My mom was a wonderful baker. She always baked three times a week. She was known for her delicious apple pies. At Christmas time, she would bake something called Dutch Honey Cake. It was a quickbread that involved rye flour and honey. She would purchase 5 lb bags of rye flour from our local bakery. I still can't get it quite right. She would stay up late baking dozens of loaves to hand out to friends and family. She always wrapped them in foil and a red velvet riboon with a sprig of pine. In September she would make Hungarian plum cake-a recipe out of our church cookbook. Simple and delicious using prune plums. Finally, she aided the family next door by taking their young boy in whenever they needed help caring for their older son who battled bone cancer. They always baked chocolate chip cookies together. Mountains of them. It brought all of us comfort to be able to do something when we felt helpless. She demonstrated love to me with her baking for others. A wonderful lesson indeed.

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