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<\/a><\/p>\nGourmet Gethsemani Abbey goodies from S&K and — another! — big check from RW, who already sent one earlier this month.<\/p>\n
RW’s earlier check was for me. This one? Well, Ava would give a big thanks if she knew, because this one’s to put toward her medical care and treats. Great timing, too. Furrydoc and I were just talking on Wednesday about another test that would better pinpoint the degree of Ava’s kidney malfunction. <\/p>\n
Guess what? The check and the cost of the test are about equal. So a big WOOF to you, RW.<\/p>\n
Now, about those goodies. You probably know that Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky was home to Thomas Merton. (Pretty Internet savvy for a silent, enclosed brotherhood; those Gethsemani monks snagged the domain name Monks.org<\/a> way back when.)<\/p>\n Did you also know they make one of the world’s top Kentucky Bourbon-soaked fruitcakes<\/a>? That’s what’s in the round tin: The biggest fruitcake they make. No less than the famous fruitcake experts at The Wall Street Journal<\/em> (?!) call it the best<\/a>.*<\/p>\n Now fruitcakes, of course, are to be regarded with suspicion. You’ve heard all the jokes: doorstops, giant hockey pucks, the gift that gets re-gifted every year and never actually eaten by any recipient. But I hadn’t had breakfast when I brought that saintly fruitcake home, so I immediately cut a big slab out of it.<\/p>\n Oh man. Ohhhh man. Cloves, cinnamon, tons of tasty fruit in just the right amount of dense cake, and exactly<\/em> the perfect hint of Bourbon.<\/p>\n I’ve had good fruitcake before. Dearly departed (and much-missed) old friend Capn Gooch used to send me cakes from Texas’ famous Collin Street Bakery<\/a>. Those were good enough to cure me of total fruitcake skepticism.<\/p>\n But this Gethsemani cake is in a whole ‘nother league. I never dreamed … <\/p>\n