Family recipe Monday: Pennsylvania Dutch breakfasts

Myrtle Minerva Deppe Shaffner, Gene's grandmother

The recent wave of day-by-day Civil War Sesquicentennial accounts from 1861 news stories keeps reminding me that we could play out the whole conflict in our own house. I have all the Confederate relatives; Gene is a good Pennsylvania Dutch kid with deep German roots (and a Swedish line as well). There seems to be no crossover: he has no Confederates in his genealogical attic, and I can't find anyone on my side in a Union state by the time the Recent Unpleasantness broke out.

What surprises me is how similar some of the old family recipes are between our families. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised--the Honnolls in my family were of German origin, after all--but I would have thought that generations of increasing Southernness (if that's a word) would have caused a bigger recipe drift (if there is such a thing) than it did.

Gene's maternal grandmother Myrtle Deppe Shaffner came from a family of 18 children in the Berwick area of Pennsylvania. They were all farmers in the Susquehanna Valley area, raising crops and dairy cattle and, well, obviously, children. Some of the Deppes married their first cousins, also Deppes, which means that I have double Deppes in the genealogy, and that is one very different-looking family tree. But they were staunch German Methodists, and so were the Honnoll Confederates. I wonder if they couldn't have worked things out over a big Oktoberfest dinner, and skipped the war.

Here are a few recipes from the Shaffner side, guaranteed to please the palate and frighten the heart. The first one should have been run the day before Shrove Tuesday (=Mardi Gras), but this way you get nearly a year to get your heart ready for the delights. All comments are from Gene's mom Dolly, who would have been 76 this year. She collected the recipes from her family for years, and we are scanning them now.

Fastnachts

These are German doughnuts made eaten on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins. They are best eaten the same day they are made.

NOTE: Mother used to make these wonderful goodies. I would get off the school bus and hurry up the lane through wind and cold rain, usually in March, and when I opened the door I would be greeted by the aroma of sizzling dough. Although I’m not much of a doughnut lover, I enjoyed a few doughnut holes. Yes, they were made on Shrove Tuesday and they were devoured by Dad and my sisters and brother as fast as she could turn them out.

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 C. scalded milk, cooled to lukewarm
4 eggs
1/4 lb. soft butter
2 1/3 c. flour
1/4 tbsp. sugar
1 qt. oil or melted shortening for frying
*XXX (confectioner’s) sugar for garnish

Soften yeast in milk; add eggs one by one, followed by butter, flour, salt, and sugar. Blend well by hand. Cover with a slightly moist tea towel and put in warm, draft-free place to rise until double in bulk. Punch down and let rise until double in bulk again.

To fry, use an iron Dutch oven or similar kettle. Heat oil to 350* F. Heap a tablespoon with dough & scrape it off the spoon with a table knife into the hot oil. Fry about 6 at a time to golden brown on one side the flip over to brown on other side. Remove with slotted spoon or tongs and drain a bit on brown paper. Roll in bowl of XXX sugar. or if you have a tin shaker, you can sift it on. Put on wax paper to cool.

*We also like cinnamon sugar on them. Just mix a bit of cinnamon with sugar & roll fastnachts in it. If you have a tin shaker, you can sift it on.
--Dolly Hess

German apple pancakes

4 eggs

3/4 c flour

3/4 c milk

½ tsp salt

1/4 c (4tbsp) butter divided

2 med apples sliced

1/4 c sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 400*. Place 2 9x1 1/12" round cake pans in oven. Beat eggs, flour, milk, salt in small bowl med speed 1 min. Remove pans. Place 2tbsp butter in each pan and rotate to coat. Arrange half the apple slices in each pan and divide batter between pans. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over batter. Bake uncovered until puffed and golden (20-25 min). Serve soon as they fall like souffles. Makes 4 servings.

Flapjacks

1 3/4 c. milk

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1/4 c. lukewarm water

3 tbsp. vegetable oil or 1/4 c. soft shortening

3 eggs, room temperature

2 c. sifted flour

Scald milk, add sugar and salt and cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, sprinkle yeast on warm water & stir to dissolve. Add to cooled milk. Beat in oil, eggs, and flour with rotary beater or mixer on medium speed until batter is smooth. Cover and let rise in warm place until bubbly. Put in refrigerator overnight.

Stir down batter. Dip with a 1/4 cup measure and pour onto hot griddle - grease if necessary. Turn as soon as tops are bubbly. Bake to golden brown on other side. Serve at once.

Happy Monday. Hope your kitchen has wonderful aromas.



Family recipe Monday: pancakes

The effects of a day-long freezing fog. That's ice, not snow.

It's cold enough up here for career Minnesotans to notice, even. Today's high is supposed to zoom up to 3*F. That does not mean that we get to stay home. This is an outpost on the Great Plains, after all, and we are made of hardier stock than that. Unless the car doesn't start.

I mean, brrr.

