The old fashioned Belgi French Cookie irons by the original company are no longer produced.
However, an electric style is available by calling John at 620-347-4743. John will be happy to make arrangements to ship one to you.
If you have an old cookie iron you would like to sell please contact Phyllis at memrylane@yahoo.com as someone is always looking for one.

Recipes Wanted

ANTI-PASTA
APPLE DUMPLINGS
APPLE STRUDEL (Croation)
BAGNACALDA
CABBAGE ROLLS
STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS " golabki "
CABBAGE ROLLS WITH GROATS & MUSHROOMS " golabki z kasza i grzybami"
CABBAGE ROLLS WITH MEAT "golabki z miesum"
CABBAGE ROLLS WITH RICE & MEAT " golabki z ryzem i miesem"
CABBAGE ROLLS WITH RICE & SAUSAGE " golabki z ryzem i kielbasa"

FRENCH COOKIES (Gulette's)
FRENCH COOKIES

GOLABKI (Polish Stuffed Cabbage)

PANAS KASZUBSKI
PAUNHAUS
PON HAUS (Scrapple)
PON HAUS (California)
POTICA DOUGH
POVITICA
SARMA (Milwaukee)
SARMAS
SCRAPPLE (Pon Haus)

French Cookies (Gulette's as we called them)
(This recipe came from my great aunt Jane Duprez Brugneaux
through my Mom Madeline Duprez down to me Josette Duprez Peterson.)

1 lb. butter
3 C.sugar
9 eggs
6 1/2 C. Flour
3 t. vanilla (I use real vanilla only)
2 t almond (I do not use this)
Dash salt
1/2 C whiskey or brandy

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs a few at a time. Stir in vanilla and salt and then begin to add flour. Stir in flour and whiskey alternating each and it is easier. It is a very heavy dough. Refrigerate overnight. If dough is a little soft, I put a little in freezer for a short while to make it more manageable. My family either rolls long slender cookies or balls to make cookies. This much dough will take you about 3-4 hours if you make one at a time. Our family really loves these cookies.

SARMAS
(Tamra Bailey)
My name is Tamra (Wimler) Bailey. I was poking around on the internet researching some geneology for the Wimler family. I was intrigued by your request for a recipe for stuffed cabbage. Our family recipe is not like any other I've encountered. Let me know if this sounds familiar or not..

Ground meat (pork & beef), rice, lots of garlic and pepper and some other seasonings wrapped in cabbage leaves and cooked in nothing but Sauerkraut, slices of garlic, pieces of butter, salt and pepper.

I've always wondered the real origin of this dish, our family called it "Sarmas". My grandmother was required to learn this recipe because it was a favorite family recipe of my grandfathers side.

My grandmother also made a special kind of noodle dumpling that sounded something like "allutions?" that I don't have the recipe for.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
        " golabki "
(Barbara Brewer, Payson, Arizona)
Cut out the core from a 3 lb. head of cabbage and remove wilted outer leaves, setting them aside for later use. Place the cabbage core-side-down into a pot of boiling water to cover and cook several min. Remove the softened outer leaves and set aside. Continue cooking and removing leaves until you get to the undersized ones which should also be reserved. Trim the thick center vein from the bottom of each large leaf. Another way it to pound it a bit with a meat mallet to soften it, taking care not to damage the leaf. Place a roll (about 3 heaped T.) of filling (see recipe below) at center perpendicular to the stem. Fold sides of leaf over filling and then roll up, starting at the stem end. Some cooks tie the cabbage rolls with a thread, but this isn't really necessary if you carefully place them seam-side-down in roasting pan. Line the roaster with 1/2 the wilted, damaged, undersized or otherwise unused cabbage leaves, as this prevents your golabki from burning. Place the liquid over the cabbage rolls. This can be court bouillon or meat stock, the water in which the cabbage was par-boiled (in which 1-2 bouillon cubes may be dissolved) or tomato sauce of choice (see below). Cover with remaining unused cabbage leaves to prevent scorching and bake in 350 degree oven (covered or uncovered) about 2 hrs. Switch off oven and let them stand at lease 30 min. before serving. Serve with boiled, mashed or puree potatoes. Fresh salads are generally not served with golabki. This dish will be even tastier if refrigerated overnight and reheated the next day, allowing flavors to blend and mature.

