A CHRISTMAS MEMORY

Truman Capote's A CHRISTMAS MEMORY is one of my favorite stories. He grew up in Alabama and was taken in by his cousin who, although poor, always scraped enough money together to make 30 fruitcakes which she would send to deserving folks, among them the Roosevelts in the White House.

Our christmases as a child were about simple pleasures -gathering holly and pine boughs from the woods, making a sock doll for my younger sister, carving birds out of wood scraps, making christmas tree ornaments and going to church for the Christmas pageant about the birth of the christ child.

One of my favorite childhood Christmas memories was of my sister Wilma creating the Lane Cake she baked each year. The three or four layers were composed of buttercream frosting, egg yolks, sugar, raisins, pecans, fresh coconut and bourbon. The smells that filled our little house were wonderful and we could hardly wait for Christmas day to sink our teeth into that heavenly creation.

It seems that a Mrs. Lane of Alabama wrote a cookbook around the beginning of the 20th century called Some Good Things to Eat and the cake recipe which won the state fair's first prize became known as Lane Cake. McCall Magazine featured it in an issue and declared that it was one thing you had to taste before you died. It's probably 2,000 calories a slice ! It became an integral part of Southern culture and was mentioned in To Kill A Mockingbird.




FOOD AND WINE Magazine ran a recipe in its February 2007 issue. At the end of the recipe they correctly stated : " Bourbon is key to the filling and a good glass of bourbon is also key. " Just be sure to drink the bourbon after the cake is done or both you and the cake will be soaked.