Grandma Elsie's Date Nut Cake!

This is grandma Elsie's Date Nut Cake recipe sent to me by my mom. I haven't had a chance to make it yet. If one of you makes it post a picture please with your suggestions or changes. I've listed the ingredients just as they are listed on the card then I've added my own instructions for those of you not used to doing alot of baking. What an adventure! Seeing what we can do with this wonderful old recipe to update it and make it our own while keeping it in our family!

DATE NUT CAKE:

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp soda
1 cup boiling water
1 cup nut meats
1 cup dates
3 or 4 eggs
vanilla

Cut dates into small pieces, put soda in cup of boiling water & pour over the dates. Let stand till cool. If butter is not being used, use half amount of lard. Bake slow for 1 hour.

OK ALL THE THINGS NOT LISTED IN THE RECIPE:

No temperture was listed for the oven so I'm going to say 350*. No pan size is listed either so give it your best guess. Also I'd mix the buttter and sugar then add the eggs till well blended then the flour. The dates should soak up most of the water and soda so just toss it in and the nuts with the vanilla. I'd stir by hand at this point so as to not smooch up the dates. There's no salt listed so you may need to make it a time or three and decide if you want to add any. The soda should take its place OK. I'd use walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds or sliced almonds for the nuts. I think grandma used walnuts tho chopped up. If you want a lighter cake you could add some buttermilk maybe half to a whole cup. Since soda is already in the recipe it will give a very nice rise with the buttermilk. I think we ate this with whipped cream sometimes and a hard sauce type frosting at others. Do any of you remember? I'll try and make this over the weekend and I'll post the result.

Sometime soon I want to get over to Tammy's and she'll scan these cards so we can share originals with everyone. I don't have alot at this point. Mom says Aunt Janet has grandma's recipe box so perhaps she could send it to one of us and we could scan or copy the recipes? Good Luck everyone trying this family recipe!