     CABBAGE ROLLS WITH RICE & MEAT
            golabki z ryzem i miesem
(Barbara Brewer, Payson, Arizona)
    Simmer 1-2 finely chopped onions in several T. butter until golden and tender and combine with 2-3 c. slightly undercooked rice and 1/2 1lb gound pork, pork & beef or pork, beef & veal combination. Mix in 1 raw egg and season to taste with salt, pepper and (optional) paprika. (Other flavoring possibilities include prok seasoning, hunter's seasoning and/or 1-2 bust mashed garlic.) Combine ingredients well and fill cabbage leaves as above. For cabbage rolls in tomato sauce, use any of the following: 1) fresh tomatoes, peeled, diced and simmered in a little cabbage water briefly; 2) canned stewed tomatoes; 3) canned tomato sauce; 4) tomato paste diluted to taste with wabbage water; 5) ketchup mised with a little cabbage water; or 6) canned tomato soup, straight from the can or diluted with a little cabbage water. Whichever you prefer, pour a little tomato sauce of choice over each layer of golabki in roaster, but the most over the top layer. Salt & pepper each layer and bake as above. Another way is to bake goplabki with 2 c. or so cabbage water. When cooked, fork-blend 6 T. tomato paste with 1 c. or so cabbage water and 1 T. flour until smoothe, bring to boil, salt& pepper (alittle sugar may also be added) and pour over cabbage rolls on serving platter. For a smoother, richer-tasting sauce, stir in heaping T. sour cream. NOTE: Instead of tomato sauce, any of the following are also very good. Soak 1/2-1 oz dried Polish mushrooms in 2 c. water 2 hrs., then cook in same water until tender. Chop mushrooms and distribute them evenly between layers of golabki in roaster. Combine 1/2 the mushroom liquid with 2 c. court bouillon, pour over cabbage rolls and bake. When nearly done, fork-blend remaining mushroom liquid with 1 c. sour cream and 1-2 T. flour, salt& pepper and pour over golabki. Allow to simmer 10-15 min. Garnish with chopped parsley and/or dill just before serving. Instead of thick sauce, for a change of pace bake the cabbage rolls with 2 c. or so meat stock court bouillon added. When cooked, dice and fry 1/4 lb. white salt pork until you get golden, crunchy nuggets. Pour nuggets and as much of the drippings as you like over golabki on serving platter.

    CABBAGE ROLLS WITH RICE & SAUSAGE
        golabki z ryzem i kielbasa
(Barbara Brewer, Payson, Arizona)
    Substitute 1/2- 1 lb. skinned, ground smoked or greash kielbasa or even knackwurst, frankfurters or bologna for the raw meat. Otherwise, proceed as above. Other possibilities include finely diced or ground cooked meat or smoked fish.

    CABBAGE ROLLS WITH MEAT
        golabki z miesum
   (Barbara Brewer, Payson, Arizona)
    Soak 2 stale, crumbled-up kaiser rolls in 3/4 c. milk until soggy. Simmer 1-2 finely chopped onions in several T. butter until they just begin to brown. Run soggy rolls through mead grinder, combine with the onions, 3/4-1 lb. pork or pork& beef, 1 raw egg. Mix well and season with salt, pepper and (optional) port seasoning or hunter's seasoning. Fill cabbage leaves with mixture and proceed as with cabbage rolls with rice & meat.

