For the love of Fruitcake

I was recently quoted in an article in Adweek about fruitcake. It's an excellent article about the history of fruitcake, how it may have received its bad reputation, and why there is that silent group of people (hello, person reading this blog post!) who actually love fruitcake.

I truly believe what I said in that article. Fruitcake's time has come. Why not? Just about everything else has been revisited. I live in Chicago, and I've seen the following items, just off the top of my head, get a modern update, or been made locally, or just been revisited with a fresh perspective:

• Mustard
• Twinkies
• Ham
• Moon pies
• Cider
• Cookies & Milk
• French fries & vanilla shakes
• Pickles

So why not fruitcake? Why not you, why not now? You might be buying local already--your beer, your bread, your alcohol, your pickles, your food. Why not find a local person making fruitcake and buy/try it? Or better yet, make it yourself?

Granted, maybe you just don't like it--you don't like the spiciness, or the nuts, or you don't like the texture of all the fruit, That's fine (my husband, God bless him, doesn't like it). Don't eat it. But...have you even tried it?

Fruitcake has a lovely, long tradition of being a condensed expression of a good harvest, of abundance, of hospitality, of care, and of love. For those reasons alone, give it a try.

Happy Holidays! Happy Winter! Happy New Year!