We should all be so lucky as to leave one really good recipe behind. This is Ruby’s, the younger sister of Edna Staebler, the sister who wasn’t talented or famous, but who marries has children and lived her life in relative obscurity like most of us do.

Ruby loved to bake and I love to bake, so I think had we met, we might have become friends.

This recipe is from More Food That Really Schmecks, and Edna Staebler writes that “everyone says,” ” that this is the best lemon loaf that I’ve ever tasted.”

Ruby must have been pleased.

Ruby’s Lemon Loaf

1/2 cup butter or margarine (choose the butter)

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

Grated rind of 2 lemons

1/2 cup milk

1  1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Topping

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup white sugar

Cream the butter and sugar together, blend in the eggs and lemon rind then stir in the milk till the mixture is smooth. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into the mixture and stir just enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Pour into a buttered loaf pan and bake at 350°F. for 40 to 50 minutes.

Meanwhile warm the 1/2 cup sugar in the lemon juice to dissolve the sugar. When the loaf comes from the oven dribble the juice over the top and let it soak in. Leave the loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before you remove it to cool on a rack.

Variation: If you want to make this into an orange loaf you need only to substitute orange rind and juice. You might try a mixture of both.

The lemon loaf is the top one, next post, Apple Walnut Cheddar Cheese Loaf.