    CABBAGE ROLLS WITH GROATS& MUSHROOMS
         golabki z kasza i grzybami
(Barbara Brewer, Payson, Arizona)
    Soak 1 oz. dried Polish mushrooms in 2 c. water for 2 hrs. and cook in same water until tender. Reserve liquid, chop mushrooms fine and mix with 3 c. cooked buckwheat groats or fine barley. Add 2 chopped onions simmered in 3 T. butter, 1 T. chopped parsley and 2 eggs. You may first add just the yolks and then fold in the stiffly beaten whites. Add some bread crumbs if mixture is too wet and mushy. Season generously with salt & pepper and (optional) pork seasoning or hunters; seasoning. Fill cabbage leaves with mixture and proceed as with cabbage rolls with rice and meat.

PAUNHAUS
(Diane Sorgatz "The Melting Pot".)

3 lbs Pork Loin Roast or Pork Shank
        12   cups water
         to taste       salt & pepper
         to taste       ground sage
         Pinch of cloves   (small )
         4 Cups        white corn meal

    1.   Cook meat very slow in a large kettle. Add salt.
    2.   When it falls apart,remove meat and strain broth.
    3.   Put your pork through a food chopper and return to broth.
    4.   Add pepper, sage and cloves.
    5.   Return to stove and bring to a new boil and add corn meal real slow, stiring constantly so it won't lump - add enough until it gets stiff and pulls off from the sides of the pan.
     6. Cook 25 minutes till you can't stir.
     7. Pour into greased loaf pans (bread pans) & chill - when cool and firm, slice and                            fry (preferably in bacon grease) till golden brown.

SCRAPPLE (Pon Haus)

(Carol Law)

MAKES TWO 9x5-INCH LOAVES

I have finally become a believer. I grew up in Pennsylvania with Scrapple, a popular breakfast meat, all around me. I just could not acquire a taste for it because of some seasoning to which I objected. Not to mention, I never really understood what was in scrapple and therefore bulked at the mushy consistency. Since I started the PA Dutch recipe page, I knew I would have to make it one day and get it posted, whether or not I liked it, using scrapple fans as the judges. So I found several recipes, gathered ideas from the combination and, lo and behold, the stuff is pretty good. And, much to my surprise, considerably healthier than I ever suspected. To describe it in terms you might better recognize, it is very much like fried polenta. It is mostly corn meal mixed with cooked lean meat and seasonings, poured into loaf pans and refrigerated overnight to stiffen, then sliced and fried in a little butter. Every recipe I found was different in amounts, seasonings and some of the methodology. You will find some of the variations listed below.

INGREDIENTS

One 3-pound pork butt, bone in
4 quarts water
Salt and pepper to taste
1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
1 teaspoon ground savory
1/8 teaspoon allspice (start with less)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (start with less)
1/8 teaspoon cloves
3 cups corn meal

Place the pork and water in an 8-quart stock pot. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer until pork is tender, about 2 hours. Place the meat on a large plate; reserve the stock. When the meat is cool enough to handle, remove it from the bones and discard excess fat. Chop the meat very finely; set aside.

Place 2-1/2 quarts of the stock in a 5-quart pot. Add the thyme, sage, savory, allspice, nutmeg and cloves. Bring to a boil and gradually add the corn meal, stirring or whisking rapidly until it is all combined. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low and continue to cook, stirring often, until the mixture is very thick, so that a spoon almost stands up by its own, about 15 minutes. (If it gets too thick, just add a little more of the broth and stir well.) Add the meat and stir well to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. After a couple minutes, taste for seasoning and adjust as desired. Scrapple must be well-seasoned or it will taste very bland when fried.

Place a piece of waxed paper into the bottom of two 9x5 loaf pans so that the ends extend over the two long sides. That will make it easier to lift the refrigerated loaf out of the pan later. Pour half the mixture into each pan. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight or until chilled and solid.

To fry, remove the loaf from the pan and place on cutting surface. Slice into about 1/4 to 1/2-inch slices. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add some butter and, as soon as it melts, add the scrapple slices. It is critical with scrapple to let each side brown thoroughly before attempting to turn it over or it will stick and fall apart, so be very patient. Serve as is or, as many PA Dutchmen would do, with ketchup or apple butter.

