Here ya go, ajsmama. It's way too late to make anything but cookies, I think; there's no fermentation going on but the cake does need to age so the flavors meld. Right after baking it is kind of harsh tasting, but logically cookies would age more quickly. I never make it later than Thanksgiving and prefer to do it back around Veteran's Day to have it ready for Christmas/Yule. Mari's Fruitcake - Not For Children! makes 3 4x8 inch loaf pans or a 10 inch bundt pan The day before you wish to bake, combine in a big bowl: 2 1/2 cups chopped mixed dried fruit (the original recipe called for that weird candied fruit mix, and you can use that if you want, but I prefer actual fruit) see note 1 below 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted 1 cup chopped pitted dates - note 2 2-3 tbsp finely chopped candied ginger 1/2 cup chopped candied cherries, optional (DH insists that there must be at least a few of those nasty neon-green things in this, for sentimentÂs sake) 1/2 cup dark rum or brandy  note 3 (you will need 1 pint bottle total) 1/2 cup orange juice (approximately juice of 1 orange) grated zest of the orange Cover and marinate overnight, stirring when you remember to! On baking day: Grease pans heavily (I use Pam for Baking on Teflon pans, but Crisco's fine; butter sticks maddeningly). Preheat oven to 300F. Sift together and set aside: 2 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 1 tsp allspice In large bowl, beat: 2 eggs (sometimes I need a third egg if the final mix won't come together) 1 can sweetened condensed milk (like Eagle; NOT evaporated milk) 1 big (around 28 oz.) jar mincemeat (this is the secret ingredient) - note 4 Mix all the ingredients together. You'll have to work at it. Really work! Scrape it into pan(s), spread it out evenly, and bake at 300F for 1 hour 45 minutes for bundt pan or large loaves, less time for smaller cakes. Use the old toothpick test for doneness. Cool on racks. When cakes are cold, wrap them in clean, porous cloth (I use old linen or worn cotton dishtowels; plain unbleached muslin fabric is about $1/yard, just wash it first) wetted with more rum or brandy - use the same thing as you did in the cake. Seal in ziploc bags and refrigerate, or if you have a basement/attic/mudroom/shed that stays under 50 degrees but above freezing, put it there in a well-sealed metal or plastic container. Reapply rum/brandy once a week during the first month, then remove the cloth. Store airtight for up to 3 months. (I find it gets a little overly-boozy and tired after that. If you like it less strong, just do one or two applications.) Note 1: I usually use cranberries, cherries, dried apples, dried blueberries, finely chopped prunes, raisins (dark and golden), currants, pears, peaches, whatever looks good. I try for at least 5 or 6 different fruits. Not so much with the tropical stuff like pineapples and mangoes though, that just seems wrong. Note 2: DoleÂs prechopped ready-for-baking dates save much sticky hassle :-) Note 3: Those who do not consume alcohol can use 1 cup orange juice and 1 tbsp rum or brandy flavoring and skip the dousing routine, and the cakes will still be tasty, but the cakes will only keep about a week in the fridge and a month frozen before becoming stale. Note 4: I prefer Borden's Nonesuch mincemeat if I'm baking for nonvegetarians (it contains beef suet) or Grandmother's for vegetarians. I do not like Crosse & Blackwell's at all, I think it's far too sweet. If you can only get the little blocks of Nonesuch concentrate, use 2 packages and follow the label instructions for reconstituting it. I have not made these, but a relative recently imparted to me that you can make this batter into cookies by dropping tablespoons of it 2" apart on well-greased (I'd use parchment paper - NOT wax paper!) baking sheets and baking about 15-18 minutes at "325ish". :-) Makes about 5 dozen. ------------------------------ Per the almond filling on your grandma's stollen - it SHOULD be marzipan (almond paste) instead of the soft, spreadable almond filling, but you made a procedural oops more than a product oops. Don't even try to spread it. Use a rolling pin to whack and roll the firm almond paste between two pieces of wax paper or parchment paper into a long half-oval which you them fold the dough around. Or you could cheat like a bakery I once knew that used to make kick-@$$ stollen, almost as good as my stepgrandmother's. They chop up the marzipan into bits about 1/2" square, spread them out on cookie sheets and freeze them rock-hard before kneading them right into the stollen dough along with the fruits and nuts, so you get these little "surprises" of marzipan here and there in the bread. I adore marzipan so it was wonderful getting those little bits all through. Getting the gigantic stollen in the mail from stepgrandmother was a high point of the holiday season when I was young. We've made it several times but this year just too much chaos. No more baking this year here - DH is having his tonsils out (among other things) on Monday, and it would just be cruel to have the stuff around when he can't eat it. So we're doing Yule this weekend; Solstice is Monday. He's already informed me ;-) that when he's done with the liquid parts and has graduated to "the mushy stuff" I'm making him pumpkin custard (just pumpkin pie without the crust, baked in custard cups) and the "squishy parts" of banana/zucchini/pumpkin bread (no nuts but the squirrels get the crusts!). LOL

