My weekend

Before you jump to conclusions about Josephinie's sleeping habits and the benefits of a little Captain Jack at bedtime -- for me, of course! (Although I did have a friend whose mother admitted to spiking his baby with a wee bit of Guinness...) This wasn't for drinking.

Behold. The fruitcake.

Aha! Tricked you again. That's a professionally staged fruitcake. Mine is still under wraps (three layers of Saran to be specific) on the top shelf of our pantry, where I hope the sugar addicts who live in our house (i.e., the au pairs -- mine and one who was tossed out of her own house this past weekend) do not sniff it out. It will be delivered to the fair this week. And then, this weekend, it will be judged the finest fruitcake in all the land.

Believe!

Anyway, it's too late, but what do you think about the Jack Daniel's?? Should I have sprung for the Knob Hill? (Not to point fingers, but Auntie Pamela has a bottle of top-shelf Maker's Mark in her kitchen -- and she refused to share it! Unless I brought a straw.)

As it was, I shopped at three different stores for the ingredients -- four, if you count the new Williams-Sonoma lemon-shaped pan. (V. cute.) Originally I had hoped to buy the finest of dried organic fruits at Whole Foods, but then I realized that they don't look nearly as appetizing without the appropriate toxins. For example: Organic dried apricots look like those pig ears from PetSmart, while regular old poisonous dried apricots are a pleasing orange color. (The judges must assume their own risk.) Also, I couldn't find dried pears anywhere, so I threw in dried mango instead. And I didn't have a full cup of sugar (are the au pairs eating it with spoons??) so I had to use a wee bit of light brown. Additions, additions...

What else? The vomiting did stop on Saturday. It was prolonged somewhat by the appearance of super-boogie baby summer colds, which have caused all sorts of unseasonal nose-streaming, coughing and wheezing, but I think those are getting better too. (Again, you judge the fruitcake at your own risk...)