Fruitcake and friendship a good combinatie in yous kitchen ONCE again a request from a North Vancouver reader, Mr. Bruce M, points us in a novel direction. He was looking for a lost family recipe of a friendship cake — based on a Friendship Fruit Starter — so appropriate this time of the year. The Friendship Starters have their roots in rural Canadian (and European) traditions, when fruit from gardens were pre- served, dried, and candied. Some readers may have fond childhood memories of this period, when seasons and availability of fruit and vegeta- bles guided the creativity of homemakers. We gorged on ripe fresh fruits in season and were content with jams, jellies and preserved fruits through- out the winter months. Itis important to note that preserved fruits retain a high percentage of nutritional con- tent, vitamins, minerals and fiber. Properly “put up,” these colourtui jars of summer's treasures are great money-sav- ing additions to your pantry. Most significantly, the pre- served fruits — or vegetables — taste and look wonderful. FOOD The recipe tor the “Starter” is based on commercially canned fruic quantities. OF course, home preserved prod- ucts can be measured out in similar quantities. Friendship Fruit Starter 20 oz. canned pineapple chunks drained 16 oz. canned peach slices drained 16 oz. canned apricot halves drained 10 oz. red maraschino cher- vies, drained 1K. granulated sugar 1% « brandy or rum, or bourbon Method: Save all the fruit juices, they can be used as a good base for holiday punch. Just one of the many valuable new features in your TELUS™ Yellow Pages directory designed to make your life a little easier. THE ULTIMATE SOURCE Conibine all ingredients in a clean large glass jar. Stir with a wooden spoon, cover with towel and det stand at room temperature for 3 weeks. Stir gently 2-3 times a week. The mixture is ready (ter- mented) when the fruit is transtucent. You can serve this elegant fruit medley on sponge cake, pound cake, or on ice cream. Noto recom- mended for children’s desserts because of the alcohol con- tent. When it is used in a baked cake the alcohol evapo- rates. To keep the Starter going, retain minimum 2 cups of the ready mixture at all times. Stir the mixture daily, add one cup of sugar and one cup of drained fruits every wo weeks, alternating the fruits each time. Stir gently. ce Tews To give the Starter as a gill, take our 3 cups of the fer- mented fruit and phice into a jar. Add one cup of sugar and one cup of canned or pre- served trnit. Add additional fruit every two weeks. The fer- mentation process is precise, so do not delay the adding of the fruit for more than one or two days past the nwo weeks deadline. The addition of alco- hol is not necessary, although if vou wish you can add a cou- ple of tablespoons with each fruit addition. Traditional Friendship Fruit Cake 2 c. granulated sugar 3 ¢. all-purpose flour 1% c. canola otf 3 large egzs at room temper- ature 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. baking soda % tsp. salt (or to taste) 1 c, chopped pecans, or wal- nuts 3 c¢. chopped Friendship Fruit, well drained Method: Select a stainless steel bowl Preheat oven to 325° F. Spray and flour a rey- ular size Bundt syle pan. Mix together oil, eggs and sugar in the bowl Add the vanilla extract and beat well with an electric mixer. Sift in flour, salt and soda. Blend well. Lastly, add the nuts and the chopped fruit. Fold. Pour mixture into the Bunde pan. Bake on the middle rack for about } hour 15 minutes. Test the cake for doneness. Cool 10 to 15 min- utes before removing from the pan. This cake also makes a Nice gitt decorated with sea- sonal candies and holly. Finally, an emergency solu- tion. Anyone can put this moist and rich cake into the oven in less than 10 minutes. It does call for some conve- nience foods. Try it. — Send your questions on -any culinary topics to: A Chef in Your Kitchen, PO Box 18627, Deltr B.C. V4K 4V7, or send e-mail ta: «. TN NEWS photos Terry Peters: GivE either Friendship Fruit Starter or Friendship Fruit Cake as a gift. “Bitwatea clinic hours: ‘Monday = Friday 8 -.8° Weekends & Holidays 9 - 5 NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY Dr. Doris DeGroot mo. ccrr Accepting new patients General practioners: Myron K. MacDonald m., Liang Ng o., Robert J. Scott mo. BY APPOINTMENT ONLY Ample patient parking access 19th 1884 Marine Dr, W. Van 925-1684