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My Life in Fruitcake

By Renato Poliafito

The much maligned yet omnipresent fruitcake was a scarce creature at my family home in Queens, New York in the 1970's. In fact, it didn't make its first (and nearly only) appearance in our three-family condo until one was given to us by our upstairs tenants, Carole and Alex Stuart. Of the many tenants we had in and out over the years (including a French woman with a penchant for gossip, and a Greek couple with a penchant for traveling), Carole and Alex stood out. And not just because it was a tad uncommon at the time for a young, attractive, All-American couple to move into a predominantly Italian part of Queens (this was before Brooklyn was cool and Queens was an acceptable borough for those fleeing Manhattan). They stood out also because they took a real affinity to my mom and her baking. Keep reading »

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