Pennsylvania Dutch: Recycled Recipes from Vintage Boxes: March 2013

I collect recipe boxes and received  one originally from a kitchen in Pennsylvania. Filled with recipes from the 1940’s to 1970’s, I ventured into the world of Pennsylvania Dutch cooking.

Montgomery Pie was the first recipe that caught my attention. The woman had several recipes, each with only a slight variation. I researched recipe books and the Internet and found it was actually a variety of Shoo Fly Pie. Shoo fly Pies were known for their sticky sweet molasses which attracted flies as it cooled; so the name.

The Montgomery variety has the same molasses base but with an addition of lemon or lime juice and a cake like topping. As I followed the recipe, I realized the bottom layer was watery mix of molasses and lemon juice. I rechecked my sources and felt I was on the right path.

The topping was a thick cake-like batter that didn’t mix with the watery bottom, so I dropped globes of batter into the liquid. However, as I carefully placed the pie into my pre-heated oven, the molasses bath dripped over onto the bottom of the oven.

I managed to clean up most of the mess before the smoke alarm sounded. The smell of burnt molasses filled my kitchen, but I was determined and finished the baking.

The final product had a cake like topping which covered a mass of gluey-like molasses on the bottom.

Definitely a treat for someone who appreciates molasses.

Coffee Cake: Grandma Smith 1950’s

This coffee cake is actually made with coffee. It has a gingerbread quality and taste. Moist and crumbly, serve with lost of whipped cream.

• 1 cup strong coffee
• 1 egg
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup baking molasses
• Three fourths cup butter & lard (I used three-fourths cup butter)
• 1 cup raisins (omit or use two cups)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon and cloves
• 1 teaspoon (baking) soda
• 3 cups flour

Beat the butter until light and fluffy; beat in the brown sugar and then egg. Add coffee and molasses alternately with the dry ingredients. Add raisins and mix well. Pour into a 9×13 greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about thirty minutes. Cool and cut into squares; top with whipped cream.

Turkey Stuffing

This recipe was stuck behind a pie recipe; an unexpected gem.

• 2 eggs
• 4 cups bread crumbs
• One half envelope Lipton onion soup
• 1 lb. Polish sausage
• 1 cup popcorn (uncooked)

Bake at 375 degrees for 3 hours. When three hours are up, get the hell out of the kitchen, because that popcorn is going to blow the ass off the turkey.

I haven’t tried this recipe, don’t plan to do so and recommend that you don’t either.

Ann Marie Bezayiff

Ann Marie Bezayiff received her BA and MEd from the University of Washington in Seattle. She is an author, blogger, columnist and speaker. Her columns, “From the Olive Orchard” and “Recycled Recipes from Vintage Boxes”, appear in newspapers, newsletters and on Internet sites. Ann Marie has also demonstrated her recipes on local television. Currently she divides her time between Western Maryland and Texas.