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Living in the South, almost every evening meal is topped off by some kind of dessert.  If you had cake, it's was

 

 

usually served with homemade pickles in a fancy little dish.  When we had homecoming at my mom's church,

 

 

there were always a lot of cakes and just as many dishes of pickles, all homemade and sitting next to

 

 

the baker's cake.  Christmas meant we would have a fruitcake that my mom had made.  Yes, I said fruitcake,

 

 

and it was fabulous!  I have her recipe but I have never been able to duplicate it.  Even my husband said her

 

 

fruitcake was the best.  It was baked in a large tube pan with a removable bottom and usually weighed close

 

 

to 10 pounds.  She used grape juice as the liquid, never liquor or wine.