Preparing for Christmas fruitcake Baking day (absolute beginners)

The day before:

• Finding the recipe

• Buying the ingredients

• Finding or borrowing the baking pans

• Soaking the fruit

Baking day:

• I photocopy my recipe in big print and stick it on the fridge for easy referral

• Dress Comfortable. Use an apron if you have it. Flour has a way of getting onto ones clothes

• Clean the kitchen and clear the sink and working surfaces.

It is best to wash the dirty utensils immediately. One can get oneself tied in knots when one allow the dishes to pile up.

Preparing the work space

• Make sure your workspace is big enough.

• A plastic sheet over an ironing board can increase the work surface if you live in a caravan or small flat.

Oven and Pans

• Turn oven on take butter from freezer

• Prepare the baking pans and line them with wax paper or tin foil.

If you inherited old pans from granny, it is better to line them with tinfoil to cover rust spots or to prevent them from rusting.

• Get extra baking utensils and edible ingredients for little Mary or Johnny and space for them to make a mess where they will not bother you too much.

Final touches

• Measure out all the ingredients and group them in order of need.

• Put on your favorite relaxing music if you do not have a little Mary or Johnny,

• Make a cup of coffee or pour some of that fruit-soaking alcohol that is left over into a glass and have a sip now and again.

Follow the recipe.

Beware of the Tablespoon

Warning
Some of the recipes in this blog may date back to 1940. Over the years I have collected recipes from various sources. My own recipe collection started in 1968.
I have inherited old collections from aunts and parents.
I have also lived on three continents during his time and never thought to record the source of my clippings. Perhaps I never considering sharing them with anyone.
Beginners should only trust recipes given in grams and millilitres because cup and tablespoon measures may vary too much from country to country and from different sources within the same region.

When I post a recipe from one of my collections, I normally also post a few web links to similar recipes so that methods, measures and ingredients can be compared.

Here are examples of discrepancies in TABLESPOON MEASURES

TABLESPOON MEASURES:

• Margaret Powell (British) 1970 Tablespoon = 18 ml

• Australian and New Zealand Complete cooking 1973 = Tablespoon = 25 ml

• Best of Cooking (Hamlyn) - Tablespoon, (Australia) = 20 ml

• Best of Cooking (Hamlyn) - Tablespoon, (British) = 17,7 ml

• Best of Cooking (Hamlyn) - Tablespoon, (America) 14,2

• Indian Cooking, Chowhary 1952 - = Tablespoon = 25 ml

• Cook and Enjoy, De Villiers 1971 (South Africa) = Tablespoon = 12,5 ml

• Complete South African Cookbook (South Africa) 1979 Tablespoon = 12,5

• The Australian Women's weekly 1978 = 20 ml

I found the following Tablespoon references on the Internet

• British Tablespoon = 17,7 ml, 18 ml, 15 ml

• Australian Tablespoon = 20 ml or 25 ml

• Canadian Tablespoon = 15 ml

• American Tablespoon = 14,2, 14,79

• South African Tablespoon = 12,5 or 15 ml