Flavors From The Past: Memoirs and Recipes

By Linda Kay

Wilma Weiland Diekhoff grew up on an 80 acre farm near Hartsburg, Illinois, which is the setting for most of this story. After many years of talking about publishing a book on her life, this story began, interspersed with recipes from families and friends. Her husband, Delmar also grew up on a farm, but near Delavan, Illinois. All farm ground in this area is rich and fertile, and families could make a decent life on the farm. With the German heritage, people were hard working, conservative, and maybe just slightly stubborn. To put this book together, Wilma and her daughter Linda worked their way through stacks and stacks of recipes, and some of these, unfortunately, have no name to give credit where it is due. If names have been omitted from an original recipe, please accept apologies. Some of the recipes were so vague, they had to be cooked or baked to see if everything was included. Ancestors obviously took some things for granted in writing the recipes down! You might also note that the recipes contained in this book have no pretense of controlling calories. Foods were prepared with rich butter and cream, sparing no flavor for the price of a few calories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Kay
• Release date: Jun 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310336959

Linda Kay

I was raised on a farm in Illinois and attended schools in a town of less than 2000 hard-working, industrious characters. Like many of my peers, I married young, had three beautiful children, and divorced in my 30's. As luck would have it, a girlfriend introduced me to a fabulous single man who married me with my three teenaged children and has stuck with me through all the ensuing drama in our lives. Together we finished education goals; he with an MBA on top of Engineering, and me with an undergrad in accounting and a graduate degree in Human Resources. My most rewarding career experiences were when I was in business for myself, working with small business owners, and eventually teaching online for DeVry/Keller Graduate School. My life has been a roller coaster of experiences with challenging jobs and moves to many parts of the Midwest and South. My writing will reflect many of these personalities as I create my stories for you, my readers.

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FLAVORS FROM THE PAST

Memoirs and Recipes of Wilma Weiland Diekhoff

Linda Kay

Copyright © 2014 by Linda Kay

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

INTRODUCTION

SPRING

Iced Tea

Lemonade

Homemade White Bread

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Mayonnaise

Oatmeal Cookies

French Creams

Seven-Minute Frosting

Sour Cream Frosting

Pie Crust (Never-Fail)

Gooseberry Pie

Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb Crisp

Rhubarb Jam

Strawberry Pie

Strawberry Sun Preserves (Dorothy Aper)

Strawberry Jam

Country Fried Chicken

Baked Chicken with Dressing

Dressing (Stuffing):

Celery Dressing:

Oyster Dressing

Roast Duck

Roast Goose

Dinner Rolls (Florence Diekhoff Cross)

Man’s Supper Rolls (Dorothy Weiland Aper)

Mom’s Pecan Rolls (Elizabeth Weiland)

Coffee Cake

Butterscotch Pie (Elizabeth Weiland)

Chocolate Chiffon Pie (Elizabeth Weiland)

Sunday Pot Roast

Homemade Vegetable Soup

Prize Angel Food Cake (Dorothy Aper)

Homemade Noodles (Elizabeth Weiland)

Egg Yolk Sponge Cake (uses up egg yolks left from Angel Food cake)

Carrot Cake (Elizabeth Weiland)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Potato Cake (Grandma Aper – Dorothy's Mother-in-law)

Hot-Crossed Buns (The Country Fair Cookbook, 1975, Farm Journal, Inc.)

Baked Ham

Scalloped Potatoes (simple)

Sugar Drop Cookies (Dorothy Weiland Aper)

SUMMER

Asparagus Casserole

Asparagus Potato Soup (Lucille Clark)

Pickled Beets

Pickled Yellow Wax Beans

Sauerkraut (Irene Jeckel’s mother, Lizzie Stauffer)

Sauerkraut Salad

Cole Slaw (Cabbage Slaw)

Cabbage Rolls

Brussels Sprouts (Linda Smith, OTR at Abe Lincoln Memorial in Lincoln, IL)

Carrot Casserole

Marinated Carrots

Broccoli Casserole

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad

Louise’s Society Chip Pickles (Louise Christensen)

Hydrated Lime Pickles

Dill Pickles (the best)

Ice Box Pickles

Bread and Butter Pickles

Sweet Dill Pickles

Sweet Pickle Relish (Alltrista Corporation, 1993)

Piccalilli (Behrolzheimer, 1944)

Freezer Slaw

Frozen Sweet Corn

Corn Fritters (Elizabeth Weiland)

Pancakes

Potato Pancakes (German)

Head Cheese

Waffles

Fastnachts (Raised Doughnuts)

Drop Doughnuts

Apple Walnut Coffee Cake

Overnight Cake (Ruth Lanaghan, Dan’s Judy's mother)

Hot Oatmeal

Biscuits and Gravy

Scrambled Eggs

Poached Eggs

Dried Beef on Toast (S.O.S.)

