Fruitcake and Trees

I am in the spirit today. I am making fruitcake to start the holiday season off right. And I have joined Tonya's Winter Class, so am making trees. This is the first time for me with the wonky free piecing. My trees are surely wonky, maybe one or two are a little too wonky? One problem I'm having is getting my head around how much fabric I will eventually go through. All I have in my stash are fat quarters, so I guess I will have to break down and buy more fabric.....yeah, real heartbreak there (sarcasm)..... or make it scrappy. HMmmm, will have to ponder that decision some more.

Here is a picture of my progress today.

And here's 3 more trees.

I didn't take a picture of the fruitcake, but boy does it smell good! I had to nick a piece from one of the loaves already. A little more rum sprinkled over the top shouldn't hurt. Thank you, cousin Peggy, for giving me the recipe. Honestly the only ingredients I changed was the addition of rum, can't get enough rum in the diet, and omitting allspice and cloves. Don't like those spices, so left those at the store. Haven't bought them in years.

Here's the recipe if anyone is interested:

Christmas Fruitcake

1 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

4 eggs, room temperature and slightly beaten

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour + 1 cup more

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup pure pineapple juice

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup dried cherries

2 cups macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

2-8 Tbsp. Rum, NOT extract, the real stuff (optional)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees f. Grease 2 regular loaf pans, set aside. Combine oil, sugar and eggs. Beat well for 2 minutes. Sift the 2 cups flour with the baking powder, salt and spices. Stir in juice. Mix the last cup flour with the fruits and nuts, then gently fold into the batter. Pour batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Start with 2 Tbsp. rum and sprinkle over the loaves. Add more rum if you feel you need to. Wrap tightly in foil. Can be frozen for up to 1 month.

My mother used to make fruitcake when I was growing up. I hated it, Sis hated it, and I think my Dad hated it. Just the smell of the citron fruit made me sick to my stomach and then Ma would dowse the whole thing in brandy after it baked, then she would wrap it in cheesecloth. Everyday until Christmas, she would pour what seemed like another bottle of that cheap brandy over the cake, which by now had looked like a rock. It reeked the entire house of alcohol. I guess they just don't make it like they used to. Thank goodness! She doesn't make fruitcake anymore. After so many years of rejection from our family, she finally threw in her apron. We, of course, were saddened outwardly, but our hearts and pallets were rejoicing!