Heritage Recipes

Cookies

WEISE LEBKUCHEN

Terri: Hi Mom, today I was digging around in my cookbook cupboard and came across some old recipe cards. One was Grandma Baur's Weise Lebkuchen cookies, with ingredients that I didn't even recognize. What is citron? It calls for 1/4 pound. Jim thought it was a spice, and I thought "wow, that's a lot of spice for cookies?" Also, mace. The only mace I know of is the mace you spray in an attackers face before you run away...

Anyway, it was interesting to run across some of these old recipes, and to wonder about the unfamiliar ingredients. Baking and cooking sure has changed over the years!

Mom:Ron's just baked a double batch of the WEISE LEBKUCHEN and used the cookie cutter that was Grandma Baur's and always used it for these cookies.

IF you look in the grocery store for citron it is, I think, with the dried fruits or else IF they have some special Christmas baking shelves, it should be there. Other wise ask some store employee and they will take you right to it. It usually comes already cut into small squares and in a plastic clear carton, or, in a small plastic bag in quarters or halves.

Mace is a spice and Watkins carries it. It comes in a container such as all other spices would come in. It is similar to nutmeg or allspice but a spice all its own.

LIFE IS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE is something I say very frequently, and something that needs to be a daily part of our lives. So it is with this.

Someone asked me the other day how many cookies I used to bake for Christmas and my response was 2,000. Later was wondering IF I exaggerated but in looking back in my notes from Christmas-baking throughout the years, I don't think I gave an inaccurate #.

GRUETZ WURST

Grind bone scraps that have been boiled for about two hours.

To the equivalent of 'I/2 tub full'...... you know, a large metal washtub.

• Grind 2 large onions.
• 1 box oatmeal boiled in broth.
• 1/3 c. cumin seed
• 1/2 c. allspice
• Salt

Mix.

• Fry. Good served with JOHNNY CAKE and ZUCKER WASSER.

Freezes well <ref>Lyla Jaus Baur comments:

OF course.......the above amts. are from the original recipe. I make it using my own proportions, usually I make enuf for four or five meals. Usually use whatever meat I have available.

It's wholesome and since I make the Johnny cake with no flour but all cornmeal, it is more tolerable with my allergies and it is wholesome. The seasonings are also wholesome.

When I had Gerry Jaus in for this kind of a meal several months ago he ate his portion, about the same size as mine. THEN......he finished it ALL, which was about enuf for two more people. I will have to have him in again.</ref>

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Cake

APPLECAKE

This is a wholesome cake recipe in case you want to bake it as a birthday cake!!!!!!!! I have doubled the amt. for the apples, walnuts and cinnamon to make it doubly wholesome.<ref>Lyla Jaus Baur

• Heat oven to 325
• 9 X 13 pan

• Beat until foamy
• 2/3 c. vege. oil
• 2 eggs

• MIX in separate bowl
• 6 c. diced raw apples
• 1 1/2 c. sugar

• Mix in another bowl and then stir into apple mix
• 1 3/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp. cinnamon

• Mix into above mixture
• 1 tblsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 c. coarsely chopped walnuts

• Add ALL of above into original oil and egg mixture.
• Mix well.
• Pour into baking pan.
• Bake 45-50 minutes.

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