Matrimony Cake ???

I got this recipe from my mother, who I assume got it from her mother. I have NO idea why it's called Matrimony Cake. It's not like any wedding cake I've ever had. In fact, it's a variety of what is normally called date squares or date bars. Is it named for the institution of marriage? It has oats -- because hopefully all the wild oats have been sown and from now on there will only be domestic ones. It has dates -- lots and lots of dates, of which a happy marriage should have many. Sugar -- well, yeah. Cinammon and salt for spice. Okay, so I'm getting carried away and should stop, but if anyone knows the real reason for its name, please tell me!

Crust:
1/2 cup butter
1.5 cups rolled oats
1 cup flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon soda

Mix together to a crumbly texture and spread half the mixture on the bottom of the pan. My recipe doesn't specify the pan size. I seem to remember my mother using a rectangular pan, but I used an 8"x8" pan and it worked fine.

Filling:
1 pound dates, pitted and chopped. I suggest using those very sweet lovely dark Mediterranean dates.The lighter-brown California dates just aren't as good, in my opinion.
1 cup water
Salt. The recipe doesn't specify; I used 1/2 teaspoon
Cinnamon. Again, the recipe doesn't specify. I used 1 teaspoon.

Cook filling until soft and spread over the bottom crust. Then spread the rest of the crumble on top.

Bake for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees. Cut into squares. They're great hot with ice cream or cold just by themselves.

Sunrise in German

This is the cover of the German translation of Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil.

Isn't it gorgeous?

New Cover, and the Demon Wisteria

 Tastes of Love and Evil is Book Two of the Bayou Gavotte Series, due out August 24th. Yay!
 (If only I get the ending right. Please let me get the ending right.)

Also, I received a letter from Dorchester Publishing on Friday, saying Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil will be translated into German. Yay again!

OK, so I'm not a master photographer,
but this is the Demon Wisteria last week,
in full bloom and looking deceptively pretty (while actually it's choking the life out of some poor hapless tree).

Bwa ha ha! Here it is a week later (after last night's storm --hence all the twigs and sweet gum balls), preparing to strangle my deck chair and anything else it can latch its nasty tendrils onto.

Hard to believe this voracious weed is a cosseted darling in northern climes!

Socks

If I have a fetish, it's for socks. I adore socks, and I seldom resist buying them.

I'll be giving this pair away, along with a signed copy of Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil, at Patricia's Vampire Notes on Tuesday, February 23rd.

Please join Patricia and me! I'll be talking about why being irresistible sucks...

Toronto pics

Birch tree hoping for more snow

 

Cat totally fine with no more snow

Rock and Unrock Pics (blog will come later)

Unrock cakes

Henry hoping for cookies or crumbs

Mrs. Beeton's Plum Cake

“A Nice Plum Cake” adapted from Beeton's Book of Household Management by Mrs. Isabella Beeton, 1861.

3 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. soda
½ tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups currants
1/3 cup diced candied lemon peel
1 stick butter
1-1/4 cups milk

Bake in a greased loaf pan at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out more or less clean. It’s good! There was too much batter for one loaf pan, so I made six muffins with the rest, and they were fine, too.