Magi and Fruitcake

My brother Bruce sent me this cartoon
~ perfect for Epiphany ~
along with the suggestion for those
who fell behind in their baking this year:
"You don't have to wait for next Christmas.
Make a Valentines fruitcake,
or a St. Patrick's Day fruitcake!"

. . . but no one would turn away my fruitcake,
made with orange slice gumdrops!

Orange Slice Gumdrop Cake
Recipe from Midwest Living Magazine, December 1992

1/2 lb orange slice candy, cut up (1 1/2 cups) -- mixed with 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup chopped dates
1 1/4 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts pecans or almonds

Bring butter and eggs to room temperature; then beat butter, sugar, and eggs in large bowl.

Add the 1 1/2 cups flour and buttermilk alternately to egg mixture, beating after each addition.

Fold in dates, coconut and nuts; then gumdrops.

Grease and flour 1 regular sized loaf pan (or use baking spray) and spread batter evenly.

Bake at 300°F for about 1 hour and 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Or you can use 3 medium - small loaf pans (not tiny) and bake for a slightly shorter period.

If you want to glaze the cake(s), stir together 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup orange juice until smooth, and pour over the hot cakes. (I never do this step; unglazed is fine with me.)

Cool in pans on wire racks for 20 minutes, remove from pans, cool completely.

Wrap each cake in plastic wrap or decorative holiday ziplock baggie.

Store in refrigerator for up to 4 weeks, or eat right away. Serve at room temperature.

****************

And now, an epiphanic poem on the serious side:
Will Peace Come Forever?

We traveled together.
It took me two weeks to understand
what Ahmad was saying.
We studied the stars. Forever I
love the desert sky at night.
The stars, so strong, so guiding,
so, yes so bright, tonight and last night,
so bright.

To Bethlehem we agreed.
I saw an angel in my sleep last night.
He said that people will talk of
this trip for thousands of years.
I asked if the King we seek is really
that great. He smiled and muttered in
an angel's way.
Tears flowed down
his cheeks.

I love sinking my feet into the sand
knowing that each step takes me
closer
to the King. I watch the star; we all watch
the star.
Luand is tall and he smells of his gift
frankincense. He glides along,
praying, praying that we will not
die in the dessert.
But Ahmad, the star seeker, the star
reader knows we will not.
And a thousand years from now,
who knows,
maybe someone will wonder where the
myrrh came from.

But oh I am happy, so happy to
follow this star and pray and
laugh in the night.

Catherine DeLong ~ writer ~ reader ~ friend
2004 Christmas

Some additional Magi / Epiphany Poems
to take a look at in greater detail when time allows:

Elizabeth Coatsworth

T. S. Eliot

Christopher Pilling

Muriel Spark

Sara Teasdale

Evelyn Waugh