From the Lake to the River anthology

Gingerbread Loaf Recipe

/ sandramervillehart

Today’s post was written by fellow author and dear friend, Carole Brown. Her gingerbread recipe sounds delicious! Welcome back to Historical Nibbles, Carole!

During WWII most people’s food was rationed. Luxuries such as nuts, milk, sugar and eggs were sometimes hard to come by making delights like gingerbread non-available throughout the war. Everyone was touched by the rationing and all encouraged to participate in “giving up” for the soldiers and the war.

In Christmas Angels, elderly Mr. Albert, Abigail’s boarding house neighbor shares his loaf of gingerbread that another resident (Dana) had given him. Though reluctant to eat any of his treat, knowing how hard the ingredients were to come by, Abigail can’t resist. Both Mr. Albert and Abigail enjoy a special blessing through Neighbor Dana’s generosity.

 May you be blessed as you feast on this moist, delightfully spiced dessert.

 Gingerbread Loaf

Ingredients for the loaf:
1 stick real butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup of applesauce
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
chopped walnuts, for topping (optional)

for the frosting:
1/2 block (4 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9×5 loaf pan lightly with nonstick cooking spray (or shortening and flour). Using a stand mixer or an electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy.

Beat in the vanilla and the egg. Blend in the apple butter (or applesauce.)

Slowly add the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.)

When everything is mixed, pour the batter into your loaf pan. Bake for about 55 minutes until it is risen and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely on a rack before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese with the vanilla and then add 2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. Add a little more sugar if it’s not as thick as you like.

-Carole Brown

Christmas Angels Blurb

Her mother called her a failure, and maybe she was. Her husband was gone—in the service, yes, but if he loved her—really loved her, why didn’t he write? Or call? Or send the money she needed?

She was scared too, afraid of being alone, and though she loved this sweet little bundle of joy—her baby—well, was she smart enough and strong enough to raise her? She didn’t mind doing without all the nice things she’d love to have, but not being able to provide luxuries like Christmas trees, ornaments and presents for her baby girl was beyond enduring.

What she needed was a miracle…and that wasn’t going to happen.

Amazon link

Carole’s Bio:

Besides being a member and active participant of many writing groups, Carole Brown enjoys mentoring beginning writers. An author of ten books, she loves to weave suspense and tough topics into her books, along with a touch of romance and whimsy, and is always on the lookout for outstanding titles and catchy ideas. She and her husband reside in SE Ohio but have ministered and counseled nationally and internationally. Together, they enjoy their grandsons, traveling, gardening, good food, the simple life, and did she mention their grandsons?

Find her on her blog!

 

Cleaning Up After the 1913 Great Miami River Flood

/ sandramervillehart

Cleaning up after The Troy Flood of 1913  was a massive effort on the part the townspeople.

The small Ohio city received about ten inches of rain in March of 1913 that flooded Troy. After the floodwaters from the Great Miami River and the Miami and Erie Canal receded, it left a muddy trail.

Citizens received warnings from the Board of Health about contaminated water. To avoid diseases left behind, they were not to return to their homes until water receded from their cellar. Wet wallpaper was to be removed.

Cleaning walls and floors with slacked lime killed mildew and mold. Troy’s Mayor John McClain requested two railroad cars of lime from the Ohio governor, James Cox.

The diseases were real. Troy citizens suffered through a typhoid epidemic the summer after the flood, said to have been caused by contaminated wells. Some died of the disease in late summer and early fall.

The characters in my novella, Surprised by Love, lived through the 1913 Troy flood. They tore down wallpaper. They cleaned with slacked lime.

They weren’t alone in this chore. Many in Troy and surrounding towns and cities along the Great Miami River also had massive cleaning after the flood.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. S.v. “slaked lime.” Retrieved July 21 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/slaked+lime.

Troy Historical Society. Images of America: Troy and the Great Flood of 1913, Arcadia Publishing, 2012.

Surprised by Love is Sandra’s novella in From the Lake to the River Collection (Mt. Zion Ridge Press, September 2018) that releases September 1st! Nine Ohio authors have written stories set in Ohio.

Surprised by Love is set during the 1913 flood in the small city of Troy, Ohio, where ordinary people courageously met the danger. Heroes are born at such a time.

Lottie’s feelings for an old school crush blossom again during the worst flood her town has endured in years.

 Lottie shoulders the burden for her siblings since their mother’s death. She also cares for the boarders in her home who need her assistance as much as her siblings. Dreams of Joe, her schoolgirl crush, must be put behind her. When the flooding river invades not only the town of Troy but also her home, Lottie and her family need to be rescued.

Desperate circumstances throw Joe and Lottie together. Can tragedy unite the couple to make her long-buried dream of winning his love come true?

The collection, From the Lake to the River, is available for preorder on Amazon!