Great-Grandma's Gingerbread

 My great- grandma's side of the family (the Stone family) compiled a cookbook some years ago. In it are recipes from all of her children, including my granny, as well as my mom and her cousins. Tonight I was feeling nostalgic for those times when we had "The Birthday Dinner" and drove to Hazlehurst, Georgia to celebrate Great Grandma's birthday. They would set up sawhorses in the driveway and put a sheet of plywood over that for a table. And that "table" was covered with the good cooking of so many people. One of my girlhood memories is watching Great Grandma make a huge pan of Georgia-style dressing. 

Great-grandma's gingerbread recipe doesn't have any soda in it, so it was very dense, but the flavor is fantastic. I used fresh grated ginger because I had it, and didnt' have any ground ginger. I used butter instead of shortening, because I prefer it. Next time I make it I may add a teaspoon of soda into the mixture.