For decades, I've started Holiday preparation the first or second week in October. Stuff that freezes well, Dressing/stuffing (I mix everything together & freeze raw) All cookies Quick breads Sweet potatoes (we like them slow roasted until caramalized & then mashed with a bit of butter & they freeze beautifully) Granola/trail mix (this is our favorite munchie to have out during the Holidays & I actually made this Monday & it's in the freezer now) Pie crust dough Fillings for fruit pies (I freeze the filling separately & assembly/bake the pies on the morning of the Holiday) Filling for pumpkin pies (frozen raw - it keeps beautifully...thaw & bake the morning of the Holiday) Gingerbread & Lemon Sauce (maybe a bit surprising but Lemon Sauce freezes just great) Plum Puddings (will be made next week...I shopped for ingredients last weekend) I order the meats the first couple weeks in October. By the time the Holidays arrive I've got most of the cooking already done. Things I also do well in advance are take the linens to the cleaners, polish silver, wash the china/crystal if it's not been used for awhile, check decorations to see if anything's self-destructed since last year & replace, if necessary (how does that happen anyway??), & I order my fresh floral decorations from the florist we've used for years very early...like around Halloween (then, I can just forget about it & they arrive right when I need them). There's lots of other stuff I do very early also but it's only 6:30 a.m. & I can't think yet! I'm limited physically & hurrying around last minute doesn't work for me. I also have my Holiday shopping done & wrapped before T-day. Components for business gifts are prepped early so all I have to do is assemble for DH the night before he delivers. We don't send out as many Holiday cards as we used to but there's still a couple hundred cards & I've been working on those since July. We start putting up the Christmas village the weekend after Halloween because it takes forever. I'd like to stop putting it up but the g-kids would freak. This year, we're serving dinner at the food bank on T-Day so much less cooking. I'm just going to make a roast chicken dinner for the 2 of us & include stuffing the Friday after T-Day...maybe one pie, probably pumpkin. Also, no business gifts this year. Instead, we are donating one turkey to the food bank in lieu of those gifts & just sending cards notifying people of the donation. Our food banks are in dire need of support this year. Actually, it's at critical mass levels. /tricia

I have just had 3 funerals to bake for. I can't believe it's time to start cookies for Xmas. I'd much rather make biscotti than cut out cookies, even though I have a huge collection, over 200 I estimate, of cookie cutters. Only about 75 of those are strictly Xmas/Hannakah cutters. Someday I will count them. Of course some day I will really organize my recipes too! The 1st cookies I always make and freeze are the cream wafers. I need at least 15 dozen of them for all the family and friends that demand them. (My mother can;t really do them any more, so I have had to add her and my 2 brother to the list.) That's 360 cookies since they are sandwich cookies. I freeze them without the filling because they take up less space and I can usually force someone else to fill and assemble when it's time to distribute! Once they are done I can think about the other favorites. I rarely freeze the rolled sugar cookies and Swedish gingerbread. I do those with my nieces, again closer to the holiday, when they are in the mood. Then I make a few Stained Glass as well. They are also a pain, but I made them for my oldest grandson years ago, and of course they are his favorite. I freeze Spritz, Applesauce Cookies, a couple types of biscotti,and my favorite, Swedish Almond Cookies if I think I have time And the chocolate shortbread stars for stareos, if I make them. But Dorrie Greenspan's World Peace cookies are lots easier so I've made them the last 2 years. I just freeze the logs and bake as needed. I never freeze the bar cookies; peppermint brownies, oatmeal carmelitas, and peanut butter brownies. Or the fudge, toffee or meringues. I have a new recipe for caramel this year from Alice Medrich's new book. I have yet to find the perfect caramel recipe except the very expensive ones you buy. And last year I made spoon cookies for the 1st time because my friend who made them moved away. They don't really freeze... I would love to make Sarah Bernhardt's Netla. But I can't add another tedious cookie to the list. I made Sherry's Santa's helpers for the 1st funeral reception but they drove me crazy trying to get them small enough for the platters. They are incredible but I have renamed them Walnut Wonderfuls and will make them NOT at Xmas when I can serve large cookies all by them selves! Have you seen Gourmet's favorite cookies. There are a couple I'm very tempted by! Here is a link that might be useful: Favorite cookies 1941 - 2008

@lpinkmountain, I looked at that recipe and copied and the source to a Word document. It sounds wonderful. I love Cornish hens - they are so great for one person. Thanks for the link.