TL;DR, should I, and if so then how should I, warm it up?
I’m poor, been through a rough time.
Luckily, I have some very generous food banks in the area. One of which I’ve gone to for a while now. Some people know there know me, and things have been in a bit of an uptick in my life lately. And that hasn’t gone unnoticed either. I’ve been in a significantly better mood and more, approachable, I guess?
One of the funny little results of that, is that they’ve been giving me more. I give away a bunch of the stuff I get that I don’t need myself even in the hostel I’m staying at.
This foodbank closes for a few weeks for Christmas/New Years. They gave out a bit more than usual to all, but someone went a bit further.
They made individual fruit cakes. Only seven so I’m told. And the staff gave them away to their “favourites”. I’m not super big into favouritism but, well. They gave me one. Even declined it at first but gave in.
Now, the only time I’ve had fruit cake I’ve hated it. But it was the dry store-bought crap.
This cake? Looks amazing. Whole pecans and a dollop of caramel on the top. In this nice little hard-foil container and plastic-wrapped inside as well.
Given all the prep and thought and care that went into it, I have to try it. (And they made a point of wanting to know what I think of it since they know I was a bit hesitant in the first place.)
But for the life of me I am wondering the most inane question.
Should I warm it up?
Typically if I want a warm muffin/pastry I just put it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
If I really want to go out of my way I might wrap something in foil and throw it in an oven/toaster-oven. Or for pizza I’ll put it in frying pan and cover it on low if it’s really good pizza and I want to warm up the crust so it’s “just right” rather than microwaving it into a soggy mess. (Which I will happily do if time is an issue and it’s cheap pizza.)
But in this case, I feel like I should do it by the best method possible. If I even should?
Apparently I’m supposed to enjoy it with a cup of coffee as well. So it may turn into breakfast for a few days if I like it.
Slice it. Pour some brandy on it. Light it on fire. It will be warm by the time the fire dies out. I don’t know. That’s just what I remember from the 18th century.
It’s usually impolite to ask a person their age but I have… concerns. (Vampirism? Dorian Gray-Portrait? Steampunk Cryo?)
That aside, pouring brandy on it and lighting it on fire does sound like a particularly good method of consumption… 🤔
Let’s just say that I was stoked when I was flipping through a book and found this 1903 advertisement.
That $100 is about $4500 today after inflation.
Reminded me, my grama had a cookbook from the early 1900s.
Flipped through it and got a bit of a surprise seeing legitimate recipes for 'coon and squirrel. (Different times but given grocery prices… they do say “every trend comes back 'round agen.”)
The Joy of Cooking didn’t fully remove recipes like that until the '80s. The 1980s.
A local guy recently got busted for for illegal hunting at raccoons and other animals and due to racism was immediately accused of serving these animals at a restaurant he wasn’t even associated with. I pointed out to other locals that there are proud Southern boys that would gladly brag about this preparing kind of meal.
Let’s just say the locals weren’t happy to have their racism pointed out to them.