I have to admit, I had very little to do with this recipe. While my husband and son are out of town, my daughter and I are taking advantage of a staycation. It's been great! We picked up the house and it hasn't gotten out of control since. We've been on a picnic, taken walks, shopped, gardened together which led to finding worms which led to fishing, and in general have had a wonderful time.
My daughter is named for both of my Grandmothers, of blessed memory. Her middle name is Luella, and when she was a newborn, her big brother couldn't pronounce her first name. He was only 22 months old, and it would be another year before he would refer to her by her first name. Instead, we asked if he could say Luella. He said Lala, and that became her nickname. Well, that and Lala Baby. I had always called my Dad's Mom Lala and it felt very awkward for me to call my daughter this, almost as if I was calling my new baby Grandma. Instead, I started to call her Lolly and Lolly Dolly.
Some of you might remember the toy Lolly Dolly, I still have mine. Although everyone in her life refers to her by her first name, I still call her Lolly. Sometimes just Dolly. And according to my Mini Me, I'm the only one allowed to call her by these names. For the sake of protecting her online presence, I'll refer to my daughter as Lolly in this post.
Lolly thought it would be fun to bake together. I suggested we pick a recipe from Lala's Legacy Box. After all, it's been two weeks since I last posted. Work and family vacations have a tendency to leave little room for hobby time. Two weeks ago, I was working on a quilt for a dear friend who is moving to a lovely family home with her partner and children in a couple weeks. Plus, it was too hot to turn the oven on! But this week, it's a lovely 70* for the high all week long in Central Wisconsin. Monday's high was 62* and felt like Fall. We were in jeans and down vests over our long sleeve tops.
Lolly had free reign over the recipe box. She could choose any recipe and we would buy any ingredients that we didn't have in the pantry. She picked Gladys Gay's Nut Bread. When asked by, her reply was, "I wanted to bake bread with you." Be still my heart! She may have wanted to bake bread WITH me, and we were in the kitchen together, but she is the one who made this recipe.
I love when I make a recipe using ingredients that are already in the kitchen. The only item we didn't have (because Lolly finished it with breakfast the day we made this recipe) was milk, and that's easy enough to buy more. This recipe also uses very few dishes and utensils so clean up is a breeze! My only concern with this recipe was that there wasn't an oven temp listed. "Moderate". "Moderate"! What am I supposed to do with that? I wanted to Google the answer but instead decided to reach out to my peers, neighborhood group, and all who follow along with Caught Red Threaded on Facebook. The general consensus, which was also my instinct, was to bake at 350*F. I also decided that this recipe looked too large for one of my loaf pans. I have very nice glass loaf dishes, that when sprayed with Baker's Joy, will release even the most stubborn of recipes. I decided to divide into two glass loaf pans. Although I initially set the timer for 25 minutes, they ended up baking for 40 minutes. Although it's oven dependent, your oven could have two loaves done in as little as 30 minutes. Be sure to keep a watchful eye towards the end. You don't want a dry loaf.
Surprisingly, Lolly was able to read the entire recipe, on it's yellowed loose leaf paper, in early 20th Century cursive. The only ingredient that she was unsure of was the cup of chopped nut meats. She hasn't heard of nuts referred to as meats before. It was an opportunity to explain that nuts grow inside shells and pits.
I don't know who Gladys Gay was. To find out more, I started to scour the obituaries. There are many more Gladys Gay's than I expected to find. In my brief search for Gladys, I had little luck in narrowing down the right person. I admit, I was hoping to share her photo and story with you. And maybe one day I'll know more about Mrs. Gay, but in the meantime, enjoy her wonderful recipe.
This photo was taken by Lolly, after she had taken two bites of her first slice of nut bread.
She topped this slice with homemade cherry preserves.
If you're in Central Wisconsin and are interested in being a part of a group taste testing, email me your name and best way to contact you. If you like this recipe, you're going to love the other foods produced by Caught Red Threaded. To find out more, visit Caught Red Threaded. Be sure to leave a comment in the thread below to let me know how this turned out when you made it (and photos are always welcome!), and follow Caught Red Threaded on Facebook and Instagram for exclusive offers and ideas.
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