Domenica re-created her mother’s Christmas cake from memory. The gardener had provided her with butter and eggs. She used two cups of flour, two cups of sugar. She blended them together in a bowl with a tablespoon of water. The Sisters had put up cherries in liqueur last summer, the last jar of them would grace the batter. She fished them out of the jar and added them to the mix slowly, throwing in a half cup of cherry juice before stirring. She set the batter aside, sat by the warm fire, and cracked the walnuts, removing the meat and placing it in a bowl. She cracked enough walnuts to make a
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