First day of a week off work. What a horrible day I've had.

First off I was instructed by my daughter to get her tickets for the
U2
concert in Auckland or Sydney, which went on sale at 9am today in NZ
and two
hours later in Sydney at Sydney time. Three times I got as far as
"click to
confirm" the purchase then got dumped out. The result is the tickets
were
sold out and I didn't get through the last stage!. So I attempted to
buy
tickets to U2 in Sydney. Sold out. Being a dedicated mother, all this
took
four hours on the Internet. (Anyone got tickets they want to sell at
cost
only? I don't want to pay scalpers prices)

So I turned my mind to making a Christmas cake, as you do. Something
constructive out of a wasted first day on holiday. They have just come
out
of the oven. I hope they taste good. My recipe makes two cakes. My
poor
husband was sent down to the supermarket three times during the making
of...
I usually *do* read the recipe first, honest. Guess I was stressed out
by
failing to get tickets to U2.

Now, when they cool, they need immunising with brandy. I have a
syringe (the
real thing my doctor-daughter gave me). I have had needle stick
injuries in
the past, but since the cake has neither hepatitis nor Aids, and nor
do I,
we both seem to survive.

Hope your days have been better than mine

Kathy in NZ wrote:
> First day of a week off work. What a horrible day I've had.
>
> First off I was instructed by my daughter to get her tickets for the
> U2
> concert in Auckland or Sydney, which went on sale at 9am today in NZ
> and two
> hours later in Sydney at Sydney time. Three times I got as far as
> "click to
> confirm" the purchase then got dumped out. The result is the tickets
> were
> sold out and I didn't get through the last stage!. So I attempted to
> buy
> tickets to U2 in Sydney. Sold out. Being a dedicated mother, all this
> took
> four hours on the Internet. (Anyone got tickets they want to sell at
> cost
> only? I don't want to pay scalpers prices)
>
> So I turned my mind to making a Christmas cake, as you do. Something
> constructive out of a wasted first day on holiday. They have just come
> out
> of the oven. I hope they taste good. My recipe makes two cakes. My
> poor
> husband was sent down to the supermarket three times during the making
> of...
> I usually *do* read the recipe first, honest. Guess I was stressed out
> by
> failing to get tickets to U2.
>
> Now, when they cool, they need immunising with brandy. I have a
> syringe (the
> real thing my doctor-daughter gave me). I have had needle stick
> injuries in
> the past, but since the cake has neither hepatitis nor Aids, and nor
> do I,
> we both seem to survive.
>
> Hope your days have been better than mine
>
>
>
>

I hacked a big slice into my left middle finger today, if it makes you
feel any better

--

saerah

"Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a
disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice."
-Baruch Spinoza

"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly
what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There
is another theory which states that this has already happened."
-Douglas Adams

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 06:17:08 GMT, sarah bennett
> connected the dots and wrote:

~Kathy in NZ wrote:
~> First day of a week off work. What a horrible day I've had.
~>
~> First off I was instructed by my daughter to get her tickets for
the
~> U2
~> concert in Auckland or Sydney, which went on sale at 9am today in
NZ
~> and two
~> hours later in Sydney at Sydney time. Three times I got as far as
~> "click to
~> confirm" the purchase then got dumped out. The result is the
tickets
~> were
~> sold out and I didn't get through the last stage!. So I attempted
to
~> buy
~> tickets to U2 in Sydney. Sold out. Being a dedicated mother, all
this
~> took
~> four hours on the Internet. (Anyone got tickets they want to sell
at
~> cost
~> only? I don't want to pay scalpers prices)
~>
~> So I turned my mind to making a Christmas cake, as you do.
Something
~> constructive out of a wasted first day on holiday. They have just
come
~> out
~> of the oven. I hope they taste good. My recipe makes two cakes. My
~> poor
~> husband was sent down to the supermarket three times during the
making
~> of...
~> I usually *do* read the recipe first, honest. Guess I was stressed
out
~> by
~> failing to get tickets to U2.
~>
~> Now, when they cool, they need immunising with brandy. I have a
~> syringe (the
~> real thing my doctor-daughter gave me). I have had needle stick
~> injuries in
~> the past, but since the cake has neither hepatitis nor Aids, and
nor
~> do I,
~> we both seem to survive.
~>
~> Hope your days have been better than mine
~>
~>
~>
~>
~
~I hacked a big slice into my left middle finger today, if it makes
you
~feel any better

Not really. If you didn't get any stitches in it, head for the store
and get some butterfly bandages to pull the cut edges together. It
took me a week (I sliced mine last Sunday), but it's healing nicely,
and with what looks to be less of a scar than the two cuts that they
did stitch years ago.

