Archive for December 9th, 2009

Christmas time in our family always means two things: family + good food = great times and a fond memories. Never did one Christmas go by without me remembering all the great food, cooked with love by my aunts and grandmothers, we have shared with one another. In fact, it has been a tradition for us to eat certain recipes at certain food gatherings, like my Mom’s pasta during Christmas dinner, my aunt’s special kaldereta and the special ham we buy at a store centuries old (They opened when my grandmother was just 6 years old!).

Healthy Recipes are included in our menu this year. Let’s face it, most of my aunts and uncles are not getting any younger. We are not getting younger. This year, we have another generation in our family – the great grandkids who are my kids and my niece and nephew. We need to be conscious of our health. Low fat and sugar free are on most my list since we are diabetics.

Christmas Recipes are hard to come by, most of what we originally serve have only been passed on by word of mouth. I should take the initiative to write it down sometime. However, things are going to be easy for us with 1001Recipe.com. I love how varied their recipes are and how everything is categorized! It makes finding certain dishes super easy.

Take for example a Fruitcake Recipe I was looking for. I want the fresh fruit kind with no wine since my kids eat it and I found one in less than five minutes.

Main Ingredients:
Dried fruits: 1.5 cup, chopped (cranberry, mango and pear)
Orange juice: 1/2 cup
All purpose flour: 1 cup
Butter: 1 stick at room temperature (1/2 cup or 1/4 lb)
Brown sugar: 1/2 cup
Eggs: 3
Walnuts: 1/2 cup, chopped
Baking soda: 1/4 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon: 1/2 tsp
Ground ginger: 1/2 tsp
Apricot jam: 3 tbsp
Directions:
1. One day ahead of time, soak the cranberries, pears and mango in the orange juice and cover tightly, refrigerated.
2. On the day of preparation, preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream butter with brown sugar.
4. Add eggs one at a time and beat until smooth.
5. Stir in the fruit pieces and walnuts. Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt and add to creamed mixture.
6. Pour this into a round pan and bake for 40 minutes or until golden.
7. To decorate the cake, combine apricot jam with 1 tbsp water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until melted and thoroughly mixed. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and brush it over the cake.