. hmm good.

My mother always has a can of the cranberry stuff sliced on the Thanksgiving table. I never really cared for it until the last couple of years. I take a small slice, eating only about half of it, small bites eaten throughout the meal. Somehow it fits in inbetween bites of turkey, stuffing, etc. It just fits somehow. Can't explain it. My mom has always been the only other one that has eaten it. It is the one and only time of year I have ever seen it on our table.

The quality cranberry stuff (the one with real berries), I don't care for. Go figure.

[Kobi]

I love homemade dark fruitcake - is more cake-like than regular fruit cake. Pop in the toaster or oven to warm it, spread a healthy dose of cream cheese, top with another warmed slice and devour.

I also like jellied cranberry sauce. Good on Kobi sandwiches - whole grain toasted bread with little cream cheese on it, some fresh sliced turkey breast, and top with thinly sliced room temperature cranberry sauce. Flavors blend well.

The whole berry cranberry sauce, to me, looks like something that belongs in an emesis basin.

[ButchEire]

*Looks at watch*
Hmm, that looks to be just about...

NOW!

*runs*

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

By the time it's a week before Christmas I've had it with Christmas music.