Notes: You will have to learn, as I did, what degree of thickness to cook the corn meal. On my first attempt, it obviously was too thin because the chilled mixture did not get as stiff as expected. If that happens to you, don't panic. I was still able to slice and fry it, although it fell apart easily. You will need to play with the seasonings, tasting and adjusting until you get what you want. Many people dredge scrapple in a light coating of flour before frying. Scrapple freezes very well; just slice and wrap individually in waxed paper and then place in freezer bags. Take out as many slices as you want and fry them frozen, reducing the heat slightly to allow more cooking time. Remember, everything is previously cooked so it only needs to be browned and heated through. Serve instead of bacon, ham or sausage for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Variations: Two of the recipes I used as sources were from a Jeff Smith cookbook and Grandma Born's Scrapple on my Recipes from Visitors page as submitted by William Cooper. One recipe uses pork neckbones, which I understand produces a more gelatinous texture which aids in holding the mixture together. The other uses boneless beef chuck in addition to the pork butt, but less broth to cook the corn meal. The seasonings are completely different, one using herbs and the other baking spices. Another difference is that, in one preparation you coarsely chop the meat, while in the other the meat is passed through a meat grinder. So you can see that, once you start making scrapple, there are many ways to conform it to your own tastes. I know that I plan to do some more experimenting.

CABBAGE ROLLS (SARMA)
Patty Dasovich
Just saw your website about the stuffed cabbage rolls. My aunt (who was born in Croatia in 1921) taught my mother how to make them. We also called it "sarma", and it was ground up beef mixed with rice, garlic, tomatoes, pepper, salt, and other spices rolled up in cabbage leaves. Then she would place the rolls in a big pot and cook them further in a hearty tomato sauce. (She didn't use sauerkraut.) As a kid, it was my favorite meal in the world, but because it took several hours in preparation, we only had sarma on rare occasions.

I hope that helps. Thanks for letting my memory travel back to the warm welcome of my mom's kitchen. Peace, Patty (Dasovich)

FRENCH COOKIES
(Ann Setina)

2 lbs butter
9 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 t salt
16 cups flour
2 t baking powder
1 t vanilla
12 to 14 eggs
2 T whiskey

Melt butter add sugar; mix well. Separate eggs and beat whites till stiff. Also beat the yolks. Add to butter and sugar mixture then add vanilla, whiskey, flour, and baking powder.
Half recipe:
1 lb butter
4½ cups brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 t salt
8 cups flour
1 t baking powder
½ t vanilla
6 to 7 eggs
1 T whiskey
You need a French cookie iron to make these cookies. The old-fashioned cookie irons take 3 to 4 minutes to make a cookie. The new electric cookie irons take about 30-40 seconds.

FRENCH COOKIES
(Frank Bair)

Here's the worlds best french cookie recipe, sorry I can't help you on the other.
Makes appx. 12 to 15 dozen french cookie like the ones you ate as a kid. My mon was Italian lived Arma Ks. and Pittsburg. She was without a doubt the best cook in the history of America. I have her original hand written recipe book, and everything in it is world class. I will share her french cookie recipe. She had a hand held cookie iron she would hold over the burner on a store, and she would make 20 dozen on holidays, and they would be gone in a week. She made all kinds of candies, cakes, pies, cookies, palanta, raviolas, pork dressing, and on and on.
The french cookie makes about 15 dozen cookies:

2 lbs. dark brown sugar
2 cups sugar
1 dozen eggs
1lb unsalted butter
1 lb oleo
1/2 cup wiskey
1 bottle vanilla extract, small bottle
1 bottle butter extract, small bottle
1 bottle brandy extract, small bottle, sometimes I put a bottle and a half. The real secret to the taste is brandy extract.
8 to 12 cups flour. Less flour the more crispy, more flour the thicker they are.

Sometimes I make 1/2 a recipe, so cut everything in half.
I melt the butter into liquid, and then mix with all the other liquids, then I mix with the sugars, then I add flour last. Then I mix into a very smmooth batter. Let sit for an hour or two to setup, Then go to work.
Batter should be thick enough where you can spoon and put into your belgian waffle iron, but not to thick. I have one of the original Belgial waffle irons that has the thin grooves. Hope you make them and I'm sure everyone will enjoy them. My grandkids eat them faster than I can make them.

