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Costco's has a remarkably tasty fruitcake available during the holidays. It is filled with pecans and cherries and other non-dayglo fruits. It reminds me of the kinds of fruitcakes I see for sale at Saks during the holidays for $50 but at Costco it is only $12.

Bouchon also has a delightful fruitcake like loaf. I think it is also seasonal. No problem with bad fruit overcoming the cake there, of course.

I don't like fruitcake, even when it's homemade by a talented cook (like my mother; she made it as part of her Christmas baking binge for several years).

I know I'm not alone. I once heard the Chieftains sing something called "Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake." You can google the lyrics easily.

It wasn't until I was grown that I figured out why I hated it so: it's mostly the day-glo fruit - which is composed principally of bitter, leathery CITRON. That, plus the fact that there is far too little cake. Oh, and the raw taste of whiskey or brandy, not calculated to appeal to a child's tastebuds.

And yet I love pannettone, which is a nice challah-type bread spangled with the same day-glo fruit. But not nearly so much, and no whiskey.

If the Corsicana Fruitcake is anything like the "quintessential fruitcake of the South" that brooke29 links to - no wonder it's a thriving business. No citron!!

I always thought fruitcake was some sort of holiday gag gift. I would never think of actually eating one!

I don't eat cooked fruit, with a notable exception of Apfel Strudel (somehow, it grew on me ever since I tried it in Salzburg), so to me even the idea of a fruitcake does not sound appealing at all. However, when I saw Alton make one, I wanted to make it too. Not to eat it, mind you, but to make it...for somebody who does like a fruitcake.

I thought there was only one that makes it way around the world?

I had a recipe from the depression era (poor boy cake?) that was boiled and had no eggs. Tasted exactly like every fruitcake I've ever tasted. I tried substituting chopped gumdrops for the fruit, but that couldn't help the taste and texture.

I'll always taste, just in case, but haven't met one I could enjoy yet.

If anyone wants a great recipe for a mixed nut fruitcake email me @ imcookinsewgr8@hotmail.com.

Like HomeSickTexan and AnnieNDM, I think the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas makes (by far) the best fruit cake available to the masses. My family has been eating them for 50 years!

I love fruitcake - so dense and moist and fruity.No nuts though please, well maybe a few almonds to decorate the top.
When I was a kid I always wanted fruitcake for my birthday cake. YUM.
Please send any unwanted fruitcake to me and I will happily give it a good home.

Depends on the fruitcake. Generally it's only good for a doorstop. Maybe as an anchor. Or alternate building material, should brick be unavailable.

Cooking connects us. So many people live unconnected lives today, and fast/easy food is just a symptom of that disconnection, as I see it.

Old fart here, 64. I learned to cook in my late 20's when I realized that if I was going to live alone, I'd better learn to cook. It simply never occurred to me to eat out, I couldn't have afforded it. So I went out and bought the "Joy of Cooking" and made myself beef stew. The recipe called for turnips, it was horrid. I immediately realized that I simply didn't like the taste of cooked turnips. So I threw it away, and cooked it again without turnips. It was delicious, I realized that a recipe was simply the way someone else had made a recipe, and that I could decide what would be good, and what I wouldn't like. At that moment, a cook was born.

40 years later, I still love to cook. For me, as others here have alluded, it is a meditation. But beyond that, it is a gift, as I have taken my time, and my creativity to provide others with my love.

I was involved with a family that were good cooks, but had a limited repertoire. Every time I suggested an idea that was new to them they turned their noses up. Today, they always look forward to my latest creation.

My good friends never ask what I'm preparing, they only ask what time they should be there. So it is possible to influence others with your actions, you just have to keep at it, and what a joy that is.

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A bowl of mixed fruit & cottage cheese

A small serving of grilled chicken or fish, either steamed veggies or salad with vinaigrette, brown rice or grilled sweet potato and a small glass of red wine.