Long Lost Recipes

Two years ago, I hurriedly packed my belongings and moved out to my parents' place. The first year, me, my pets and my most essential belongings stayed in a 26-ft. travel trailer. Late last summer, the shed for my studio was built and I had just enough time to put down flooring, get insulation on the walls, and get boxes of fabrics and books and other stuff stashed in there before bad weather hit.

This week, I started what now seems like the never-ending job of unpacking more boxes. At this point, it's mostly the boxes that got packed last - the ones that have no labels because they contain a bit of everything. Some things I'm delighted to see again. Other things I toss in the trash while wondering why they got packed in the first place.

One of the treasures I unpacked yesterday was my box of collected recipes, the ones I liked so much that I actually took time to write them down, by hand, on 3x5 cards. The oldest one is from childhood, a recipe for gingerbread. My fourth grade teacher loved the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and read each one to us that year. One day, she brought us a treat: gingerbread made from Laura's recipe! I'd never liked gingerbread until that day, so my mom got the recipe and somewhere in time I copied it for my collection. I'm not sure I understand all the instructions, but you're welcome to try it! I'm guessing that you add the cup of water to the batter and that a "moderate oven" is 350 degrees. And I think my mom baked it in a 9" x 13" pan.

Laura's Gingerbread

Blend together:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
Mix in: 1 cup molasses

Add 2 teaspoons baking soda to 1 cup boiling water. Be sure cup is full of water after foam has run off into cake mixture. Set aside.

To 3 cups flour, add:
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Sift flour mixture into cake mixture and mix well.
Add 2 well-beaten eggs and stir.
Note: the mixture should be quite thin.

Bake in moderate oven for 30 minutes.

Variations: add raisins and/or candied fruits and/or a chocolate frosting.