POTICA DOUGH
(Ann Setina)

3 or 4 pkg dry yeast
2½ cups warm water (105-115)
2 eggs well beaten
2½ t salt
½ cups melted shortening
¾ cups sugar
8-8 ½ cups flour
Soften yeast in warm water. Add shortening, sugar, eggs, 4 cups flour and salt. Stir and then beat until smooth. Stir in remaining flour. This will be a soft dough. Place in a warm place and let rise for about an hour or so or until doubled in bulk. Roll to about ¼” thick and spread with filling. Roll dough in jellyroll fashion. Cut in pieces to fit 9 x 4” pans. Let rise until double in bulk. (45-60 min) Brush top with can milk and bake in 350 oven for 1 hour. Makes 5 poticas.
Potica Filling:
2 lbs ground nuts (2 quarts)
2 cups sugar
1 stick oleo
1 t cinnamon
1 large can milk
½ t salt
2 eggs
Heat milk and oleo to boiling and add all the other ingredients except egg whites. Cool filling until it is just warm. Beat eggs whites and add to filling. Spread evenly over dough.

Dough:    1 pkg dry yeast or 1 cake
                2 T. warm water
                1/2 t. sugar
                1/2 cup melted butter
                1/2 cup sugar
                1 t. salt
                1 cup boiling water
                2 eggs beaten
                5 cups flour
In a large heated bowl, combine yeast, warm water and 1/2 t. sugar and stir until yeast is dissolved. Set in a warm place for about 5 minutes, until foamy. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, melted butter and salt. Add boiling water, stir and cool until lukewarm. Add this mixture to yeast. Stir in beaten eggs and add flour gradually. Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 5 minutes. This will be softer than bread dough. Place in a greased bowl, cover and set in a warm place to rise until double in bulk.

Method for rolling out dough: Cover a work table with a large cotton dish towel or a cloth large enough to cover the entire table. Sprinkle cloth lightly with flour all over the cloth. Put dough in center and roll out as thin as possible with a rolling pin, maintaining a square or rectangle shape.   Spread the pulled dough evenly with the prepared filling. Sprinkle with raisins. Roll up the povitica as for a jelly roll, by lifting the cloth up on one side and letting the dough roll itself up. Place in a large greased baking pan, two inches deep and form it into an "S" shape. Tuck in the ends and flatten it a little. This may also be cut in half and baked in angel food cake pans or bread pans. Cover and let raise for 2-1/2 hours in a warm place. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce to 350 degrees for 50 minutes until nicely browned. Cool in pan for 30 minutes then remove from pan and finish cooling on wire rack.
If you want to try this recipe but aren't too good at making the dough you can buy packaged dough mix and make the "Sweet dough" recipe. It's not nearly as good but saves a lot of time. You can also make a "sweet dough" recipe in your bread machine.

1 lb. real butter one-half cup chopped or ground garlic
4 cans anchovies one-half pint whipping cream
1 can chopped mushrooms
Fresh garden vegetables such as lettuce, celery, green peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.
Hard crust Italian bread, hand sliced

Cut garden vegetables for dipping. Hard crust Italian bread is an essential. Melt butter in an electric skillet on moderate heat; add garlic, anchovies, mushrooms, whipping cream and stir to make a hot "gravy." This is a communal or "family" dish and is best eaten while standing around a table with friends and family. Dip fresh vegetables in gravy, catch drippings with bread, eat with caution to avoid burning roof of mouth. Wash down with ordinary red table wine. Muy saboroso!

Dough:
3 T. oil
3 T. soft butter
3/4 t. salt
1-1/2 cups warm water
4-1/4 cups sifted flour

Mix dough ingredients and knead on floured board until it no longer sticks to hands. Do not use excess flour. Sprinkle flour over large tablecloth, divide dough into two equal parts and place a ball of dough in the middle of the table. Grease with a little oil. Put oil on other ball and set aside. Wait 1/2 hour.