Cinnamon Coffee Cake (Mom found this one in the Prairie Farmer)

Danish Pastry (Elizabeth Weiland)

Egg Casserole (Thelma Goeken - Dave's Judy's mother)

Potato Salad

Cherry Pie

Yeast Rolls

Whole Wheat Bread

Cheese Cake (Mary McMillan, a friend from Florida)

FALL

Frosted Creams

Frosted Creams Icing

Au Gratin Potatoes

German Potato Salad

Potato Soup (Elizabeth Weiland)

Potato Cheese Soup (Eileen Hazelman)

Stuffed Onions

Tomato Juice

Canned Tomatoes

Tomato Salad (Wilma’s Recipe)

Popcorn Balls

Carmel Corn (Eileen Hazelman)

Cracker Jacks (Wilma’s recipe)

Hog Jowl with Greens

Bloutwerst (Blood Sausage)

Dry Sugar Cure

Brine Cure (Dried Beef)

Barbecued Sandwiches

Fork Cookies

Chili

Vanilla Ice Cream

Pudding with Sour Cream Sauce (Elizabeth Weiland)

Sweet Potato Puff

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Scalloped Oysters

Scalloped Dakota Sweet Corn (Jerry Christensen)

Cranberry Salad (Elizabeth Weiland)

Quick Cranberry Salad (Elizabeth Weiland)

Cranberry Pudding

Marshmallow Jell-O Salad (Ruth Aper)

Celery Jell-O Salad

Pumpkin Bread (Elizabeth Weiland)

Springerlies (Elizabeth Weiland)

Molasses Cookies (Elizabeth Weiland)

Butter Cream Frosting (Florence Cross)

Special Pumpkin Pie (Wilma Diekhoff)

Pumpkin Pie (Elizabeth Weiland)

Short Bread (Ruth Bertram)

Date Cake (Elizabeth Weiland)

Mother's Favorite Date Cake (Virginia Allen's mother Mabel Dunn)

Date Pudding

Cookie Squares (Dorothy Aper)

Fried Rabbit (under 3 months - 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lbs)

Baked Rabbit (mature)

WINTER

Christmas Fruit Cake (Elizabeth Weiland)

Bread Pudding (Elizabeth Weiland)

Hard Sauce (no cooking) (Berolzheimer, 1943)

Raisin Sauce (Berolzheimer, 1943)

Date Bread (Elizabeth Weiland)

Date Pudding (Margaret Klokkenga)

Fruit Cake (Wilma Diekhoff)

Chocolate Fudge (Emma Steiger)

Chocolate Nut Toffee (Unknown)

Caramel Nut Clusters

Peanut Butter Fudge (Dorothy Aper)

Maple Candy

Divinity (Wilma Diekhoff)

Taffy Apples

Peanut Brittle (Katie Dobey)

Lebkuken (Julie Harmsen Cross)

Pepper Nuts (Rachel Woll)

German Chocolate Kisses (Irma Lanaghan, Dan’s Judy’s mother)

Molasses Taffy

White Taffy

No Cook Candy

Candied Popcorn (Arnold Rademaker loved to make this for a treat for visitors)

Mince Meat (for Pies)

Can’t Fail- Marshmallow Meringue

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie (Wilma Diekhoff)

Applesauce Cake

Petits-fours (Elizabeth Weiland)

Apple Sauce Spice Cookies

Spicy Cookies (old fashioned) (Dorothy Aper)

Overnight Cookies

Raisin- (or Fruit-) Filled Cookies (Dorothy Aper, from Mrs. Claus Leesman)

Praline Cake (Ann Oltmann) (Mom had it spelled Parline)

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Chocolate Roll Up (Elizabeth Weiland)

Bran Rolls (Kay Cross)

Brown Bread (Elizabeth Weiland)

