heirloom

Amish Friendship Bread

The ten-day starter routine: stir daily, feed flour, sugar and milk twice, then divide into cups to pass along.

“This works well in muffin pans. I spray the paper cups with Pam so they don't stick. I also have made all three batches and froze the bread and muffins when I am ready to quit.”

Baked Chicken

Chicken pieces rolled in cream, coated in crushed Rice Krispies or corn flakes, and baked an hour and a half under melted butter.

Banana Cake

A 9x13 banana cake made by the dump method, with buttermilk and lemon juice, baked slow for over an hour.

Blueberry Salad

Three set layers: raspberry Jell-O, a sweetened cream cheese and walnut layer, then more Jell-O with canned blueberries stirred in.

“This is the Topp traditional salad for Thanksgiving.”

Caramel Frosting

Brown sugar boiled with butter and milk, cooled, then beaten with powdered sugar — enough for two layer cakes.

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

Sliced potatoes and onions layered between a from-scratch cheddar sauce and baked about an hour until tender.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sour cream in the dough and quarter-cup scoops make these oversized; chocolate chunks and pecans go in at the end.

Cinnamon Pickles

Cucumber rings soaked in pickling lime, tinted red, then simmered in a cinnamon stick and red hot candy syrup over several days.

Cocoa Fluff Frosting

Powdered sugar and cocoa beaten with soft butter and a whole raw egg; enough to cover two 8- or 9-inch layers.

Cold Water Chocolate Cake

Cocoa cake lightened with stiffly beaten sweetened egg whites and thinned with cold water rather than milk.

Crystal Pickles

Cucumbers brined two weeks, crisped overnight in alum water, then steeped four mornings in spiced vinegar syrup before sealing.

Date Cake

Dates softened in boiling water with baking soda, stirred into a one-egg butter batter with flour and nuts; also noted as good for cupcakes.

“Is good for cupcakes.”

French Onion Soup

Sliced onions cooked slowly in butter, simmered in canned beef broth with Worcestershire, and ladled over toasted French bread with Parmesan.

French Onion Soup - Best!

Onions cooked for hours in a covered pot, then deglazed with water again and again to build a dark crust before the broths go in.

Fruit Cocktail Cake

One-bowl cake built on a drained can of fruit cocktail, with brown sugar and nuts scattered over the top before baking.

Fudge Frosting

Boiled chocolate frosting made with corn syrup and shortening, held at a rolling boil one minute and cooled before spreading.

Grandma Topp's Frosting Recipe

Powdered sugar, Crisco and milk beaten five minutes on high into a stiff white frosting for decorating.

Grandma Topp's White Cake Recipe

Boxed white cake mix stretched with extra flour, oil and four eggs, baked low at 325 for a taller crumb.

Grandma Vandewege's Sugar Cookies

Lard-based sugar cookies with nutmeg and vanilla, rolled paper thin, sugared, and baked just six or seven minutes.

“Cindy Holden's note on this recipe: roll the dough out real thin -- "none of that fat stuff."”

Italian Wedding Cake

Three buttermilk coconut layers lightened with beaten egg whites, stacked under cream cheese frosting with chopped pecans.

“Enjoy!”

Kim Topp's Apple Pie

Apples softened in the microwave before filling, tossed with flour and cinnamon, baked with a sugar-and-milk finish on the top crust.

“Kim uses red delicious apples for this pie.”

Large Batch Vanilla Frosting

Five cups of whipped buttercream for layer cakes and cupcakes, made with heavy cream instead of milk.

Oatmeal Cream Pies

Soft cinnamon oatmeal cookies sandwiched in pairs around a long-whipped vanilla buttercream filling.

Oven Fries

Potato wedges soaked in hot water, then baked at 475 on an oiled sheet — covered first, then uncovered and flipped until crisp.

Oyster Stew

Oysters cooked in butter just until the edges curl, then simmered in milk with celery seed, garlic salt and Worcestershire.

Peppernuts

A big-batch heirloom Christmas cookie: butter, milk and sugar boiled to softball stage, spiced with cinnamon, clove and black pepper, rested cold for days, then cut small and baked.

“I have doubled the spices from the original recipe - we like it this way.”

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Browned butter and mostly dark brown sugar make sixteen large chewy cookies, with the batter rested and whisked three times.

Potato Soup

Red potatoes and two skillets of crisp bacon in a shaken milk-and-flour gravy, melted smooth with American cheese.

“I don't really have a recipe, I just dump. I'll try to describe what I did... hope this works for you.”

Rhubarb Cake

Brown sugar cake with a cup and a half of rhubarb folded in, sprinkled with sugar and nuts before baking.

“Glenda uses more cinnamon than the recipe calls for.”

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Four cups of rhubarb bound in a nutmeg custard and baked at 400 degrees under a lattice or solid top.

Russian Dill Pickles

Sliced cucumbers packed with onion and dill, covered with a sweet-sour boiling brine; makes six quarts.

“Sibyl layers the onion and dill in the jars.”

Snickerdoodles (Soft Ones)

Butter cookies leavened with cream of tartar and soda, chilled, rolled in cinnamon sugar and flattened with a glass before baking.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Freezer ice cream started from strawberry Jell-O dissolved in boiling water, then beaten eggs, cream and vanilla, topped off with milk.

Swedish Pancakes

Thin, crepe-style pancakes from a loose egg, flour and milk batter finished with melted butter, cooked on a 375 to 400 degree griddle.

Sweet Gherkins

Small cucumbers worked through four days of boiling-water soaks and a sugar-vinegar syrup with turmeric, cinnamon and fennel, then canned.

“Have fun!”

Tomato Soup

Onion cooked down in white wine, then simmered with chicken stock, plum tomatoes and roasted tomatoes, pureed, and finished with thyme and honey.