My Muse

13^th April, 2006

by Moni Schilller

I’d like to devote this first article to my web designer, Gord Grisenthwaite. Not because he is an easy-to-work with kind of a guy, but because of his super-human ability to eat pounds and pounds of my fruitcake.

Gord doesn’t just eat a slice or two of fruitcake—he will eat an entire one pound loaf at a sitting. And, when you consider the amount of chocolate per loaf, the preponderance of fruit, as well as ¼ pound of butter, you have to say to yourself: “that is one healthy appetite.”

Here’s the kicker, though. He’s not fat. Maybe fruitcake is going to be the next diet craze. Certainly, a person can eat the Okanagan Harvest Cake^(tm) and feel virtuous. Gord eats a whole cake at a time, but as they’re made with healthy dried fruit, he knows he is doing something good for himself. I think he’s a bit of health nut.

Gord is a weathervane for baked goods. Last summer he tried my four-layer chocolate chunk torte and pronounced it good. In the fall, he got a beautiful baked cheesecake topped in whipped cream and rated it A+. I thought I was only getting a creative web designer, but I found myself with an able food critic as well. Bonus.

Therefore, the idea of eating fruitcakes as a meal, and eating them year-round should no longer sound foreign to the reader. We now have a person who demonstrates that this is quite a lovely way to live. I find it’s hard to think outside the box, but thanks to Gord, I think we all know it can be done.

Fruitcake—it’s not just for breakfast any more.