Gingerbread

Grandma & Grandpa on their honeymoon in 1931

I don't why I chose this picture except for the fact that Grandma and Grandpa were married in the fall and I'm pretty sure that right after their honeymoon Grandma began her cooking journey.

Providing meals for the family was expected and women then didn't have the Internet to help with menu planning. They remembered what their mothers had taught them and ran with it. The rest came from their own ingenuity. Because they were smart enough to write everything down, we can thank them for the collections of recipes we have today.

I never saw Grandma sit down and write out a monthly menu plan. She had been scheduling meals for so many years she could do it in her sleep. Fall and winter were different though. In addition to the regular meals there was always a little something extra to take the edge off and one of those little somethings was gingerbread.

This was the go-to gingerbread recipe that Grandma always pulled out during the fall--one of her four favorite seasons for cooking!

There's something about ginger. The smell is unmistakable when it's in the oven.  It's also supposed to be very good for you, which might provide some consolation considering this contains more than 100% of the recommended daily levels of saturated fat. But we won't talk about that. Remember, this is comfort food!

Gingerbread

½ cup butter or shortening
½ cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 ½ cup flour, sifted
1 ½ tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp cloves
½ tsp salt
1 cup molasses
1 cup hot water

Cream butter and sugar; add egg. Sift dry ingredients together.  Combine molasses and hot water. Add dry ingredients alternately with molasses mixture to creamed mixture, beating after each addition until smooth. Turn into paper-lined 9x9x2 inch pan. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.