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
In large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Stir in milk, half cup of sugar, eggs, salt, and shortening or oil. Add enough flour (about 3-4 cups) to make a soft dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Place dough on floured surface, then generously butter the inside of the mixing bowl (don’t bother to wash it first). Knead the dough up to … Continue reading German Sweet Rolls
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 mixed. Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. 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. Dissolve yeast in water. After it dissolves, add all other ingredients except flour; slowly add 4 … 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. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour melted butter into 9 x 9 square pan; grease sides of pan. In small saucepan, combine brown sugar, corn syrup and cinnamon – heat slowly until it … 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
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 in center comes out clean. Told you this one was easy. Continue reading Easy Banana Bread
Rob and Hallie If this bread isn’t on the table, it isn’t St. Patrick’s Day dinner. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and generously butter an 8- to 9-inch round pan. Stir dry ingredients together, then add currants. Add milk until mix resembles biscuit dough. Pour into buttered pan, and immediately* bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan; cool … 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. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a tube or Bundt pan, or two loaf pans. Mix flour, sugar and baking … Continue reading Banana Sour Cream Pound Cake Bread
Around Our Table 