Icebox Fruitcake

Ever get tired of getting (or giving) fruitcake at Christmas? Try this variation. It's called an icebox fruitcake because you must keep it refrigerated. Or, as older generations would say, "in the icebox." Exactly what an icebox is, we'll talk about another time. Maybe.

Anyway, here's a recipe you might enjoy. Seriously.

Ingredients:

• One box (approx. 12 oz.) of vanilla wafers.
• One pound of candied cherries (red and/or green)
• One can (approx. 14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk. (Not evaporated milk; there is a difference. Don't find out the hard way.)
• One cup raisins.
• One cup coconut.
• One cup chopped pecans.

Directions:

1. Finely crush vanilla wafers. (A food processor works great for this.)
2. In a large bowl, combine the crushed vanilla wafers and sweetened condensed milk.
3. Hand mix until wafers are moistened.
4. Add the remaining ingredients.
5. Mix well by hand.
6. Press mixture into a buttered tube pan.
7. Cover
8. Refrigerate overnight, until firm.

Keep it refrigerated, if it lasts that long.