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Grandma Gilbride's Date & Nut Bread, 1974

Date & Nut Bread is Santa-approved! Our genealogy writing group is getting together this week and some of us are going to bring a holiday goodie to share. One of my absolute favorite holiday treats is my Grandma Gilbride's Date & Nut Bread. Grandma Gilbride was born Mary Josephine Baker (1911-1981) in Cleveland. She married my grandfather, Joseph John Gilbride (1910-1990) in 1934 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. I don't have any real memory of Grandma Gilbride making this bread though we probably enjoyed some on a holiday visit to my grandparents' house. Clearly Mom thought it was a winner and asked for the recipe and she started making this bread when I was in my early teens. The recipe card I inherited is dated 12/21/1974.  When baked the bread usually has a peak running down the length, which cracks open a bit. It's moist, dense, and sweet, with a little crunch of walnuts and nuggets of diced dates. The bread is perfect with a little cream cheese spread...

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021 - Seeing Double

James, dwarfed by a Union Pacific engine.


 
James' grandpa, James Casey, Sr. enjoys his time on a train.

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021

Seeing Double -  January 25th entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.  

by Nancy Gilbride Casey


What is it about little boys and trains? Our son James was enamored of trains from the day he first noticed them as a tiny little guy. 

Whenever we saw one, he would want me to slow down the car so we could watch it, or roll the car windows down so that he could hear the train whistle. He collected Thomas the Tank Engine cars and track. I read him Thomas the Tank Engine books, and we watched the TV show too. With every library trip we took, we looked for any book with a train theme. I'm sure there was a train-themed birthday party at some point too.

James also loved a trip to the train museum with his Papa (James D. Casey, Sr.), or visiting other train exhibits in local small towns. Imagine his thrill when we took a ride on the actual Thomas the Train one year in Grapevine, Texas!

The love of trains must run in the family line: proven by this wonderful black and white photograph of James' Papa, standing on a train stairs when he was a little man. It wonderful to see shared interests passed through generations.


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