Gumdrop Cookies

by Ruth McCulley Brandt

Ingredients:
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp soda in 1 TB water
1 cup gumdrops
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Cream sugar and eggs together.
3. Mix in flour, then vanilla, and soda last.
4. Add gumdrops and nuts.
5. Spread in greased pan, 13x9 inches.
6. Bake about 20 minutes.
7. Let cool in pan, then cut into squares.
8. Roll in powdered sugar.

Applesauce Cake or Fruit Cake

by Ruth McCulley Brandt

Ingredients:
1 cup margarine
2 cups sugar
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cinnamon
2 tsp soda, dissolved in a little water
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup raisins, ground or chopped
2 cups nuts
for fruit cake, 1 package of each kind of candied fruit

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar. Add applesauce and mix well.
2. Stir together flour, salt, and spices, and add gradually to applesauce mixture, mixing well. Mix in dissolved baking soda and vanilla. Then add raisins, nuts, and fruit.
3. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15-20 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. For fruit cake, wrap in cloth dish towel saturated with brandy or other liquor, and store 4-6 weeks in a cool place or in the refrigerator.

Applesauce Cake

by Lela May Smith McCulley

When going through my mother's recipes, I found this recipe written in my grandmother's own handwriting. There were no baking instructions. I tried the recipe, and it was good, but very spicy. My mother's version of it is here--Dorothea Malloy

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups raisins
2 cups nuts (pecans)
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
4 cups flour
2 grated nutmegs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp dissolved soda

Directions: see Applesauce Cake or Fruit Cake

German Potato Salad

by Dorothea Brandt Malloy

My mother’s recipe for potato salad was developed from one made by my grandmother, Dora Brandt, on her farm in Santa Maria, Texas in the 1930’s. Grandma Brandt made a sauce of fresh cream, mustard, vinegar, and sugar, heated and poured over cooked, cubed red potatoes. This recipe is my version, which differs very little from Momma’s.

Ingredients:
4 lbs. medium red potatoes, boiled, peeled, and cubed
1-2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 cup liquid from pickles, or vinegar
1 cup chopped dill pickles
6-9 hard-cooked eggs
1 cup regular mayonnaise
3-5 TB prepared mustard
dash of black pepper
1/2-3/4 cup chopped celery
1/2-3/4 cup chopped onion

Directions:
1. Boil or steam potatoes until tender, about 45 minutes. (I steam them using a vegetable steamer basket in a large pot.)
2. Cool the potatoes until easy to handle. Then peel and cut them into small cubes. Pour pickle liquid or vinegar over potatoes and marinate, covered, in the refrigerator, for at least one hour.
3. Chop celery, onion, pickles and eggs, and add to potatoes. Mix in remaining ingredients. Keep chilled until serving.