Mom, can you make some date nut bread for St. Austin’s Bake Sale?

12-22. Today is National Date Nut Bread Day and National Forefather’s Day. My mom made a loaf of date nut bread for every school event that required me to bring food to school — bake sale, fundraiser, after church coffee get-together.

She never made anything else. Maybe it was in her blood. Perhaps the forefathers on her side of the family made date nut bread in the old country for the bake sales at schools. In 1700s Ireland. Or 1600s Germany. Or both. The truth is lost in the sands of time.