My Favorite Fruitcake

I have many favorite fruitcakes...two of them are my business partners, Sharon and Kate...another one is my husband, so you can see I REALLY like fruitcakes! I even happen to like the kind you eat, which drove me once about 10 years ago or so, to make some fruitcakes both for myself and to see if there were any of my customers that were also closet fruitcake fans. Well, I sold out that year, I'm not even sure I got one! Now, I have had people asking for them for a couple of weeks already. So, yesterday I made my first batch and as is par for the course, had to endure all the bad jokes and crazy family fruitcake stories my 20 something aged employees like to pelt me with...oh and if you want the recipe, I have to admit that I totally ripped off Martha Stewart (who actually ripped it off from her neighbor, Mrs. Maus) so I won't reprint it on the recipe blog (because, honestly I didn't need to alter it one little bit) but I will find you a link...check back later, first I gotta take the little fruitcakes in my life to school!
UPDATE: I guess my enthusiasm in getting recipes online this summer did lead me to put this one up on the recipe blog, so I've given credit where I could, AND I'll start brushing up on my copyright law...cause here it is!
Fruitcake Tasting UPDATE!: We pulled one out and cut it up to sample today and...oh. my. god. (I sold two to the first two tasters!)
By the way...I'd be happy to ship one to you...call (907)235-2280, ask for Carri.

Fudging it...

Just ask my daughter, she'll tell you. Fudge is my weakness...my favorite sweet treat but also the one I cannot make. "It's your achilles heel, mom." Maya told me the other day. It stung a little more because, unknown to her, I had just asked Ryan the new chef/baker to help me make a batch and it came out a crystallized mess. When he asked me where I got that particular formula we used, I was a little embarassed to say it was from an episode of 'Good Eats' I had seen the night before. Ryan rolled his eyes, "f-ing Alton Brown... You want FUDGE recipes, I'LL give you fudge recipes!" I chastised him saying that I wanted REAL fudge, not the kind made with marshmallow cream or sweetened condensed milk. So the next day he comes in and whips up an awsome batch of his granny's Walnut Penuche...Damn, so good! Okay, Game on...yesterday, I was stuck home, power was out but my propane cooktop worked...what to do? Conquer the fudge! I did it too! The answer...Lyles Golden Syrup

Art is Everywhere!

We have all new paintings by Barb Wyatt adorning our walls just in time to spruce us up for the holidays!

Ryan made a little art of his own...this nut brittle is inspired!

it's not easy being green...

It happens many times a day, I look up toward the bread case and someone is fumbling with a bread bag trying to get it open. "Lick your finger and rub the end without the writing...yeah, that's it!" (I'm like a cheerleader!)... Sometimes, especially if it's an older person who's hands don't work so well, I walk over and do it for them...sheepishly explaining along the way, that while they may be a pain, they are made of corn and will compost in 90 days, the person usually nods with mock enthusiasm and we move on with the transaction. If I know them really well I give them my acronym for these new bread bags...P.C.P.A. (Politically Correct Pain in the Ass)

The people have spoken....time for pie!

Can we finally move on with our lives now that we have this presidential thingy out of the way? I hear that President Obama's favorite dessert is pie...I'm not sure what kind, but anyone who loves pie is good in my book! We are heading into pie season already making some apple and pumpkin (or 'yellow vegetable', as Ryan would have it!). I think I'll make a pie with mixed nuts and dedicate it to the outgoing administration...!

VOTE!

All three kids want to go to the polls with me tomorrow to watch me vote for what we HOPE will be the first African American President in history. They are so invested in this process I'm really excited for them to see what the actual voting part is like...I get goosebumps when I think about it! My daughters Maya and Jane made cookies to pass out to voters...who said voting couldn't be yummy!