Recipe: Gingerbread :)

Hi friends!
On a snowy day like today, I thought I'd share a yummy, cozy-type recipe with you:  Laura Ingalls Wilder's Gingerbread.  It's pretty easy, and I usually have most of the ingredients on hand.  Find it (and more recipes from our favorite pioneer gal) in The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook, published by Harper Collins Publishers in 1995.  Enjoy!

Laura Ingalls Wilder's Gingerbread
(Makes 1 9-inch square loaf)

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup molasses
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup boiling water; measured in a 2-cup or larger measuring cup
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. each ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 9-inch baking pan.
2. Blend the sugar and the shortening and mix in the molasses.
3. Add the baking soda to the boiling water and mix well.
4. Combine the flour and the spices and sift.  Combine the sugar-molasses mixture with the flour mixture and the baking soda-water liquid.  Mix ingredients well and pour into prepared pan.
5. Bake for 45 minutes or until cake tester inserted in the center of the gingerbread comes out clean.

Have a crafty (and gingerbread-y!) day!
Kristin at Fiddle & Frog