And Kathy, you get a big gold star for being a wonderful mother. Not
many would spend half their day on the phone for tickets for someone
else, even the best beloved child of your flesh<G>

maxine in rhode island, usa

maxine in ri wrote:
> On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 06:17:08 GMT, sarah bennett
> > connected the dots and wrote:
>
> ~Kathy in NZ wrote:
> ~> First day of a week off work. What a horrible day I've had.
> ~>
> ~> First off I was instructed by my daughter to get her tickets for
> the
> ~> U2
> ~> concert in Auckland or Sydney, which went on sale at 9am today in
> NZ
> ~> and two
> ~> hours later in Sydney at Sydney time. Three times I got as far as
> ~> "click to
> ~> confirm" the purchase then got dumped out. The result is the
> tickets
> ~> were
> ~> sold out and I didn't get through the last stage!. So I attempted
> to
> ~> buy
> ~> tickets to U2 in Sydney. Sold out. Being a dedicated mother, all
> this
> ~> took
> ~> four hours on the Internet. (Anyone got tickets they want to sell
> at
> ~> cost
> ~> only? I don't want to pay scalpers prices)
> ~>
> ~> So I turned my mind to making a Christmas cake, as you do.
> Something
> ~> constructive out of a wasted first day on holiday. They have just
> come
> ~> out
> ~> of the oven. I hope they taste good. My recipe makes two cakes. My
> ~> poor
> ~> husband was sent down to the supermarket three times during the
> making
> ~> of...
> ~> I usually *do* read the recipe first, honest. Guess I was stressed
> out
> ~> by
> ~> failing to get tickets to U2.
> ~>
> ~> Now, when they cool, they need immunising with brandy. I have a
> ~> syringe (the
> ~> real thing my doctor-daughter gave me). I have had needle stick
> ~> injuries in
> ~> the past, but since the cake has neither hepatitis nor Aids, and
> nor
> ~> do I,
> ~> we both seem to survive.
> ~>
> ~> Hope your days have been better than mine
> ~>
> ~>
> ~>
> ~>
> ~
> ~I hacked a big slice into my left middle finger today, if it makes
> you
> ~feel any better
>
> Not really. If you didn't get any stitches in it, head for the store
> and get some butterfly bandages to pull the cut edges together. It
> took me a week (I sliced mine last Sunday), but it's healing nicely,
> and with what looks to be less of a scar than the two cuts that they
> did stitch years ago.
>

I just put a band-aid on it after it stopped bleeding. its still a bit
gross looking, but is healing. I don't really care if it scars.

> And Kathy, you get a big gold star for being a wonderful mother. Not
> many would spend half their day on the phone for tickets for someone
> else, even the best beloved child of your flesh<G>
>
> maxine in rhode island, usa


--

saerah

"Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a
disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice."
-Baruch Spinoza

"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly
what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear
and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There
is another theory which states that this has already happened."
-Douglas Adams

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 05:41:48 GMT, (Kathy in NZ) wrote:

>I turned my mind to making a Christmas cake, as you do. Something
>constructive out of a wasted first day on holiday. They have just come
>out of the oven. I hope they taste good.

