I confess to being a bonafide foodie & cooking along with my heroines, or in this case, baking. Growing up in my granny’s Kentucky kitchen, in which not once in all her 97 years did she do dishes by anything but hand (no dishwasher), everything else was from scratch, too!
Sometimes she would make old-fashioned gingerbread which makes me wonder if her recipe wasn’t passed down in our family line and might even be from the original muster day cakes. Back then when the militia mustered, these cakes were often made, hence the name. This old recipe or receipt as they were once referred to is from the cooking diva of the 18th-century, Hannah Glasse, and her The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.
Reading about this old recipe inspired me to tuck it into my work in progress. Here’s a snippet from this frontier novel set in what is now West Virginia. To clarify, Maddie is not the heroine but Colonel Tygart is definitely our hero…
“Colonel Tygart, sir.” Maddie smiled at him, gesturing to the waiting cakes. She sliced the first with a sure hand, balancing his sample on a broad knife.
He tasted. Swallowed. A bit dry. Crumbly. How in the name of all that was holy had it cleared six judges? That every eye was upon him nearly made him squirm. The second sample was overwhelmingly spicy. A tad overbrown. But the third… Even before it met his tongue he breathed in the essence of nutmeg, cast back the thousandth time to his mother’s table. Moist. Well seasoned. A bite of lemon and orange peel and redolent with molasses. Perfectly browned. One taste wasn’t near enough.
He picked up the pewter plate the cake rested on and looked to the knot of aproned women. “Who’s responsible for this creation?”
He expected Esther to step forward. Mayhap Mrs. Schoolcraft or Rosemary Swan. The women looked about in question. Maddie eyed him apprehensively as a hush fell over the gathering…
*Copyright Laura Frantz
I so hope I’ve whetted your appetite, pun intended, for more of this novel releasing in January 2020!
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I’m already pulled up to the ‘table with fork in hand’ awaiting more of the morsel you teased us with. The recipe was just icing on the cake….te-hee! hee! See what I did there.
Dear Amy, SO delighted you are here and surely you deserve some award for first place 🙂 Like a gift copy of this frontier novel! I do mean that! And I will take your icing on the cake and fork in hand. What a joy it is to have you as a reader. Thank you, thank you!
Mmmm…that reminds me so much of my mom making gingerbread with a lemon sauce. So good. Food is connected to some of my favorite memories and my Mom, Granny, and Grandmother were some of the best cooks I’ve known. I love it when writers add that food element into their stories. This little excerpt definitely gets me excited about what’s to come! 😊💛
Oh, so appreciate your mention of lemon sauce! I’m a HUGE lemon fan, especially lemon curd, so anything lemon is a win-win! You and I are kindred cooking spirits, Stacey. I’m going to add lemon sauce to our gingerbread recipe and will think of you when we eat it! 🙂 Thank you, friend.
I had homemade lemon curd in a bagel this morning for breakfast! I have a friend who still uses the word ‘receipts.’. I wish I had the book now!
I want to have breakfast with you, Susan! 🙂 I love old recipe books and actually have my granny’s old recipes from her recipe box and her cookbooks. So very different than the cookbooks and recipes of today. And how our tastes have changed! My mom said the first time she had spaghetti was age 16. But that was back in 1950! Thanks for being here. I was just thinking of you and your hero over the weekend!
Sigh… my mother cooked a lot of kraft mac and cheese and it’s sidekick-spam. My grandfather cooked our sunday dinners-not my grandmother. No recipes passed down in my family. I am a first generation cook. I love to cook and love to bake. Just don’t ask me to make it pretty. I’m all about the flavor, not the appearance.
Thanks for the sneak peak, you can do that any time!
Cindy
We are big fans of Kraft or the blue box though the last few years we’ve switched to Annie’s. Love that you’re a first gen cook! It really is all about enjoying it. And I so agree with you about not making it pretty – it’s a big jumble once it’s eaten anyway:) And I have to say I’m so envious of your grandpa and his cooking! I’d give anything if my hubby cooked. Wyatt cooks, our first responder son, and I count my blessings he’s my fellow foodie:) Bless you for being here, Cindy. Posting these makes me happy I get to visit with you!
Laura
I always feel so valued here. You have a true gift of encouragement. How can I ever thank you??
Your sweet words are thanks enough, Cindy!! And your presence here is truly like cake and well – lemon sauce:)
Love the excerpt and the history behind it. I feel like I’m standing in the midst of the “knot of women”. Your word choices are so lovely.