It gets colder tomorrow and then warms up for the rest of the week. I'm making tea and a warm breakfast before I head out. This morning, it'll be biscuits made from scratch yesterday and gently warmed in the oven (NEVER nuke bread) today. If we'd had the snow day I was hoping for, I might have made one of these instead. It's great weather for pancakes and for staying in, but education comes first.

Oh, and happy National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.

Wholesome pancakes

2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup white flour
¼ cup wheat germ (optional)
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup skim milk
1 whole egg plus 1 egg white
1 T oil
Sliced fruit
Cinnamon sugar to taste

In a bowl, mix together the first seven ingredients. In separate bowl, mix together the next four ingredients and add to the first bowl, stirring just enough to break up the lumps. Fry on a lightly greased griddle. Serve with sliced fruits and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Makes about 16 4” pancakes.

Rye cornmeal pancakes

2 eggs, beaten
6 T molasses
1 cup milk
1 cup rye flour
1 cup cornmeal

Blend eggs, molasses and milk. Sift remaining ingredients and stir into liquid. Add more rye flour if necessary to make the batter stiff. Drop by spoonfuls onto a heated oiled frypan. Brown lightly on both sides. Serves 4 to 6.

Blueberry cornmeal pancakes

1 ¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 ½ T sugar
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
3 egg yolks
3 T unsalted butter, melted
3 egg whites
1 cup blueberries
1 cup cornmeal

Sift together all dry ingredients. Mix together the buttermilk, egg yolks and butter with the dry ingredients. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, and fold into batter. Pour ¼ cup batter onto hot griddle, sprinkle about 2 T blueberries on each pancake, and cook until bubbles form and start popping on top. Flip with wide spatula and brown the other side. Turn only once, and do not press down. Yield: 18 pancakes.

Happy Monday. Stay warm. Seriously.

Family recipe Monday: breakfasts

See if there is any bacon, and if there is ask the cook which pan to fry it in. Then ask if there are any eggs, and if so try and persuade the cook to poach two of them. It is better not to attempt toast, as it burns easily. Also in the case of bacon do not turn the fire too high, or you will have to get out of the house for a week.

Serve preferably on china plates, although gold or wood will do if handy.
--Mrs. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Favorite Recipes of Famous Women, edited by Oveta Culp Hobby, 1925.

We are a little bit better than Zelda Fitzgerald at making breakfast, apparently. This is good to know, especially on Monday mornings. Breakfast breads seem to be a particular family favorite, somehow. Here are a few to get your day started on a cheery note. As always, these have not been edited or updated, so adjust them to suit your needs.

Cinnamon rolls

4 T shortening
3 T sugar
1 ½ tsp salt

Mix and add 1 cup boiling water. Cool. Add 1 egg and 2 cakes yeast which have been dissolved in ¼ cup tepid water. Add 4 cups of flour. Mix. When the dough is formed pour over it 3 T cooled and melted shortening. Let rise until double in bulk, roll out to ¼ ” thick and spread on it 1 stick butter which has been melted and cooled. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, chopped nuts or raisins. Roll and cut in slices and let rise again. Bake until done.

Glaze

¾ pkg. powdered sugar
½ stick butter
Enough milk to dissolve sugar

Heat until sugar is smooth and pour over rolls.
--Vada Brooks Johnson
 

Oven pancakes

Preheat oven to 475*F. In a 9”x9” glass dish, place 3 T butter; melt in oven. Do NOT brown.

Remove from oven. Pour in well-mixed batter of
3 eggs
¾ cup flour
¾ cup milk
Juice of 1 lemon (optional)
½ tsp vanilla (optional)

Bake 10-12 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve with powdered sugar and lemon juice (traditional), berries, jam, syrup, toasted almonds or macadamias and butter.

Serves 3. If making for 4 or more, add 1 egg, ¼ cup flour and ¼ cup milk for each person, 1 extra tsp for each, and larger pan.
--Pat Monaco

Buckwheat, blue cornmeal, and buttermilk pancakes (Sally’s Three-B pancakes)

Four-B if you include blueberries.

1/3 cup buckwheat flour
1/3 cup blue cornmeal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
2 T sugar
½ t baking soda
2 eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk

Mix the dry ingredients. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Add the buttermilk and beaten egg yolks to the dry ingredients, then fold in the egg whites. Drop ¼ cup at a time on a greased griddle. Turn once when lower surface is set. Serve with butter, honey, molasses, pecans, and/or whatever else appeals to you.
--Sally Shelton

Cornmeal batter cakes

1 cup corn meal
1 T flour
1 tsp salt
1 egg
Milk to make batter very thin

Scald cornmeal with enough boiling water to dampen well. When cool, sift in flour and salt. Add beaten egg and milk to make thin batter. Beat well. Have griddle very hot and well greased. This makes a cake with a nice crispy edge. Note: Don’t use baking powder. Serves 2.
--Origin uncertain; this is a 19th-century recipe, at least

Now get out there and don't let Monday get to you!