I think this is the post that broke the camel's back. I'm just going
to have to make a batch of fruitcake this year. Even if it's one I've
never tried before. I have a special friend I want to make one for,
and then there's the cook who should not go unrewarded. ;-)

Thanks for the inspiration,
Carol
--

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/head_trollop/my_photos

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 00:46:08 -0600, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:

>On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 05:41:48 GMT, (Kathy in NZ) wrote:
>
>>I turned my mind to making a Christmas cake, as you do. Something
>>constructive out of a wasted first day on holiday. They have just come
>>out of the oven. I hope they taste good.
>
>I think this is the post that broke the camel's back. I'm just going
>to have to make a batch of fruitcake this year. Even if it's one I've
>never tried before. I have a special friend I want to make one for,
>and then there's the cook who should not go unrewarded. ;-)
>
>Thanks for the inspiration,
>Carol
>--
>
Carol

Are you one of the many I've seen on here who isn't into Christmas
fruit cakes? I do like Christmas cake, and only eat it at Christmas. I
use an old recipe of my dearly departed mother's. I'm not claiming
it's the best Christmas cake out, it's just the one I use year after
year, from nostalgia rather than anything. Some of my family have
moved on to other cakes. I haven't.

When they have cooled, I inject them (literally) with brandy. Then
repeat the process over a week or two, about three times in all.
Altogether, the three cakes use up about 200ml of brandy.My mother
didn't inject them with brandy. That was something I learnt from my
mad-scientist brother.

What amazes me everytime I make this cake is that it uses 12oz butter,
12oz sugar, 2 tablespoons of golden syrup that is all creamed together
then six eggs added. And my mother used to do all that using a wooden
spoon. I use an electric mixer but when it comes time to add the fruit
and flour I have to transfer it all to a huge bowl as it makes so much
mixture my mixer bowl is far too small for it. Then I stir by hand and
get really tired. She did it from hand the whole way through. What a
hero she was.

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 07:08:37 GMT, (Kathy in NZ) wrote:

>Are you one of the many I've seen on here who isn't into Christmas
>fruit cakes?

HELL, no! I love the stuff! But Mom's recipe makes about 7 billion
cakes, so it gets pretty expensive. I haven't made it in many years.

>I do like Christmas cake, and only eat it at Christmas. I
>use an old recipe of my dearly departed mother's. I'm not claiming
>it's the best Christmas cake out, it's just the one I use year after
>year, from nostalgia rather than anything. Some of my family have
>moved on to other cakes. I haven't.

That's where I sit right now, too. I'm either going to grab someone
else's recipe and make only a couple of loaves, or I'll make Mom's
entire recipe and plead insanity later.

>When they have cooled, I inject them (literally) with brandy. Then
>repeat the process over a week or two, about three times in all.
>Altogether, the three cakes use up about 200ml of brandy.My mother
>didn't inject them with brandy. That was something I learnt from my
>mad-scientist brother.

Ya know, it's funny. My mom was a medical technologist AND a
diabetic. You'd think she'd have been putting all those needles to
good use! I pour rum on the cakes as they come out of the oven. Once
they've cooled, I soak them in more rum. I might do one more soaking
after that, but I still want to be able to taste the other
ingredients!

>What amazes me everytime I make this cake is that it uses 12oz butter,
>12oz sugar, 2 tablespoons of golden syrup that is all creamed together
>then six eggs added. And my mother used to do all that using a wooden
>spoon. I use an electric mixer but when it comes time to add the fruit
>and flour I have to transfer it all to a huge bowl as it makes so much
>mixture my mixer bowl is far too small for it. Then I stir by hand and
>get really tired. She did it from hand the whole way through. What a
>hero she was.

That's one of the reasons I haven't made any in such a long time.
Tendonitis. I'm probably a wimp, because Mom made her fruitcakes
every year, come hell or high water, with bursitis in her shoulder and
carpal tunnel in both wrists.

I always made mine in an enormous Tupperware "cake taker." You could
use that thing as a wading pool for small children. I don't have it
anymore, but I do have three very large Pyrex bowls. See what you're
doing? You're talking me into making a million fruitcakes! LOL!

For holiday cookie/treat plates, you can make fruitcake in muffin tins
with holiday cupcake liners, then wrap in plastic wrap. I also make
them in my teeny-tiny bread pans. And in yam cans and coffee tins
(except we don't drink coffee - I have witnesses!). I just wish I
remembered how to figure out the baking times for all those different
sizes and shapes.

WRITE THIS STUFF DOWN WHILE YOU STILL HAVE A FEW FUNCTIONING BRAIN
CELLS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!

