April is my favorite month. My birthday is in April, so maybe fulfilling the continuum of time makes that so. Today is April 1st: my mother's grandmother's day of birth in 1896. If she were alive today, she would be 111 years old. It seemed like a good day to learn something new...blogging. I stumbled upon blogging quite by accident and found it interesting. The lure of the curious Kat in me. My name is Kathryn and I live in the Midwest. I am midway through life, a life that is very good.
Bloggers all seem to have such purpose in their blogging endeavors. I would like to say that I am directed and have a clear cut mission. Alas, like most things in my life, I am directed, but the clear cut mission part usually comes later. As I was growing up, I was fortunate to know two great-grandmothers and two grandmothers, all of whom we visited regularly, finding ourselves sitting around the kitchen table chatting while preparing meals or visiting over cups of coffee and glasses of ades. For now, that is my vision: to be back in thought around my grandmothers' kitchen tables, chatting, doing, being together. So, in honor of the birthday girl, today's table is dedicated to my great-grandmother Birdie. On the day of her birth, her mother, convinced that this baby would be a boy playmate for older brother Charles, did not pick out a name for a girl. During labor she would hear over and over again that spring bird whose call sounds like "Birdie, Birdie, Birdie" outside her bedroom window. The sound was comforting and distracting for her and when the baby girl finally arrived, she decided her name would be Birdie. Today I am hearing that little bird signaling that spring has arrived and as I look out the kitchen window at the various budding trees, the spring flowers, the bright green grass, and warm temperatures, I agree: it is April 1st and Spring has arrived! Happy Day!
BIRDIE'S SPICE CAKE
Birdie Asenath Gilbank Lawver Luck
In a medium stove pot, mix together:
1 cup sugar
1 cup cold water
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 pound raisins
Stir until butter has melted. Boil one minute. Remove from stovetop. Add 1 teaspoon baking soda. Cool.
When cooled, mix in 1-1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour and stir one minute. Whisk one egg in a small bowl and add that to mixture, stirring for another minute.
Pour into buttered 8 or 9 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.
If your conscience allows, you can frost when cooled, but it is very fine with no frosting or just a sprinkling of confectioner's sugar on top. This is great to bake when you want the house to smell wonderfully inviting and cozy. And be forewarned, if you bake it with your windows open, your neighbors will all find excuses to drop in! The recipe can be doubled easily and baked in a 9 by 13 pan.
