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| Recipes 'n Reads Series Guest author Margaret Hanna |
Please welcome my friend and memoirist, Margaret Hanna, to the Recipes 'n Reads series which is scheduled every third Wednesday of the month. Margaret shares one of her favorite recipes and the reasons why she chose this particular one. Plus she has brought along the book about her grandparents.
I am thrilled to have Margaret join me today. I agree with her when she wrote in her blog on December 3, "I know the importance of recording your life’s story. I have written (and published) both my maternal and paternal grandparents’ stories, and have lost count of the number of times I wanted to ask them “Why?” or “When?” or “What happened next?” There was no one to ask – they were long since deceased."
We are both advocates for everyone to write their life stories!
Click here to read Margaret's article on her blog, Writing Your Spiritual Journey.
Thank you, Margaret, for sharing your Grandma Higham's Dark Fruit Cake Recipe with us. I love the stories you tell about the cake and your traditions.
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Dark fruit cake, aka “Christmas cake” – some people love it, some people hate it. I’m in the former category and can’t understand why anyone could hate something so rich and so filled with fruit and nuts and so soaked in brandy or rum or sherry or (as in our teetotalling house while Dad was alive) apple juice.
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| Christmas Fruit Cake Image by pixel1 from Pixabay |
Grandma Higham’s Dark
Fruit Cake Recipe
1 lb Br sugar
1 lb of butter
2 lb raisins
1 lb mixed peel
¼ lb cherries
2 tbs lemon, vanilla, almond & rose
water extract
10 beaten eggs
2 tsp Baking powder
2 lbs currants
¼ lb blanched almonds
2 pineapple rings
4 cups of flour
Beat eggs one by one
Bake in slow oven 3 hrs
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| Mary Louisa Higham 1952 |
I don’t know if our family traditions
surrounding Christmas cake also came from her, but we had two. The first was
that everyone had to take a turn stirring the thick, cement-like batter to
ensure good luck in the coming year. Inevitably, the wooden spoon broke. I
don’t know if that also ensured good luck, but we certainly went through a lot
of wooden spoons over the years. That is, until my brother suggested we mix the
batter in the Mill & Mix*. No more broken spoons thereafter, and I don’t
think we had any less good luck.
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| Searching for Home by Margaret G. Hanna Memoir: the story of the author’s maternal grandmother |
“Where do I belong?”
In 1912, Mary Louisa Appleton is 27 years old and a domestic servant in Cornwall, England. She sees no future there, so she accepts employment with a family returning to Alberta, Canada. It is the land of unlimited opportunity, or so she has heard.
Once in Canada, Mary faces the dilemma of all immigrants –
where does she belong?
Then she faces a crisis, and she has to decide. Is “home” where her heart is, or where she resides?
Searching for Home is the story of the author’s
maternal grandmother as she struggles to find her place in Canada.
CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO ORDER Searching for Home
Major Online Booksellers in eBook format
Amazon Canada eBook and Paperback
Amazon US eBook and Paperback
Smashwords eBooks on sale through January 1, 2024
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ABOUT MARGARET HANNA
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| Margaret G. Hanna author of Canadian historical novels. |
Margaret G. Hanna grew up on the farm her paternal grandfather homesteaded in 1908 in southwestern Saskatchewan. After 12 years of university, she worked as a professional archaeologist, first on several short-term contracts in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, and finally as Curator of Aboriginal History at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina. She retired in 2007 and moved to Airdrie AB where she lives with her husband and no pets.
She now uses her research skills to explore family and prairie history. For Margaret, writing is a portal to another dimension of reality. When she isn’t struggling to write, she gardens, reads, and sews. Her dream is one day to master the 5-string banjo, claw-hammer style.
Margaret is a member of the Airdrie Writers Group, Women Writing the West, and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. She participates annually in Voice and Vision, a collaboration between artists and writers in the Airdrie area.
CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO CONNECT ONLINE WITH MARGARET HANNA
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TO MY READERS--Thank you for being a follower of this blog, Focused on Story! I appreciate your support in purchasing my books and leaving reviews of each book. Those reviews truly help get the book GET noticed so other readers can decide if the one you reviewed might be one they would enjoy.
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| JQ's Books 75% off during Smashwords End of Year Sale |
As a gift this season to you, all of my books are 75% off through January 1 at Smashwords.com. That includes cozy mysteries, memoir, books on how to tell your life story, vegetable gardening(FREE), and Girls Succeed! Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women, an inspiring nonfiction book for MG girls.
Click here to download one or all of my books for some great winter reading!
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| The Rose Courier |
| The Rose Courier Click here to receive the Rose Courier delivered quarterly to your inbox. However, if I am bursting with news I can't wait to share, I will send out a Special Edition! Filled with photos, updates, new book releases and more!  Click here to be notified when a new article is posted on the J.Q. Rose blog. |
7 comments:
Margaret--Thank you so much for sharing your fruit cake recipe! I am one of those people who really likes fruit cake--homemade that is. Best wishes on your writing projects!
Thanks for sharing your grandma's fruitcake recipe, Margaret.
I don't think I've ever heard of rose water extract. That's a unique ingredient.
Natalie--Thanks for stopping by. I'd like to try and make this some day.
Diane--Unique ingredient to me too.
The influence of books on shaping perspectives, fostering empathy, and instigating change. How words on paper have the power to inspire, educate, and challenge societal norms.I provide an online the best dissertation writing service Uk to help the students at a cheap rate.
Recipe for fruit cake!political science essay help I'm one of those folks who like handmade fruit cakes a lot. I hope your literary endeavours go well!
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