Carol, fifty and fading
--

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/head_trollop/my_photos

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 01:44:13 -0600, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:

>On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 07:08:37 GMT, (Kathy in NZ) wrote:
>

>>When they have cooled, I inject them (literally) with brandy. Then
>>repeat the process over a week or two, about three times in all.
>>Altogether, the three cakes use up about 200ml of brandy.My mother
>>didn't inject them with brandy. That was something I learnt from my
>>mad-scientist brother.
>
>Ya know, it's funny. My mom was a medical technologist AND a
>diabetic. You'd think she'd have been putting all those needles to
>good use! I pour rum on the cakes as they come out of the oven. Once
>they've cooled, I soak them in more rum. I might do one more soaking
>after that, but I still want to be able to taste the other
>ingredients!

Well, Carol, after filling the syringe about six times and injecting
the cakes, I thought stuff it, and poured some brandy over the top. It
seemed to soak in. If pouring is good enough for you, it's good enough
for me!

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 08:59:18 GMT, (Kathy in NZ) wrote:

>On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 01:44:13 -0600, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 07:08:37 GMT, (Kathy in NZ) wrote:
>>
>
>>>When they have cooled, I inject them (literally) with brandy. Then
>>>repeat the process over a week or two, about three times in all.
>>>Altogether, the three cakes use up about 200ml of brandy.My mother
>>>didn't inject them with brandy. That was something I learnt from my
>>>mad-scientist brother.
>>
>>Ya know, it's funny. My mom was a medical technologist AND a
>>diabetic. You'd think she'd have been putting all those needles to
>>good use! I pour rum on the cakes as they come out of the oven. Once
>>they've cooled, I soak them in more rum. I might do one more soaking
>>after that, but I still want to be able to taste the other
>>ingredients!
>
>Well, Carol, after filling the syringe about six times and injecting
>the cakes, I thought stuff it, and poured some brandy over the top. It
>seemed to soak in. If pouring is good enough for you, it's good enough
>for me!

You're right. Injecting the booze would get old pretty fast. I've
never had parts of the cakes boozy and parts sober, so go for it!

Carol
--

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/head_trollop/my_photos

(Kathy in NZ) wrote in news:43940098.38474160
@news.xtra.co.nz:

> On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 01:44:13 -0600, Damsel in dis Dress
> > wrote:
>>
>>Ya know, it's funny. My mom was a medical technologist AND a
>>diabetic. You'd think she'd have been putting all those needles to
>>good use! I pour rum on the cakes as they come out of the oven. Once
>>they've cooled, I soak them in more rum. I might do one more soaking
>>after that, but I still want to be able to taste the other
>>ingredients!
>
> Well, Carol, after filling the syringe about six times and injecting
> the cakes, I thought stuff it, and poured some brandy over the top. It
> seemed to soak in. If pouring is good enough for you, it's good enough
> for me!

I pour too. Works fine. Never thought about using a syringe. Made my
cakes a week or so back - over a period of about a week. I've got 4 6"
round cakes, 4 5" round cakes, and 5 little star shaped cakes made with
the extras of the batches. All wrapped and tucked away in the cupboard -
need to buy more brandy to give them all another dose.

That's a few Christmas presents done. They look really good on a little
cake board with cake frill on them, and tied up in Christmas cellophane.

Rhonda Anderson
Cranebrook, NSW, Australia

In article >,
Damsel in dis Dress > wrote:


> HELL, no! I love the stuff! But Mom's recipe makes about 7 billion
> cakes, so it gets pretty expensive. I haven't made it in many years.


> That's where I sit right now, too. I'm either going to grab someone
> else's recipe and make only a couple of loaves, or I'll make Mom's
> entire recipe and plead insanity later.

> For holiday cookie/treat plates, you can make fruitcake in muffin tins
> with holiday cupcake liners, then wrap in plastic wrap. I also make
> them in my teeny-tiny bread pans. And in yam cans and coffee tins
> (except we don't drink coffee - I have witnesses!). I just wish I
> remembered how to figure out the baking times for all those different
> sizes and shapes.

