Tablea Tsokolate And Mary Grace Fruitcake On A Sunday
My days at the office are getting longer. And my working week, well, extends until the weekend. But what I look forward to during the weekend (even though I sometimes have to work!), is the getting up late and not worrying about dressing up for the office.
And today, a Sunday, when I had the luxury of making myself breakfast, I remembered I had some tablea tsokolate somewhere! So I boiled milk and melted a chunk of tablea tsokolate, although not as good as what my Mom makes at home in the Philippines. Her hot tsokolate always brings back childhood memories.
But today, since I'm far away from home, I had to make do with the milk I got from Emart and the tablea tsokolate I got from a supermarket in Manila. And close enough it was!
And while scavenging through my refrigerator, I knew somewhere inside was a box of unopened Mary Grace fruitcake! My thoughtful friend, Cielo, who happens to be Mary Grace's wacky sister, got me this as a send-off gift before I flew back to Seoul last January. And since fruitcakes can last for six months, this box was as fresh as spring flowers (although I haven't seen any bloom in my neighborhood)!
So, here I am, sipping my hot tsokolate with Mary Grace fruitcake and just being grateful that even with this busy workload (I still have to work today!), I still have these goodies from home reminding me that when I fly home someday, my Mom's hot tsokolate will always be waiting for me, not just on a Sunday, but perhaps everyday, at the breakfast table.
I don't think fruitcake can last for 6 months. Here in the US, I can buy good quality fruitcake in Costco, which always contains the deadline, usually within a week or so. When you keep fruitcake in the freezer, you can extend the deadline for a long time, but just in the refrigerator, it doesn't last long time.
ReplyDeleteJust last month I had an opportunity to ask a professional baker in the bakery about the use of refrigerator or freezer to extend the deadline of bread and cake. He said I should keep bread and cake in the freezer to extend the deadline, not in the refrigerator and that if I keep bread and cake in the refrigerator, we still have to keep the same deadline.
The Mary Grace fruit cakes I talked about are brushed with rum and sealed in a tinfoil. The rum actually preserves it, and the 'older' the fruitcake, the yummier it gets. Maybe those Costco fruitcakes have different ingredients. These Mary Grace fruitcakes actually can last for more than a year in the refrigerator, as long as it's sealed tight and the temperature maintained all throughout. In case you visit Manila, do drop by any Mary Grace cafe for a fruitcake. And of course, don't forget their glorious ensaimadas.
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