Mrs. C (Claus??) is in the Kitchen

 As you can see....I've had the baking bug. Pumpkin streusel breads below and Mincemeat Nut Bread and Mincemeat Gingerbread above.

I made the pumpkin breads a couple of days ago and put them in the freezer. This week I bought a jar of mincemeat at the store...thinking that I would make a mince pie for us. Found out afterward that Joe doesn't like mince pie. I thought about that spicy pie just sitting there tempting me....I would probably freeze some of it, but I decided to look up some other recipes for using mincemeat. The first one I found was for mincemeat gingerbread. I love gingerbread, so that was easy...I'm invited to a brunch on Sat. and needed to make something  to take the hostess. This gingerbread with a jar of lemon sauce would be perfect. I visited the website http://www.cookingwithk.net/2009/11/mincemeat-gingerbread.html and copied the recipe. I could smell the spicy bread filling the house with Christmas smells. I remember my mom baking gingerbread and when I came home from school...warm gingerbread and a glass of milk would be waiting. Grandma always served it with a hard sauce, but mom preferred lemon sauce and I do too. I love anything lemon.She didn't bake this at Christmas time...just anytime we wanted it...usually in the winter. Hers didn't have mincemeat in it...I think that it was a very affordable treat. In the early years, I don't remember a sauce on it...we ate it plain.

The next thing on my agenda was Mincemeat Nut Bread. I went to the website and copied the recipe for this  http://www.allbaking.net/msgbrd/board_2/2009/JAN/23062.htmls.It was easier to make than the gingerbread and will probably stay at our house. I used the whole jar of mincemeat to bake these gifts. Now I can get some cellophane and ribbon and wrap them up after they spend a couple of days in the fridge.
Balisha