Growing up, we always knew the neighbors. Maybe it was because we lived on a cul de sac, or maybe because I needed them to buy my kids fundraiser items or maybe just because my parents were party animals...but...we knew them. All of them, every single family on the street.
I never realized how much effort that took until I found myself in my own house in my own neighborhood.
I don't know about you, but I am guilty of practically having the garage door down before I even get out of my car. There really isn't much reason for me to be out on the street, I don't have any kids playing in toy cars and Lola has the backyard and the dog park so we rarely go out front.
For some reason I had the sudden notion that today I had to meet the neighbors. And what better way than with a cake?!
Actually...a fruitcake. Kinda. I used to have my Grandma's old recipe for her fruit cake , you know, the one everyone in the family can't wait to eat during the holiday season. seriously, We used to smuggle them back when we visited.
So I used my memory and a bit of magic for my own
Holiday Fruitcake
1.5 cups flour
1 TB corn starch
1 TB baking powder
- sift above ingredients
3 eggs - beaten
3/4 cup butter - softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
- blend above ingredients in
1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup rum
- mix above ingredients in
1/3 cup mixed citrus fruits
1/4 - 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped colored cherries
any additional dried fruit you may want
- mix in
Preheat oven to 350'F and prepare a bundt pan - with extra cherries for the top
Bake for about 30 minutes (33 did the trick for me).
Voila!
A perfectly presentable moist fruitcake for your new neighbors.
I have to say, they were pretty darn surprised when I came -a -knockin in my AF sweats bearing a cake. The one neighbor was staring at me through the peep hole and almost didnt want to open the door. I had to say I'm your neighbor and I have a cake before she opened it...and set her alarm off. oops. But she has a 5 week old baby so I guess that makes her extra cautious....
Found out the other neighbor has two boys who just love to play with Lola through the gate when she is outside. cute.
However, I don't see many neighborhood house parties in the foreseeable future... It is nice to know that they seem like nice safe families on either side though. Maybe I will bring them something else in the future. This whole getting to know your neighbor is harder than Desperate Housewives makes it seem...I'm just saying.
But if you know me, you know making one thing at a time is never enough. So I decided to make cranberry-pineapple sauce. Really, I just wanted to use the cranberries before they went bad and the original recipe I had, well, I didnt have all the ingredients and was not feeling like a 10 min drive to the store.
So here ya go
Cranberry Pineapple Sauce
8 oz fresh cranberries
20 oz can pineapple in pineapple juice
1/3 cup sugar
Drain liquid from pineapples into a measuring cup. Add water so that you have a total of 1 cup liquid. Add to sauce pan with sugar and bring to a boil.
Place cranberries in a food processor or chopper and chop fine. Add to pan and stir well. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thick (about 10 minutes).
Place pineapple in a food processor and chop. Add crushed pineapples to cranberry sauce and cook one more minute.
Allow to cool then place in a covered container and refrigerate overnight.
Hope the week goes faster for you than it is for me!
