Quickbreads
POUR
3 cups boiling water
OVER
2 8 ounce boxes Chopped Dates
LET COOL COMPLETELY
THEN ADD
2 teaspoons baking soda
ADD
1 cup walnuts
2 cups sugar
MIX IN
4 eggs
THEN ADD
4 Tablespoons melted butter (cooled)
STIR IN
4 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
POUR INTO
2 greased and floured loaf pans
Pour boiling water over chopped dates and let cool completely.
When cool add 2 teaspoons baking soda. Add the nuts and sugar.
Mix in 4 eggs, then 4 Tablespoons cooled, melted butter. Stir
in 4 1/2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder. Pour batter
into greased and floured loaf pans. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.
(see Marge's letter below)
Dear Doc,
A little history about this recipe. My grandmother,
Cecilia Marie Olson, was born around 1880. She was born in Denmark
in a fishing village. She saw many women become widows due to their
husbands dying at sea. She felt strongly about NOT being a widow.
She did not want to live in a fishing village where she too might become
a widow. Cecilia came to America and married a man by the name of
Nelson. They had a daughter, Dora, born January 13, 1898. (this is
my cousin Robert's mother) Shortly after Dora's birth Cecilia became
a widow. She had baked marvelous goods and gave them away as gifts
for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and Christmas. After her husband
died she often sold her baked goods for extra money.
She re-married a man by the name of Hans Olson, also from
Denmark. Together they had seven more children. Shortly after
the birth of Cecilia's 8th child, Hans died, once again leaving her a widow.
Of Cecilia's eight children only three lived past 18 years old. Two
daughters and a son.
Cecilia took in washing and ironing to support her children.
She sold holiday baked goods for extra money for the holidays. Of
course her best and most popular was her Date and Nut bread. Cecilia
guarded her recipe for the Date and Nut bread. She passed the recipe
on to her two surviving daughters, Dora and Ruth (Ruth was my mom).
It became a family tradition for my mom to bake the Date
and Nut bread for Christmas. She carried on the tradition of giving
it away as a gift to friends. Ruth passed the recipe on to her daughter
Margaret (me). I kept the tradition going, but now it is time to
pass this simple but delicious recipe on to friends who truly appreciate
the marvelous recipe Cecilia made.
Through the years there have been two modifications.
In Cecilia's day all flour had to be sifted several times and only butter
was used, oleo margarine had not been invented yet. And of course
dates did not come prepared in packages. She bought them in bulk,
pitted and chopped them up herself covering them in sugar. Today
we do not sift the flour and we can use margarine (I have always used real
butter) and dates come neatly cut up and we don't have to cover them in
sugar.
HELPFUL HINTS:
Through the years we ladies of the family have found that mixing the
mixture in a plastic bowl does not work well. I use a stainless
steel bowl, my mom and Aunt used glass bowls. Always wait until the
date and hot water mixture is completely cool. I often pour the water
on the dates in the moring and bake in the afternoon. I have let
them sit over night and baked in the morning. Use only Pillsbury
pre-sifted flour and the butter needs to be melted but not HOT when added
to the mixture. The eggs should be room temperature. Strange
as it may seem, the ingredients should be added in the order they are listed.
I have mixed them up from time to time through the years and when I did
the bread did not come out as good as when I did it in order. However
it was still good, but not AS GOOD. Do not use an electric mixer,
mix all ingredients with a large spoon, I use either a wooden or a plastic
spoon. (One of those imitation wooden spoons made out of plastic.)
I usually have one wooden spoon that I use strictly for this recipe.
ENJOY
Marge Behrendt
1 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup of shortening (I have always used Crisco)
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon sour milk (Sour milk with a bit of vinegar)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed (Use bananas that are quite brown
and fragrant for the best tasting bread. I always save
the over-ripe ones for this recipe.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of white flour
1/2 cups of chopped walnuts
Cream the white sugar and shortening well. Add the eggs and beat
together. Mix the sour milk and baking soda together and add
to egg
mixture. Mix well. Add the salt, mashed bananas and nutmeats.
Add
the flour and mix only to moisten with a wooden spoon, do not beat.
Put in a greased loaf pan and let set for 15 minutes before you bake.
Put in a 375 degree oven and bake for about 1 hour. It will have
a
crack down through the middle and be nice and brown when it is done.
Test for doneness by inserting a tooth pick in the center. If
it
comes out dry it's done. If it comes our with batter on it let
it
bake a bit longer. My Grandmother always tested it with a broom
straw
but I think nowadays a toothpick would be a little better. Wrap
in
aluminum foil and let age for a day (if you can resist it that long).
For the holidays you can add some green and red maraschino cherries.
