Favorite Cookbooks

Mary Emma Showalter, 1950

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Recipes in this book are signed by the cooks, whose Dutch, German, Swiss, and Russian names evoke the old-world kitchens of their ancestors. Schnitzel beans, shoo fly pie, apple dumplings, and many other Mennonite specialties are included. And then there’s Funny Cake Pie, which is a two-layer cake baked inside a pie shell! For a selection of these recipes—all from the days before lard became a four-letter word—see below.

The edition we found is from the fifth printing (August, 1953). Although the book has been reissued in paperback, we like our old edition with its food stains and penciled notes in the margins. Cookbook collectors searching for old or out-of-print gems like this one can try www.powells.com and other sources.

Recipes:

Schnitzel Beans

3 medium-sized onions, sliced

1 quart string beans

2 cups tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup boiling water

Dice bacon or ham and fry until crisp. Add sliced onions and fry until a light brown. Then add string beans that have been cut into small pieces, and brown slightly. Add tomatoes, season, and boiling water. cover and cook until beans are tender. Serves 6.

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Fried Bread Cakes

2 cups milk

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons shortening

Soak the bread crumbs in the milk until soft. Add well-beaten eggs and the sifted dry ingredients. Drop from a spoon on a hot greased griddle. Turn carefuly, as these cakes are very tender. Serve with syrup. Yields about 8-10 cakes.

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Old-fashioned Potato Soup with Dry Rivels

1-1/2 quarts water

2 tablespoons butter

salt

1/2 cup flour

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup cream

Cook diced potatoes in salt water until soft. Add butter. To make rivels, rub egg and flour together, then add milk. These are best made by cutting through mixture with two forks. Drop rivels, which are no larger than a cherry stone, into boiling potatoes, stirring to prevent packing together. Cook 5 minutes with kettle covered. Add 1/2 cup cream. Garnish with parsley or pieces of crisp bacon. Serves 4.

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Cold Soup or Farmer’s Summer Supper Dish

1 quart fresh or canned fruit, strawberries or peaches preferred

1/2 loaf white bread (approximately)

Sugar to taste, according to fruit used

Add crushed fruit and sugar to cold milk. Add enough broken bread to absorb milk. Serve. A wide variety of fruits may be used. Serves 6.

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Meat Tarts (Piroshki)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons butter

Filling:

1/2 pound fresh or leftover meat,

chopped 1 onion, minced

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

To make pastry, sift flour and add melted butter. Stir until well blended. Add sour cream and knead several minutes. Roll out on floured board to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a round biscuit cutter. To make filling, brown the onion in butter and add the chopped meat and seasoning. Stir until meat has lost its red color. Place a spoonful of filling in center and close tightly by pinching into an oblong shape. Brush with egg yolk and bake at 400 degrees until crust is brown. Makes 8 tarts.

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Chicken Baked in Cream

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup flour

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1-1/2 cups sweet or sour cream

Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Melt butter in a skillet or roasting pan. Fry chicken until a golden brown on both sides. Place chicken in a casserole or roasting pan. Pour the cream over the chicken. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for about 2 hours. Serve with a gravy made from the fryings in the pan. Serves 6.

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Old-fashioned Fried Potatoes

3 tablespoons fat

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 cup cream, sweet or sour

Cook potatoes in jackets and allow to cool; peel and slice very thin. Melt fat in frying pan; when hot, add potatoes, salt and pepper. Fry until a golden brown; then add the cream. Cover and allow to steam until the cream is absorbed. Serves 6.

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Grandmother’s Ginger Balls or Ginger Nuts

1 cup molasses

1 cup brown sugar

3-1/2 to 4 cups flour

1-1/2 teaspoons soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup boiling water

Cream shortening and sugar together. Add molasses and continue to beat. Sift flour. Measure and add salt, soda, and ginger. Sift again. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with hot water. Mix thoroughly. Chill dough in refrigerator. Roll into balls 1 inch in diameter and dip into granulated sugar. Place balls on buttered baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Makes approximately 6 dozen cookies.

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Brown Sugar Pudding

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Syrup:

1-1/2 cups brown sugar

1-1/3 cups water

2 tablespoons butter

Combine brown sugar, water, and butter and cook together 5 minutes to make syrup. While syrup cooks, sift sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add vanilla to milk and pour all at once into dry ingredients. Beat until thoroughly mixed. Pour syrup in a buttered baking dish. Drop dough by spoonfuls on top of hot syrup. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

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Old-fashioned Apple Dumplings

2 cups flour

2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup shortening

1/2 cup milk [sugar and cinnamon for filling apples]

Sauce:

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups water

1/4 cup butter

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)

Pare and core apples. Leave whole. To make pastry, sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Cut in shortening until particles are about the size of small peas. Sprinkle milk over mixture and press together lightly, working dough only enough to hold together. Roll dough as for pastry and cut into 6 squares and place an apple on each. Fill cavity in apple with sugar and cinnamon. Pat dough around apple to cover it completely. Fasten edges securely on top of apple. Place dumplings 1 inch apart in a greased baking pan. Pour over them the sauce made as follows: Combine brown sugar, water and spices. Cook for 5 minutes, remove from heat, and add butter. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Baste occasionally during baking. Serve hot with rich milk or cream.

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Funny Cake Pie

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup shortening

1 egg 1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Lower Part:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1/3 cup hot water

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Pastry for 1 (9-inch) crust

Mix top part like cake batter, creaming fat, and adding sugar and egg. Add milk alternately with sifted dry ingredients. For lower part, combine sugar and cocoa. Add hot water and vanilla. Line pie plate with pastry. Add lower part first and then pour top part over it. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes. Makes 1 pie.

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Grandmother’s Old-fashioned Crumb or Gravel Pie

1/2 cup sugar

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 cup sour cream

Pastry for 1 (9-inch) crust

Combine sugar, flour, and soda. Cut in butter with knives or pastry blender. Add sour cream. Rub together into coarse crumbs. Put crumbs loosely into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Makes 1 pie. This pie is especially good when dunked in coffee.

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Shoo Fly Pie

3/4 cup boiling water

1/2 teaspoon soda

Top Part:
1-1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup brown sugar

Pastry for 1 (9-inch) crust

Dissolve soda in hot water and add molasses. Combine sugar and flour and rub in shortening to make crumbs. Pour one-third of the liquid into an unbaked crust. Add one-third of he crumb mixture. Continue alternate layers, putting crumbs on top. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 35 minutes. Makes 1 pie.