Roll out dough with rolling pin like for a pie, not too big on a large cheesecloth or cotton tablecloth. Then wait another 20 minutes (a MUST). The dough will then stretch easily. Using the back of hands place hands underneath the dough and stretch until as thin as possible.

Sprinkle some bread crumbs, melted butter or oleo and sugar over entire dough. Along one side of the table, lengthwise, place sliced apples inwards about 6 inches. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon to taste. Brush with melted oleo and roll by gently lifting the cloth and letting the dough roll itself.
Place on a greased cookie sheet in an "S" shape and cut on top for steam to escape. Brush with melted butter or oleo and bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes or until brown.

2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 cup butter
6 apples
2 cups flour
1 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
3/4 cup Crisco
1/2 cup milk

Make syrup of sugar, water, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add butter. Pare and cut apples in half (also can be cut smaller). Sift flour, salt and baking powder, cut in shortening. Add milk all at once, stir until moistened. Roll 1 inch thick. Cut in squares.
Arrange 2 pieces apple of each square, sprinkle generously with additional sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Fold corners, put in 9 x 12 baking dish, pour syrup over squares and bake at 350 until golden brown.

6 cans anchovies with oil
6 reg. cans of tuna with oil
1 lg. can black olives, drained (sliced into)
1 lg. jar green olives, drained (sliced into)
3 jars of cocktail onions, drained
3 cans of sliced mushrooms, drained
1 reg. jar pickle relish
1 bottle of ketchup
3 sm. cans of tomato sauce
2 Tblsp. of vinegar
3 Tblsp. of Olive oil

Place all ingredients into a large pan. Allow to simmer for 1 hour. Then cool down so that the anti-pasta can be placed into jars. Refrigerate. When serving you can re-heat or serve cold with Italian Bread. (Will last up to 3 months)

This is for Arlene Lemka:

It sounds German with either spelling, but my "Treasured Polish Recipes for Americans" has a recipe for Cassubian (Kashubian) headcheese called "Panas Kaszubski", so Panas could be another spelling. You might also find more information googling "headcheese recipe cornmeal".
* 1 pigs head, eyes and teeth removed, quartered & thoroughly washed; 1 lg onion; 6 whole allspice; 2 bay leaves, salt & pepper.
Cook these together; remove bones & return chopped meat to stock.
Add 2 lbs white bread, cubed, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, cook 20 minutes, stirring to prevent burning.
Pour into a mold or crock and chill.
Remove fat from top. Slice & heat before serving.
I'm sure this tastes quite different from using the more Americanized pork roast or shank used in Diane Sorgatz's recipe!
I suspect if you don't want to bother with an actual pigs head, then ribs might be a better cut for this than roast or shank.

My husband's recipe for Polish stuffed cabbage (golabki; his Polish grandmother's recipe) is similar to Barbara Brewer's (who seems to have covered a lot of interesting variations); I have only the following comments which might steer the taste in the direction you want:
Use a fatty grade of hamburger (his doesn't call for pork). Personally I think ground chuck is the best kind of hamburger for all purposes.
You can use uncooked rice; you just have to steam it longer or add more water.
Add pats of butter (no substitute) between the layers. This is critical.
The finished product is yummy with lots of pepper and ketchup.

Here's how to make the pon haus I grew up with:
Take about a pound and a half of cheap pork chops, and boil them until the meat falls off the bone.
Let it cool, and then with your fingers, pull the meat apart and mash the fat into small globs.
Remove and discard the bones and any gristle.
You should have about 3 quarts of meat and broth at this point, with the pork meat broken into small shreds and pieces.
Now mix gradually mix in 3 to 4 cups yellow corn meal, while bringing the mixture to a boil.
Boil until it gets really stiff (hard to stir - you'll give your arms a good workout).
Pour the stiff cornmeal and pork mixture into a casserole or loaf pan and refrigerate over night.
To prepare: slice about 1/4 in thick and fry on both sides till golden brown but still soft inside.
It should be soft and tender inside and crunchy brown on the outside.
Serve with salt and pepper to taste. (No other spices.)
Really good with poached, sunny side up or over easy eggs, for
breakfast.
Keep covered in the fridge, or you can freeze it for long term storage.

