Laura's Heirloom Recipes

My mother-in-law Laura O'Dell Bekofske created a recipe book of her favorite recipes. She included recipes from her family.

Laura's Mother Charlotte Grace Nelson O'Dell

Mother's Suet Pudding recipe is likely 100 years old! Charlotte Grace Nelson O'Dell was born in 1877 in Lynn Twp, St. Clair County, MI and died in 1951. In 1896 she married John Nelson and they lived on a farm in Lynn Twp. near Brown City, Lapeer Co., MI. Here is the recipe that Laura shared.

Mix together:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp each of nutmeg, allspice, and cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup molasses

Grind together:
1 cup suet, dates, and raisins
1 cup chopped apples
Add to the eggs/sugar mixture.

Add:
1 cup milk
1 tsp soda
2 tsp baking powder
3 1/2 c flour

Mix well. Put into a  greased pan or tin can and lay a cloth over top. Allow room to raise.

Put 1 qt of water in pressure cooker and steam at 15 pounds pressure for 30 minutes. Or, it can be put in a kettle with molds or tin cans but cover with parchment paper with rubber bands to hold in place. Also, cover with aluminum foil pressed down around sides. The parchment cover should be greased to prevent sticking. Never cover molds with water, just up to cover a third of the mold.

Serve with a sauce made with:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
chunk butter
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tb vinegar.
Cook until thickened

Laura also shared her family's Vinegar Punch which she grew up drinking as their "cold drink" instead of iced tea or soda pop as my generation grew up with.

5 tbsp sugar
7 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp ginger
2 quarts water
Mix well.

*****

Laura made Cabbage Balls, which she called Glompkes, a recipe from "a Polish Friend."

1 lb hamburger  and 1/12 lb ground ham, or all ground ham
1 1/2 cup rice
onions
1 egg
paprika, salt and pepper

Pour boiling water over a cabbage and let steam for a few minutes. Cut backbone out of the cabbage leaves. Roll meat mixture up in the leaves and tuck ends in. Put in a kettle as follows:
Cut up remaining cabbage and put it in the bottom of a large kettle, put in a layer of cabbage balls then a layer of sauerkraut, then repeat the layers, then pour over cabbage balls a large can of tomatoes. Cook slowly until rice is done.

*****

Pasties are a Michigan "Up North" tradition. Laura created her own version. My husband tells how the family would stop for lunch on their drive to the Upper Penninsula and warm her pasties on the car engine! I made these long ago.

Laura used her Never Fail Pie Crust recipe.

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup shortening
Add a mixture of one egg, 1 tbsp vinegar, and 5 tbsp cold water beaten together
She rolled the pie crust into ten 6" circles.

Filling:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 1/2 cups potatoes diced
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
1 large onion chopped
Season with salt, pepper, spices as desired

In each pie crust circle add 1/3 cup meat mixture, fold over and seal edges. Cut some steam slits on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Laura noted that she liked the pasties with catsup but her husband preferred gravy!

Recipes From My Mother-in-law: Cakes

My mother-in-law Laura Bekofske's cookbook had a thick section under Pies and Cakes. Many of the Cake recipes were collected from friends. They are 'easy' and include prepacked, boxed, or canned goods. I have not tried these recipes.

Apple Cake

1 1/2 cups oil
2 cups sugar
2 beaten eggs
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped dates
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups peeled, diced apples

Mix oil, sugar, and eggs. Sift flour, soda, salt, and cinnamon. Fold all together. Add apples, nuts, and vanilla. Pour into a greased 9" x 13 " pan. Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees.

Cake Frosting

Laura noted this recipe was from June Cole

1 cup milk
1 package vanilla pudding
8 oz of Dream Whip
Mix

Chop Suey Cake

Laura noted this recipe was from Judy Connors

2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup coconut
1 cup walnuts
12 oz can crushed pineapple, juice included
Grease and flour bundt pan
Mix and bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees
Test doneness by sticking in a knife and if it comes out clean it's done. Don't bake over 50 mins.

Cherry Crunch

Laura noted this recipe was from Mary Himrod

2 cans Cherry Pie Filling
1 box Duncan Hines Cake Mix, yellow or white
1 cup pecans
1 1/4 stick oleo
Spread dry cake mix over pie filling, spread pecans on top, cup butter into squares over the top. Bake at 325 degrees until brown.

Orange Date Nut Cake (Christmas Cake)

Laura noted this recipe was from Pattie Boone

4 cups flour
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp orange rind grated
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
1 cup nuts
1 lb chopped dates

Mix, spread into a ring pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.
Mix together:
1 3/4 c sugar
1 3/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp or more of grated orange rind

Let stand while baking the cake. Stir occasionally. Poke holes in the baked cake and pour this mix over the hot cake, gradually as cake absorbs it.

Rhubarb Cake

Laura noted this recipe was from Clarice Norrise

Cream together:
1/2 cup oleo
1 1/2 cup brown sugar

Beat in 1 egg

Add:
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk

Fold in:
2 cups of uncooked, finely chopped rhubarb
Bake in pan for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 tsp cinnamon over the top.

Recipes From My Mother-in-Law: Pies

My mother-in-law Laura Grace O'Dell Bekofske prided herself on her cooking and baking skills. When we came to visit she always had cookies in a jar and pies cooling and often had baked rolls.

Laura and Herman Bekofske. The Christmas Cactus was in Laura's family for 100 years

When Laura died my husband kept her recipe book.

The binder was covered in contact paper, perhaps in the 1970s judging by the print.

The pages are stained and tattered. She included typed and handwritten recipes and clippings from newspapers and magazines, and booklets of recipes.

It always amazed me that all this cooking and baking was carried on in a small galley kitchen with very little counter space, a small wall oven, and a stovetop with only a sliver of counter between them. No dishwasher, either!

 When her youngest was in school she took a job cooking in the Grand Blanc high school kitchen.

Laura gave me the recipe for her Never Fail Pie Crust soon after I was part of the family. I have never had a problem making pies! Here is the recipe as she wrote it:

Never Fail Pie Crust

3 c flour
1 1/2 c shortening
1 tsp salt
1 egg well beaten
5 TB water
1 TB vinegar

This makes five pie crusts for a 10" pie.

Here are some of Laura's pie recipes.

Pecan Pie
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 TB flour
1/4 tp salt
1/4 c melted butter
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
3 large eggs
3/4 cup pecan halves

Beat together with rotary mixer sugar, flour, salt, butter, corn syrup, and eggs. Mix in pecan halves. Put into pastry-lined pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes until set and pastry is nicely browned. Spread on top of apples and bake at 400 degrees.

Fruit Pie
Laura noted this recipe came from her niece Harriet Marie O'Dell Beardslee Gregson

1 1/2 cup sugar
3 TB flour
1 1/2 c rhubarb
1 1/2 cup cranberries, halved
1 1/2 cup apples, chopped
Place into pastry in pie pan. Bake 40-45 minutes at 450 degrees

$50 Apple Pie

Spray pie pan
Mix:
6 tart apples, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup nuts
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
dash nutmeg
Place into a greased pie pan.

Mix:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 beaten egg
1 stick of softened oleo

Spread on top of the pie filling.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.