Love that you notice and appreciate the little details, Stephanie. You are a true writer at heart as well as a kindred spirit reader:) Thank you, thank you.
What a delicious taste of your next story! I’m ready for a larger bite. I’m with Colonel Tygart, that small taste was so delectable, I need to pick up the entire plate and enjoy more! ❤️
Ah, Colonel Tygart is smitten with you, Trisha:) Love your comments! I am so hungry for lemon sauce with this recipe. Turning heroines into cooking and baking divas is truly a JOY!
You surely did whet my appetite, dear Laura. For the cake and the book! Another two years before we see this one, right? Sigh.
Your granny must have been a strong woman and a hard worker, I imagine, to live to 97 years back when people died so young! What a blessing you had her for so long! (Guess what..it’s 2018 and I’ve never owned a dishwasher either, but at least I don’t have to boil water to wash them!) 😁
Georgianne, So impressed you don’t own a dishwasher! The cabin doesn’t have one either and I do miss it, then think of Granny:) She lived just down the road from here so the memory keeps her close. Boiling water is something I DO do here as our water never seems quite hot enough. Ah, the rustic life… I’ve found a way to get more writing done and will be sharing that soon on Facebook. I don’t necessarily write faster but I do seem to get more done! Bless you for being here!!
I’m ready for a slice…and the rest of that book! ♥️
Both, please, yes! Only I would gladly trade my kitchen for yours and Hannah’s! 🙂
Good Morning, Laura!
I’m ready to make a cup tea to go with my piece of cake. I can taste it now. Love the little snippet you shared! More any time is welcome! January seems a long time to wait.
Mary
Oh, yes, coffee with that cake, please, Mary! In fact, I just took my mom to the dr today and on the way home picked up a Starbucks Smoked Caramel something or other. Not sure what that’s all about but it was quite good. But alas, no cake! You’re such a blessing to talk coffee and cake with. I do mean that!
2020? *Sigh*
LOL, that says it all, dear Patti!
O boy! A new book to anticipate! I have my Grandma Prang’s old cookbook with her lovely script handwriting notations. It is a version of the ‘Searchlight’ cookbook. It is a treasure.
Making Gingerbread men with my granddaughters is a fun pastime!
Dear Kate, You are the very best kind of cooking/baking grandma! Gingerbread men even trump cake for me:) Prang is a novel-worthy name, too. So unusual and memorable. I am going to look up the Searchlight cookbook. Thanks so much for being here and adding to the fun!
Whetting our appetite for cake and another good story. I am still in love with Noble and Elisabeth so it will take until 2020 to get over them.
Dear Jeanne, Love that you’re still thinking of Noble and Elisabeth and even remembered the spelling of her name! I had to chuckle because some trade magazines that reviewed the novel didn’t spell it right 🙂 I miss those characters, too, which would make sequels fun. I keep imagining a Christmas sequel to bring The Mistress of Tall Acre characters together with The Lacemaker characters. Oh the joy!
Oh Laura, thank you for a ‘taste’ of your next novel. I can hardly wait!
So aptly said, Jeanne! Taste is truly the word :). I have a fierce hankering for some lemon curd or sauce with this gingerbread. Thanks for being such a peach of a reader now that we’re into the food imagery :)!
February 2020?! I can’t wait that long!!!
Patsy, Love your excitement! I’m writing as fast as I can lol 🙂 It’s hard for me to share an excerpt because so much is missed or lost. Thank you for reading!
I just finished the Ballentine series and fell in love with your writing! Can’t wait to get into the rest of your books. I’m a fan of historical fiction… the more vivid, the better. Speaking of gingerbread, on these cold winter days I was recently thinking about making some. It also has a lemon sauce and whipped lemon cream fluff on top of that. So good! My mom was one who made meals and baked without recipes. When all ten of us kids were young she would make a huge bowl of dough that baked into eight loaves! I think she did that every week.
OH, love that you’re one of 10, Joan! My dad was the oldest of 10 and all their names began with J 🙂 Even mine does lol. Your memories sound delicious. I am a huge fan of homemade bread and used to do a lot of that when our children were small. Nothing like the aroma or taste of warm bread with butter fresh from the oven. THANK YOU for taking time for my books! I always am amazed when anyone finds them given the plethora of titles out there, especially all the historicals. Bless you and happy reading!