Today we celebrate a delicious treat made of fruit, it’s National Brandied Fruit Day. This day is observed annually on October 20th.
Brandied fruits are basically sugared fruits, covered in alcohol and left to ferment and enjoyed at the Holidays. It is one way of capturing the flavors of summer in a delicious treat served for dessert that gives you a little heat on the inside during the cold winter months.
The process is to ripened fresh fruit, and adding sugar and brandy and not just a regular brandy, the better the quality of the brandy, the better it will taste. The fruits are peeled and sliced and placed in a jar filled with the brandy halfway full, making sure the fruit is submerging fully in the jar. Store the fruit jars in a dark place up to six months before you can serve it. Serve it on top of cake or ice cream and some other dishes as dessert.
So, today, start preserving your fruits in brandy to get ready for a holiday celebration to serve on Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas holiday gatherings. Share on social media if you have a special recipe for Brandied fruit using #BrandiedFruitDay.
1944 General MacArthur returns to the Philippines
After advancing island by island across the Pacific Ocean, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte, fulfilling his promise to return to the area he was forced to flee in 1942.
The son of an American Civil War hero, MacArthur served as chief U.S. military adviser to the Philippines before World War II. The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, Japan launched its invasion of the Philippines. After struggling against great odds to save his adopted home from Japanese conquest, MacArthur was forced to abandon the Philippine island fortress of Corregidor under orders from President Franklin Roosevelt on March 1942. Left behind at Corregidor and on the Bataan Peninsula were 90,000 American and Filipino troops, who, lacking food, supplies, and support, would soon succumb to the Japanese offensive.
After leaving Corregidor, MacArthur and his family traveled by boat 560 miles to the Philippine island of Mindanao, braving mines, rough seas, and the Japanese navy. At the end of the hair-raising 35-hour journey, MacArthur told the boat commander, John D. Bulkeley, “You’ve taken me out of the jaws of death, and I won’t forget it.” On March 17, the general and his family boarded a B-17 Flying Fortress for northern Australia. He then took another aircraft and a long train ride down to Melbourne. During this journey, he was informed that there were far fewer Allied troops in Australia than he had hoped. Relief of his forces trapped in the Philippines would not be forthcoming. Deeply disappointed, he issued a statement to the press in which he promised his men and the people of the Philippines, “I shall return.” The promise would become his mantra during the next two and a half years, and he would repeat it often in public appearances.
(excerpted from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/macarthur-returns)
