It's Recipe Thyme Again-More Family Favorites!

Check out this link for recipe for homemade applesauce - A Steiner family fall favorite with biscuits!  http://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2011/10/you-can-sense-change-in-air.html

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By Special Request
Grandma Mursch's Hamloaf
Recipe

My son Matthew called today (this was probably back in 2011 when I wrote this) and asked for this recipe, which was originally from MY Grandma Mursch, which would be Matthew's Great-Grandma.  This was a favorite of my Dad's, and I usually made it for him after Christmas, using left-over ham that I ground in my meat grinder. However, the easy way to do it is to buy a boneless rolled ham and have the butcher grind it for you.  This is a family favorite, served alongside homemade scalloped potatoes!  Actually, Matthew said his good friend from Michigan, Scott Brewster, is coming to visit and he especially requested Matt's mother's hamloaf! Wow!! I'm honored!!  Good luck, Nicole, in making this!  I hope it turns out well for you...and enjoy your visit with Scott and his family!!  

Update:  January, 2019:  This was a sweet memory. Our son Matthew is now with the Lord since May of 2014.  Now I have a new daughter in law, "Rose", who is married to our son Benton, and she has also learned to make Grandma Mursch's hamloaf, but she has an added twist...instead of the fresh ground pork, she used fresh mild sausage. It gave the hamloaf a little more flavor and was really delicious!! I love how each generation adds its own special touch to keep the tradition going in a new way!!

Just in time for the 4th of July!  (also good for tea-parties)

This is a delicious blueberry coffee cake...especially served warm...a dollop of
whipped cream might me nice too!

AUNT AUDREY'S BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE

3/4 C. SUGAR                   1 1/2 C. SIFTED FLOUR
1/4 C. SHORTENING          2 TSP. BAKING POWDER
1 EGG                               1/2  TSP. SALT
1/2 C. MILK                        1 C.   BLUEBERRIES

CRUMB TOPPING:      1/2 C. SUGAR, 1/2 TSP. CINNAMON,  1/3 C. FLOUR, 1/4 C. SOFT BUTTER;  CUT WITH A FORK UNTIL CRUMBLY

BEAT SUGAR, SHORTENING AND EGG USING HIGH SPEED ON MIXER.  BLEND IN MILK AND DRY INGREDIENTS.  GENTLY FOLD IN BLUEBERRIES.  SPREAD BATTER IN A GREASED 8" SQUARE PAN (OR DOUBLE RECIPE AND USE  A 13X9" PAN).  SPRINKLE WITH CRUMB TOPPING.  BAKE AT 375 DEGREES FOR 35 - 45 MINUTES OR LONGER IF DOUBLED.  (USE A TOOTHPICK TO TEST FOR DONENESS)

ENJOY!!!

(Submitted by my cousin, Becky Ritchey, my Aunt Marion Mursch Ryder's daughter)

Aunt Audrey was my Uncle Paul Mursch's wife, and Uncle Paul was my Dad William (Bill) F. Mursch's brother.  Aunt Marion was their sister.  Anyway, this is a great family recipe just in time to use those fresh blueberries around the Fourth of July!  Thank you, Becky, for sending this one to us!  I will have to try it very soon!!

Postscript: 6/24/12:  I just made this today, and doubled the recipe...it was delicious...the only thing I would do differently next time is I would add more blueberries than the recipe called for. In doubling it, I added 2 cups of blueberries, but I think it could've had 3 cups and still been good and perhaps a bit more moist.
Just a thought.  I also added about 1/3 cup of quick oats (dry) to the topping mix. That was good.
You may want to add nuts to the topping too for another interesting twist!

Grandma Mursch's Anise Cookies

Grandma always made these cookies when they lived on Elmwood Street in Crafton, Pa., and she would store them in tins on the stairway leading up to the attic to keep them cool so the flavor could really set in.  Unfortunately, when they moved to Florida she was no longer able to make these cookies for lack of a cool place to set them to "age" properly.  My sister and I have fond memories of the licorice flavor of anise in these cookies...and we wish we could sample them again. Maybe one of these days we'll attempt to make them again in honor of Grandma!  Let me know if you make them and how they turn out...
Ingredients:

• 1 dozen eggs- beat until light.
• 2 lbs. Powdered sugar, sifted 3 times (5 ½ cups)
• 2 lbs. Flour (8 cups)
• 1 tsp. Baking powder, sifted 3 times with flour.
• 1 ½ tsp. Anise Oil

Grease and flour cookie pans. Drop from teaspoon and let stand in a cool place overnight. Bake in moderate oven.  (325 degrees for 10-20 min. Do not let them get too brown-you may need to experiment with baking time)

Best made two weeks ahead and stored in airtight containers in a cool place (attic stairs!) before eating!

