Mmmm, fruitcake is so good. :)

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Dec 27, 2013

I admit it...I eat Cup o' Noodles. High in sodium and all sorts of bad for you. But it's a cheap lunch and with the high cost of school, books, fees, supplies, etc., I have to save where I can. Why can't healthy food be cheaper?

sueall · Dec 27, 2013

Need we even mention the ultimate two-dollars-in-the-bank-account staple, Ramen Noodles? One of my classmates used to eat the stuff straight out of the package. Or she'd plop it into a cup of tap water, let it sit a couple minutes, then slurp the mess down.

I'd rather eat fruitcake!

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Dec 28, 2013

NOTHING could make fruitcake taste good. :no:

Mulan · Dec 28, 2013

Some fruitcake tastes like crap, some fruitcake is delicious.

I like the fruitcake from Colin Street Bakery. One of the doctors would give it to the nurses at xmas.

https://www.collinstreet.com/pages/online_bakery/all_deluxe_fruitcakes

imintrouble, BSN, RN · Dec 28, 2013

NOTHING could make fruitcake taste good.

I like fruitcake. My husband buys one for me every year at Christmas. Not the Walgreens grade of cake, but as Mulan posted, the good stuff you get at bakeries.

Another plus is, I never have to worry about sharing, as nobody likes it but me. Yay!!

sueall · Dec 28, 2013

Every year my family gets me this incredible fruitcake confection made by the Amish in Elkhart, Indiana. And every year I make it disappear in . . . oh, minus five seconds.

Hmmmm. I wonder if anyone is hiring in Elkhart. . .

NurseDirtyBird · Dec 28, 2013

Every year my family gets me this incredible fruitcake confection made by the Amish in Elkhart, Indiana. And every year I make it disappear in . . . oh, minus five seconds.
Hmmmm. I wonder if anyone is hiring in Elkhart. . .

It was the Pennsylvania Dutch who brought cake to the U.S. Way back in the day (18th-19th centuries), the cakes you would find in someone's home were usually made with fruit and aged with liquor, like the fruitcakes we re-gift today. Since there was no refrigeration, buttercream wasn't terribly popular, so a cake that could stand the test of time, like one preserved with alcohol, was preferred. Also, cakes were pretty heavy (like fruitcake) before about the mid 19th century, because baking powder/soda wasn't around or affordable for "regular" people - usually the rich were able to afford this.

There were of course, cakes leavened with egg whites (angel food) and shortcake, but these of course were also usually eaten with fruit.

Can you tell I love cake?

allnurses Guide · Dec 28, 2013

Yes, I agree. SOME fruitcake does taste very good and yes, usually the kind from good bakeries.

Especially if there are more nuts than candied fruit.

Sandrion · Dec 29, 2013

I lost all my hair at the end of nursing school. I had to wear a wig for the pinning ceremony, just to tell you. I could not believe it, but I knew why I wanted to be a nurse in the first place. So, nursing school comes with the bad and the good. Thank God I made it.

Do-over, ASN, RN · Dec 29, 2013

I love fruitcake. Not sure what that says about me, but at least I rarely have to share =)

CountryMomma, ASN, RN · Dec 29, 2013

I have had potted meat and kippered herring at the end of a week before my husband got his paycheck. Of course, I was polite and ate it out of range of my classmates. :) Made sure to bring breathmints as well!

The other po-folks food I've been eating a lot is red beans n rice. Cheap, goes far, tasty. Make it stretch even farther with a half-link of kielbasa tossed in.

Its amazing how far saltines can take a person. :)