"Imagine a morning in late November, a cold, crisp morning in November my friend would exclaim, "Oh Buddy, it's fruitcake weather." "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote is one of the best holiday stories ever written. Fruitcake weather is a day in late November that reminds everyone that Christmas is around the corner, and the holiday season has begun. My grandmother, my mom and I always made fruitcakes in November. The best time is pretty close to Thanksgiving. The cold weather doesn't really have anything to do with baking the cakes, except for the items that go into the cakes. In the fall, after the nuts have fallen from the trees, after the harvest is the best time to get the ingredients for fruitcakes. After the fruit, flour, suet, sugar and nuts and all the other ingredients are mixed, the fruitcakes bake. They are cooled and then wrapped in cheese cloth. The cakes are then soaked with Bourbon, rum, or whiskey. After they are good and soaked, the cakes are put back and forgotten until around Christmas. This gives them time to soak in the flavor of all the ingredients. It takes about a month for fruitcakes to really gain their full flavor, thus, November is usually considered, "fruitcake weather."
I have read this to my English classes for 20 years and every group seems to enjoy the story. If you haven't read it please do so. You won't be sorry.
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