Link to Christmas On Elmwood Street, Part Two...to get the whole story!

Grandma &Grandpa Mursch circa 1929

Grandma Mursch’s Sand Tarts

(Elva Hill Mursch )

(My Paternal Grandmother)
December 27, 1896-December 16, 1984

My Grandma Mursch always made these Sand Tart cookies for Christmas. They are from a wonderful old German recipe. In 1980 Grandma passed this recipe on to me so I could make it for my family. The first Christmas I made them, I wasn’t sure how many the whole recipe would make, and I needed a good cookie for the church cookie swap. My mother-in-law, Vivian Steiner, helped me roll and cut and bake the doubled - whole recipe, and we soon found out that it made about 18 dozen cookies! That was quite a task! I only needed 13 dozen for the cookie swap, and I was chagrined to discover that I was the only one who had gone to the trouble of baking a rolled and cut cookie for this event!

From then on, I usually only baked the Half Recipe, and it made more than enough cookies for our family and to share with others! As the years went on, I eventually taught my son, Scott Steiner, how to make these cookies so that he could continue the tradition. For the past few years he has baked these cookies as his Christmas gift to the family! (Although now he lives in New Hampshire, far from our home in Florida, so I doubt I'll be getting Sand Tarts for Christmas this year!) ***UPDATE: 2011 - HERE IS A PICTURE OF SCOTT, WHO CAME BACK HOME THIS YEAR, AND IS BACK TO MAKING THE SAND TARTS FOR THE FAMILY AGAIN FOR CHRISTMAS!  THANK YOU SCOTT!!!!!

The secret to a good Sand Tart is to be sure to roll the dough real thin before cutting the cookies. The thinner cookies are crispier and tastier. Just be sure not to burn them! Also, for the brushed on glaze of egg wash, you need two egg yolks and about a tablespoon of milk mixed together to cover the ½ recipe. I buy the pre-sliced almonds to put on top. Use about two tablespoons of white sugar to one teaspoon of cinnamon mixed together in a shaker (I use a salt shaker) to sprinkle on the tops.

This recipe is a keeper…and should be passed down from generation to generation!

Sand Tarts

(Yield 4 dozen) (This is the Half Recipe)

Mix Together:

• 1 ¼ cups Butter = 2& 1/2  sticks
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/3 Cups Brown Sugar 

Then add 4 cups Flour

Roll real thin and cut with cookie cutters. Brush tops with yolk of egg beaten with a little milk. Put a sliced almond on top and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

My Son Scott carrying on the family tradition of making Sand Tarts at Christmas (2011)

Enjoy!

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I just put a banana nut bread in the oven to bake!  How often do YOU have over-ripe bananas sitting there attracting fruit flies and smelling a little too strong for your senses to appreciate?  I am afraid this happens way too often at our house, and I get tired of putting the overripe fruit in my freezer for another day...although that is one way to save them for future baking.  But I have this easy recipe for one loaf of Banana Nut Bread that is quick to mix up and and makes a wonderful alternative to peanut butter toast and jelly in the morning for breakfast with my yogurt!

Actually, my original recipe is for two loaves and uses 6 ripe bananas, but since I rarely have 6 overripe bananas at one time, I have divided the recipe in half and make just one loaf at a time with only three bananas!  Three overripe bananas can accumulate quickly in our house...so this is a good way to use them up.  And it smells delicious while baking! 

Set oven to 350 degrees.  Use one regular size loaf pan...I use the metal non-stick kind, but after many uses I discovered that the non-stick baking pans don't always live up to their name...so I cut a piece of waxed paper to the size of the bottom of the pan and put that inside before pouring the batter.  The loaf comes out perfect every time!

Instructions:

Cream together 1 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup crisco shortening.  ( I buy the crisco in the bars now instead of the can...and they are pre-measured into one cup bars.  Just cut one bar in half for this recipe, and put the other half back in the little plastic container for the next time. So convenient and un-messy! Just my style!)

Add two eggs to the creamed sugar and shortening, and mix well.  Then add three very ripe bananas and mix again.

Combine 1& 1/4 cup flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking soda.  Add to above mixture and mix well. 

Add 1/2 to 1 cup chopped walnuts and stir until blended in. 

Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes, or until center is firm and toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for a few minutes in pan, and then remove from pan and put on cooling rack to cool completely.  After cooled, it may be put into a ziploc bag or other container and refrigerated.  Will keep for at least a week refrigerated, or may be frozen for later.

Enjoy!