This is such a special recipe to me. It is the first recipe I ever prepared by myself and it is from my first cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens Step by Step Kids’ Cookbook. I received the book as a Christmas gift when I was around 10 and I was very excited to try my first dish: Gumdrop Nut Bread.
I followed the steps listed in the book, and had my mom put the bread in the oven for me (because the instructions said to get adult help at that point). I waited excitedly for the bread to bake. We tasted it. It was bad. I used 1/4 cup of salt instead of the 1/4 teaspoon in the recipe. It turns out not all 1/4′s are the same. Who knew?
Even with the salt amount brought down to a non-lethal dosage, the bread is not all that great. It’s dry, and it is kind of a pain to cut up all of the gumdrops (or the gumdrop-like fruit slice candy, as I most often end up using). None of this really matters to me though. I make the bread every year—it is kind of our family’s fruitcake. If you pick out the gumdrop from the bread and eat only them, they are pretty good.
So, I share this recipe with you today because I figure you have finished up all of your holiday baking and won’t rush to throw this one together to impress your family and friends because it probably won’t impress anyone. But, it is where my cooking story starts, with one of my favorite Christmas presents ever, so I feel no shame in posting a bit of a clunker. Merry Christmas! Continue reading ‘Gumdrop Nut Bread’