> Carol, fifty and fading


Fifty was a while back for me. Day after tomorrow is 56. I'm not
looking forward to it.

I don't know what your problem is with your Mom's fruitcake recipe. If
you are going to make meatballs, and have a recipe for 20, then if you
want 40 or 10, just double or halve the ingredients. Not a problem.
Not so simple with meatloaf. The directions for cooking won't be the
same if you double or halve. Meatloaf is pretty forgiving, though.
Most people don't advise scaling baking recipes, unless you know what
you are doing. The leavening, baking time and baking temperature all
vary according to size of what you are making. Still, if you have a
recipe for one cake, and you want two, just double the ingredients. The
recipe should be the same. If you have a recipe for two cakes, and you
only want one, just cut the ingredients in half. It should be fine. I
think that fruitcake is more forgiving than most baking. You've already
posted that you might do muffin tins and coffee cans. If you are using
the same recipe for both, then the whole scaling thing is already out
the window. If your Mom's recipe makes 8 loaves, and you just want two,
then cut all the ingredients by four. I'm not the baker in the family,
but I made fruitcake once. I did muffin tins and bread pans at the same
time. I just took out the muffin tins a whole lot earlier.

--
Dan Abel

Petaluma, California, USA

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 15:28:45 -0800, Dan Abel > wrote:

>Fifty was a while back for me. Day after tomorrow is 56. I'm not
>looking forward to it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAN!

>I don't know what your problem is with your Mom's fruitcake recipe. If
>you are going to make meatballs, and have a recipe for 20, then if you
>want 40 or 10, just double or halve the ingredients. Not a problem.
>Not so simple with meatloaf. The directions for cooking won't be the
>same if you double or halve. Meatloaf is pretty forgiving, though.
>Most people don't advise scaling baking recipes, unless you know what
>you are doing. The leavening, baking time and baking temperature all
>vary according to size of what you are making. Still, if you have a
>recipe for one cake, and you want two, just double the ingredients. The
>recipe should be the same. If you have a recipe for two cakes, and you
>only want one, just cut the ingredients in half. It should be fine. I
>think that fruitcake is more forgiving than most baking. You've already
>posted that you might do muffin tins and coffee cans. If you are using
>the same recipe for both, then the whole scaling thing is already out
>the window. If your Mom's recipe makes 8 loaves, and you just want two,
>then cut all the ingredients by four. I'm not the baker in the family,
>but I made fruitcake once. I did muffin tins and bread pans at the same
>time. I just took out the muffin tins a whole lot earlier.

I'm making the full batch. In fact, the stuff I bought came in such
large containers that I can make a second batch after Christmas, for
next year. All I'll need is more raisins.

I finally remembered to buy toothpicks, and I'm hoping that I'll
choose well when deciding what to pull out of the oven, and when. I
also found the white cupcake papers with holly and berries on them.

I found myself looking longingly at the dates and apricots. At some
point, I'd like to make a dried fruit fruitcake.

Carol
--

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/head_trollop/my_photos

In article >, says...
>
> First off I was instructed by my daughter to get her tickets for the
> U2
> concert in Auckland or Sydney, which went on sale at 9am today in NZ
> and two
>

Hey Kathy, try again. I've just read that they've scheduled a second concert
because there was so much demand.

-Peter


--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com

On Mon, 5 Dec 2005 21:43:17 +1300, Peter Huebner >
wrote:

>In article >, says...
>>
>> First off I was instructed by my daughter to get her tickets for the
>> U2
>> concert in Auckland or Sydney, which went on sale at 9am today in NZ
>> and two
>>
>
>Hey Kathy, try again. I've just read that they've scheduled a second concert
>because there was so much demand.
>
>-Peter
>
>
Thanks Peter. I heard that too. Tickets for the extra show in Auckland
go on sale next Monday morning and I'll be back at work then. I cannot
bear the thought of going through that process all over again. My
daughter is in Ireland at the moment, and when the website opens, it
will be Sunday night there and she can jolly well try herself!

There's a limit to Mother's love. Hitting "refresh" ad nauseum on
websites isn't in the book of rules of how to be a good mother.