Hot Mess Express turns Ship Shape Sally ~ 31 Weeks and 5 days Until Christmas

I'm finally getting so organized that it makes my mornings start much, much smoother, with evenings ending even more smoothly. Clean kitchen counters. Everything has a "place." I actually know where things are now. It may take many more months, but it's been a fun and very productive.

We are not done purging, re-organizing, cleaning out things we do not use anymore, etc. I have one major room to complete, but I am slowly chipping away at it when time allows.

Mornings are now in the 60-70's, and we may even hit 80-90°.

Don't panic or anything, but yes, I finally got the recipe typed out for those who wanted it. You can find my recipe trial post HERE (photos included).

The recipe was written in cursive, so my kids did not want the recipe. The younger two cannot read cursive hand writing (pretty sad).

Fruit Cake

Recipe comes from my Grandma's friend on my Mother's side of the family. See notes on my trial baking this recipe. The recipe was passed down from one Aunt to my mother (sister to sister), and eventually landed with me. My Aunt gave the recipe 5 stars at the top, and noted it was the one to bake if you were going to bake a fruit cake for Christmas.

Sift 3 cups of flour and 2 teaspoons baking powder into 2 lbs. of dates, 1 lb. candied cherries and 1 lb. of candied pineapple.

Mix all well with flour and baking powder.

Beat 8 eggs well and add:

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons vanilla

Beat this well and add to fruit mixture.

Last add 2 lb. pecans and mix well.

Bake at 275°F or 300°F for 2 1/2 hours.

Put pan of water on bottom of oven while baking. When cooled pour grape juice or rum over it and wrap.

Again, see my original post for any more details. Enjoy!

Hot Mess Express turns Ship Shape Sally ~ 31 Weeks and 5 days Until Christmas © May 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Comments

Betsy said…

My days are pretty slow and boring now that we're retired. I try to get some exercise in the morning but in the afternoon I have plenty of time to knit/crochet. Life has slowed way down in the last five years.
Blessings and hugs,
Betsy

May 17, 2026 at 7:16 PM

Pioneer Woman at Heart said…

Betsy, my husband is not retired from work, so my days can be very productive. We live in the boonies, so a drive to town takes much of my day, and on those days, I get a day off ha ha!

May 18, 2026 at 6:41 AM

Horsetail Salve ~ A "first" this Year

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Chit Chat

The pickings are slim right now, but we'll take anything we are blessed with. I made a salad and cleaned the beans. The rain will give us more for a meal in a day or so. The green beans are every so slowly coming on this season. I made a batch of homemade granola, and instead of my homemade vanilla extract, I used my homemade Christmas Spice Extract. It smelled so good in the oven, and while cooling. I picked some purslane, and am doing an experiment with it this time. Update soon. Chit Chat © August 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

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New Recipe Tried and other Bits

I tried a new granola recipe and boy it's good. First, it's a recipe from Mennonite Girls and Cook, and called "Backpack Snacks" online. It calls for granola, so I used my homemade granola that we love. Picture is the dry ingredients. Second, I pressed the final mixture into a 9 x 9, parchment lined baking dish instead of rolling it into balls. The color of these photos are all different, because of the time of day, and how dark the house was from the thick Canadian smoke that was still outside at the time. These cut very nicely, and were very good, straight from the refrigerator. It was hard to eat just one of them. I will be making this again, and switching out the peanuts with walnuts, and switching out the raisins with dates. Oh my! The binder is honey and peanut butter. These are perfect for your hiking days, camping, your grandkids, or just for snacks when you want one. The rain arrived thank goodness, and washed the smoke in...

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