Holiday Stories from the 30s & 40s ~ Elizabeth’s Story

Christmas in Belleville, New Brunswick

One of my favourite Christmas memories surrounds mom’s wonderful Christmas fruitcake. My mouth waters just thinking of it now!
 
The memory of mom baking that cake is just so special … I think because it represented the beginning of the much anticipated and very exciting Christmas season. My mom put so much time and so much love into this cake and of course, it was rich with spices, raisins, mixed fruit, and our very own strawberry preserves.
 
Once the cake was baked it needed time to mellow, so mom would carefully and lovingly place it in this round metal tin and she then stored it in the coolest room of our house, one of the upstairs bedrooms that we closed off to save heat during the winter months. This was a very safe place to store a cake – or so my mom thought – but inevitably, and let’s say, magically, a silver cake knife appeared in the tin next to the cake – which of course was an irresistible invitation for anyone with sweet tooth and a love of mom’s Christmas cake.
 
Truly, I’m not sure how that cake knife landed there but what I can tell you is that during the weeks leading up to Christmas, my sisters and I all made several trips upstairs to check on the well-being of that cake, and of course we would slice off a tiny sample just to make sure it was mellowing just as it should.
 
Although we all made many visits to that chilly bedroom, mom never said a word, and by the time Christmas arrived, there was always plenty of cake to share with our family and friends.
 
Do you have a favourite holiday memory? We’d love to hear from you!
Send your story to blog@agecare.ca with the subject ‘My Holiday Memory’