Back of the Envelope

Speaking of back of the envelope, the recipe I am including here is from the back of the envelope in the picture below.  It was addressed to my Grandpa and it is from the County Superintendent, who knows how or why this particular envelope contains this recipe for Date Nut Bread.  One conclusion I have made as I have looked through the recipe boxes is that my grandparents didn't waste paper... the back side of anything was just as good as a blank piece of paper for capturing a recipe, a party plan or anything else.  I don't recall her ever making this, but as I remember the foods they liked to eat, I suspect they enjoyed this one on more than one occasion. It reminds me a little of fruit cake and I seem to remember my Grandma being one of the few who actually "liked" fruit cake. This recipe for Date Nut Bread doesn't have any oil or butter (maybe that makes it low fat), it's made with a few simple ingredients, and tasted "OK".  My official recipe taster gave it a 5 on a scale of 1-10 (Ten being good).  If you put a little butter on it, it probably moves up to a 6.

Date Nut Bread
Sprinkle 1 tsp soda over 1 c. chopped dates
Pour 1 c. hot water over this.  Let stand a few minutes
Mix with the following:
3/4 c sugar
1 egg well beaten
2 c. flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c chopped nuts
Bake one hour in a slow oven.  275-300 degrees

As I sorted through recipes after making this, I found a second version of Date Nut Bread. The second recipe was a newspaper cut out, it didn't have a date (no pun intended), but on the back of it are some of the following radio shows : "Our Miss Brooks", "Doris Day Show", "We Women of Today", "Panhandle Roundup", and "Arthur Godfrey"  to name a few.  This recipe would likely be a little more appealing to some as it includes: 1 tbs of shortening, 3/4 cup of brown sugar (instead of the regular sugar), 1/2 tsp of salt and omits the vanilla.  Instructions are the same and references that the bread tastes better a day or so after baking, letting the ingredients mellow.