If you love reading about food, we presume you have already read Rick Bragg’s The Best Cook in the World. If you have not, do so now. Elsewhere, Bragg has written about the glory of his mother’s cathead biscuits, but for reasons best known to himself, did not include the recipe for them in that book; so far, we haven’t located it in his other … Continue reading Cat Head Biscuits
2 packages dry yeast ½ cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees) 2 cups warm milk (105 to 115 degrees) ½ cup sugar 2 eggs 2 tablespoons salt ½ cup shortening or salad oil 6-7 cups flour 2 additional cups sugar ½ cup half and half 4 tablespoons butter, softened In large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Stir in milk, half cup of sugar, eggs, … Continue reading German Sweet Rolls
¾ cup yellow corn meal 1 cup sifted flour 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder 1 tablespoon sugar ½ teaspoon salt 1 egg ¾ cup milk 1 tablespoon melted butter Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You can either generously butter 12 muffin cups, or use paper liners. Mix dry ingredients together. Mix egg, milk, and butter in separate bowl; add dry ingredients and stir until just … Continue reading Pennsylvania Dutch Corn Muffins
Most cultures have a meat-filled pastry: calzones, pasties, pierogies, empanadas, dumplings among them. This is the Eastern European-Slavic version from our “satellite sister,” Jennifer Epps Grasela, Ania’s college roommate and lifelong best friend. This recipe takes about five hours’ work from start to finish, but the result is totally worth it. Bierocks do freeze well, and reheat well in the microwave; we think one day … Continue reading Bierocks
Carla’s recipe card says this is from Ruby McIntyre. If this is really from Miss Ruby, the proprietor of Ruby’s Soul Food Cafe in Kansas City, beloved for fried chicken, chitterlings, and peach cobbler, and by generations of cops and jazz musicians, you will want to try this out. 2 yeast cakes (not dry yeast) 1 cup warm (110 degrees) water 2 cups (110 degrees) … Continue reading Yeast Rolls
This buttery, nicely sticky topping can be used with any of our sweet roll doughs, but you’ll probably have to double it if your dough makes more than 8 or 10 rolls. ¼ cup butter, melted ⅓ cup brown sugar 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (the clear kind, not dark) 1 teaspoon cinnamon ⅓ cup pecans, finely chopped Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour melted … Continue reading Butterscotch Pecan Roll Topping
There had to be a recent German branch of the family somewhere in Grammy’s France-Luxembourg background; there are just too many family recipes that are identical to the ones found in Pennsylvania Dutch or Mennonite cookbooks. But Grammy was a teenager during World War I, and her children’s generation fought in World War II; Germany and German heritage was deeply unpopular then, and many German-Americans … Continue reading Mennonite Cinnamon Rolls
2 ½ cups flour 1 cup sugar 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons vegetable oil ¾ cups milk 1 egg 1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped 2-3 medium bananas, mashed Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter two loaf pans. Combine all ingredients in bowl, then pour into pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted … Continue reading Easy Banana Bread
Rob and Hallie If this bread isn’t on the table, it isn’t St. Patrick’s Day dinner. 2 cups flour 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ to 1 cup currants or golden raisins (or both) 1 ½ cups buttermilk Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and generously butter an 8- to 9-inch round pan. Stir dry ingredients … Continue reading Irish Soda Bread
This is the bread that made one of Carla’s roommates come running through the front door yelling, “What are you cooking? The whole house smells amazing!” Carla varies this recipe from time to time, adding cinnamon or nutmeg if she feels like it. 3 cups flour 3 cups sugar ¼ teaspoon baking soda 1 cup butter, softened 6 eggs 1 cup sour cream ¼ teaspoon … Continue reading Banana Sour Cream Pound Cake Bread
