I don't need to see twinkling lights on a Christmas tree or even hear Christmas songs in December to know the holidays are coming. Right around Thanksgiving I will ask my sister for her holiday wish list and I know panettone cake will top that list every year. Janet has more exotic taste buds than I do and she waits all year long to be able to indulge them in this delicacy. And as luck would have it, every Christmas she will open at least one if not two of that tasty treat.
When I was growing up my mother insisted on making fruitcake every Christmas. No doubt for her is was conjuring up memories of her own childhood whenever she would pull out the candied fruit, nuts, and raisins to mix into the cake batter. For me, it was simply torture. Despite the fact that my mother was a pretty good cook, fruitcake was NOT one of her specialties and I grew up in a household where you either ate what was put in front of you or suffer the dire consequences of refusal.
Thank goodness today we have choices. There are many types and flavors of fruitcake to choose from as well as the choice to simply not choose it at all. Writing is like that.
One only has to look around to see an abundance of tasty stories from which to choose. Some are basic like an old fashioned sugar cookie. Others have a little bit more flavor and spice to them like a chewy caramel granola macadamia nut bar. And then you have the full blown, soaked in rum and crammed with goodies fruitcake to melt in your mouth, helping to bring back all the sweet memories of your childhood.
What kind of stories will you write this holiday season? Something to enrich the lives of others or something readers will shove to the back of the bookshelf? For me, I want to write gloriously decadent treats for my sweet readers to enjoy all the year long...and maybe even regift to others...
Fruitcake anyone?
