Today’s recipe is from Barbara Massengale of Mauldin. She has been a member of Cross Roads Baptist Church in Greer Association since she was saved at age 12. Mike Sheehan is the pastor. She sent the recipe last December, but I was too deep into December to use it then.
Barbara Massengale
This week I received from our daughter Elizabeth in Greenville a funny note she sent following my last column about stocking the pantry. She had enclosed a copy of the comic strip “Cathy” about using leftovers in the fridge. I told Barbara about this, and we discovered we both keep stuff in the fridge perhaps longer than necessary. I think Elizabeth was suggesting that I be more specific and should have said to stock the pantry, fridge, and freezer with “new stuff.”
Anyway, about the fruitcake. Barbara says it is easy and goooood. Barbara retired about four years ago from working 23 years in education at the Greenville Hospital System. She was in a near-fatal automobile accident, but after many surgeries, therapy, and being wheelchair-bound for a year, she is up and about now and active at Cross Roads Baptist.
One of her biggest jobs is program director for the seniors group, the Young at Heart. She is also on the outreach, public relations, and homebound ministry committees, and teaches the senior adult ladies Sunday school class.
Barbara and her late husband Thomas, who died four years ago, have five sons: Randy, Ricky, Roger, Robbie and Rusty. They all have families and live nearby – except Rusty, who is in the Navy. He and his family live in Hawaii. Barbara visited them for two months this year and said they visited many churches, but her favorite was the Military Chapel at Waikiki, where she met Christians from all over the world.
Barbara says this is an old family recipe she has had for many years. Unlike many fruitcake recipes, which say to store for a while before using, this one can be sliced as soon as it is cool, and it usually doesn’t last very long! It’s good not only for Christmas, she says, but also for anytime and for any … Sunday Dinner.
The Best Fruitcake
1 jar (quart size) mincemeat
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 pound candied cherries (red and green mixed,or all one color)
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
2 eggs
2½ cups self-rising flour
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour a tube cake pan.
Beat eggs slightly; add milk, then flour. Mix well. Add all other ingredients and stir well. Pour into the prepared cake pan and cook for 1 hour.
Remove from oven and let cool in pan. Turn onto serving plate. Allow to cool thoroughly before slicing.