BoomerGirl Diary

As children in the late 60s, my brother and I could not get enough of the television special "Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol." We loved the music, especially the song with the refrain “and razzleberry dressing.” We’d sing it over and over again and drive my parents nuts. I never knew what a razzleberry was, but it sounded delicious, fun, and exotic.

Since it’s the holiday season once again and I had to think of a name for my new food column, this phrase popped into my head. I Googled “razzleberry” and found that it isn’t a real berry at all. The term “razzleberry” is used to describe a pie that is a combination of raspberries and blackberries. I thought a pie flavor was perfect, since I’m more of a baker than a cook. This column will definitely focus on confections, but I hope to mix things up and throw in some spice along with the sugar.

Everyone in my family, and many of my friends, think of one thing when it comes to what I’ll be bringing to holiday dinners. Gingerbread. I might be kept out of many a relative’s house, including my parents, if I decided not to bake it. Gingerbread had to be the recipe that I’d share with all of you for my first column.

Last night I baked some gingerbread, so I could take some pictures for you. Since I didn’t want to risk having the whole gingerbread in my house, I brought it into work to spread the calories. One of my co-workers asked if this was my grandmother’s recipe. I told her that it wasn’t, but later I realized that the recipe actually was from my grandmother.

One day in the latter part of 1993, I was visiting my maternal grandmother. She needed to get rid of some magazines and said that I could look through them. I found a recipe for Mother’s Gingerbread and I’ve been baking it ever since. I only know the date, because it’s on the bottom of the page that I ripped out of the magazine. The page is yellowed and stained from ingredients that have fallen on it over the years. Strangely enough, until last summer, I hadn’t really noticed the paragraph on the bottom of the page mentioning the book that contained this recipe. One day the book title and author’s name jumped out at me. I was very curious about the origins of this recipe that has become such a special part of me.

The book is "Cleora’s Kitchens: The Memoir Of A Cook," by Cleora Butler. I ordered the book online and have been skimming it ever since. "Cleora’s Kitchens" is filled with recipes, history, photographs, and stories from her life. I still need to sit down and read the book cover to cover and maybe find my next great recipe. For now, here is the gingerbread recipe, which I have slightly adapted.

Gingerbread

(1 loaf)

1/2 cup butter (soften in microwave)

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup molasses

2 eggs

2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon

2 heaping teaspoons ginger

dash of nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine butter, sugar, molasses, and eggs. Mix in dry ingredients. Batter will become very thick. Stir in hot water and batter will become very liquid. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan.

Bake about 55 minutes. Insert toothpick to check if done. Toothpick should come out dry. This gingerbread is extremely moist and flavorful. It tastes heavenly served warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.