My parents' families came mainly from Pennsylvania and Indiana, where I guess this recipe comes from.
But, I have never seen it served in any restaurant here in California, and until the internet, I have never seen anyone use the term "pon haus".
Hope this is what you were looking for.
Regards,
Mark A Voelker
Emeryville CA
mavoelker@mac.com

My Croatian grandmother made Sarma all the time. During the last three years of her life I took care of her through 4 strokes and 3 heart attacks. She was a strong woman but the strokes really weakened her so, every other weekend I helped her bake and cook as an activity. She would sit at the table and tell me what to bring and we would mix ingredients together. It was great exercise for her to move her arms the way she did.
We made apple strudel every other weekend and Sarma every 3 months.
The German way is to make the cabbage rolls in tomato sauce. The Croatian way is to make it in soured heads of cabbage. Some people use kraut to get the same effect.
To sour the cabbage you remove the core, fill the core with kosher salt and submerge it in water for about 2 months. My grandmother had old crocks and she would put two heads in each one with a stone on top to hold them steady and keep them under the water. You have to add water once in a while and they will get a scummy film on the top of the water as they “work”.
They smelled up the house but when she filled them with ground beef and pork roasts with rice and herbs – and then wrapped them in the soured cabbage leaves to cook – there was nothing better.
For those people who need soured cabbage leaves and want to avoid 3 months of smelly cabbage in the basement or garage, you can buy the soured cabbage at the American and European Foods on 56th and North Avenue in Milwaukee. You can also order the readymade sarma that they prepare and you take home to cook or reheat. Its fabulous
Diane Chamness
diane@chamnessgroup.com

Does anyone have any of the following recipes? Please e-mail them to me at memrylane@yahoo.com

I am looking for some old recipes that I ate when I was a child. The one I want to find is called Pon-Haus.Its is either German or Polish I think...
It is made with boiling pork & adding corn-meal to the pork and water it was cooked in. It was put into pans and then after cooling it could be sliced and fried for breakfast or a meal.

The other recipe was stuffed cabbage. It was either German or polish also. I know there are recipe out there for stuffed cabbage but none taste like what my grandmother made.

We don't know what we've lost until we lose the ones who had those special recipe and we didn't get the recipes. Arlene Lemka

My grandmother also made a special kind of noodle dumpling that sounded something like "allutions?" that I don't have the recipe for. Tamra Bailey

My polish grandmother made a wonderful dish of homemade noodles that were boiled then served with salt pork that had been rendered and then covered the noodles with the fat and cracklings. She used to call them Greasy Noodles. I loved them, but can't remember the recipe for the noodles. Unsure if they were potato noodles or what. Remember she would either cut them off a log, or else use a spoon to drop them in boiling water. Please see if anyone can help me find this recipe that my babci used to make. Thank you so much. westridgegardens@earthlink.net

I don't have a recipe but my grandmother (who came to Illinois in a covered wagon froms Pondsville, Md.) whom has been gone since 1961 would make Pon Haus. Tonight is the first time I have ever found anything about it on the computer. My grandmother came from Maryland and settled in Illinois. She always made it when they butchered. She used pork broth but she never put pork in it. The cornmeal was cooked in the broth and put in a pan and it set up. It was then fried in the morning for breakfast and we ate it with syrup. I will be 75 this year so it has been many years. She also used to make something she called Pudding meat (can't find anything on that either) and it was made from, they always said the head of the hog. It was cooked hot and put on pancakes. Believe it or not is was delicious. It was one of those things either you liked it or hated it. It was terribly rich. I was very close to my grandmother but I often think of her. D.A. in Ms.