My maternal grandmother was legendary for two things,
date bread and chocolate chip cookies. We called her Sweetie Pie because she
was uncomfortable with people knowing she was a grandma. She was glamorous most
of her life, with a petite figure and plenty of curly artificially colored red
hair. She was one of the rare divorcees of her time, and she had plenty of dates
but no second marriage. When Sweetie Pie was at our home or we were at hers in
Chicago, we ate her delicious home-made cookies and date bread. Later she moved
to Sturgeon Bay to be near us as we grew up.
Her date bread recipe was in her head and not on paper.
At one time my mother tried to get it in written form. Mother said that Sweetie
Pie wasn’t specific about how much she used of most ingredients, so Mother
patiently asked her, “How much flour, a teaspoon or ten cups? How many eggs?”
and so on. Here is the result for my family and everyone else.
Date Bread
1 cup dates 1
cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda 1
heaping teaspoon butter
1 cup boiling water 2
eggs
1 cup nuts 2
cups flour
Cut up the dates.
Add soda and water. Cool. Cream butter and sugar. Beat eggs and add.
Pour date mixture on this and blend. Add nuts and flour. Pour into buttered
loaf pan with wax paper on bottom. Bake at 300 degrees about one hour or until
done. Remove from pan immediately.
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