Raisin Bread

Whole Wheat Bread (Ida Walker from her mother)

Ginger Bread

Sugar Cookies

Ice and Snow (By Linda Kay)

Hamm Loaf (Mrs. Hamm, Lincoln)

John Mozette (Wilma Diekhoff – Got this recipe when I was in school)

Roll-in-one Meat Loaf (Glenna Weiland)

Stuffed Steak

Superior Stock

Chinese Won Ton Soup

Hamburger Chop Suey

Joe’s Fried Rice

Meat Casserole Dish (Elizabeth Weiland)

Meat Pie

Stuffed Beef (Elizabeth Weiland)

Surprise Meat Loaf (Elizabeth Weiland)

Meat Loaf with Vegetables

Chicken Spaghetti Italian (Helen Betzelberger)

MISCELLANEOUS

Shrimp Delight (Glenna Weiland)

Pecan Apple Cake

Oatmeal Cake (Beth Hammond)

Inter Continental Pate

Corral Barbecued Ribs

Au Gratin Diced Potatoes (Large Group – Recipe can be decreased)

Mexican Corn Bread (Virginia Allen - Florida Friend)

Cheese Soup (Ilene Hazelman)

Hard Rolls

Walkaways (Maralee Hobbs)

Snow on the Mountain

Black Walnut Ice Cream

Corn Bread

Anniversary Salad

Angel Mysteries

Chocolate Caramel Bars

Gertie's Chocolate Cake

Hula Cake

Nut Cake

Sunshine Cake

Butterscotch Cake

Apple Crisp

Pumpkin Nut Bread

Key Lime Pie

Deep Dish Apple Cider Pie

Butterscotch Nut Cake

Luscious Lasagna

Romaine Lettuce Salad

Vinaigrette Dressing

Thousand Island Dressing

Basic French Dressing

Orange Julius Refresher (Ruth Logeman)

Lemon Chiffon Pie

Kentucky Corn Casserole

Slush

Spicy Butter Barbecue Sauce

Green Split Pea Soup

Meat Balls

Heavenly Hash

Our Waldorf salad

Cabbage-Pineapple Salad

Waffles

French Toast

Prologue

A number of years ago, 2001 to be exact, my mother and I finally published her memoirs in the form of a cookbook. Together we sold some 700 copies in print form through meetings with women’s groups and local newspaper publications. The book is now out of print, as all the copies are sold. It is my pleasure to now publish these delightful stories of her early years on a farm in central Illinois, along with the recipes of family and friends. The picture on the front of this book is from Mother’s graduation from high school, just before she turned 18.

Linda Kay

INTRODUCTION

Wilma Weiland Diekhoff

In the summer of 2000 (August 15th to be exact), I began the delightful task of putting together this book. I had talked about writing my memoirs for years, and dreamed of having a book of my own. I am an avid reader, with no particular limitation as to fiction, non-fiction, biography, etc. For several years, my daughter, Linda, tried to get me to write, buying various help guides, and even furnishing me with a tape recorder and tapes. I did get lots of notes written down, and hope to put some of the more personal reflections together at another date. Last year Linda left her full-time job, and we began to get all these thoughts together.

My book has become a joy for Linda and I to pursue. Whatever other obligations we might have, Fridays were reserved for writing. We laughed until we cried, remembering people, situations and events. There are many people who will never know the joy of this mother-daughter bond, and we consider ourselves very lucky. We have supportive husbands, who encouraged us

I have gleaned some information from some old books Linda's husband, Jerry, found in the old farmhouse in South Dakota, when he helped his mother move into town. The first of these is The Victory Binding of the American Woman's Cook Book, Wartime Edition, edited by Ruth Berolzheimer, 1938, Butterick Publishing Company. The second book is a school book, used by Jerry's dad: Elements of Farm Practice, by A.D. Wilson and F W. Wilson, 3rd Edition, 1921, Webb Publishing Co. The third book is: Good Times on the Farm, by E. Ethel Cox Dietz, 1923, Newson and Company. They have been a great resource for my farming memories. I worked my way through stacks and stacks of recipes, and some of these, unfortunately, have no name to give credit where it is due. If I have omitted someone's name from an original recipe, please accept my apology. Some of the recipes were so vague, we had to cook or bake the recipe to see if we had everything included. Our ancestors obviously took some things for granted in writing the recipes down!

It's probably a good idea if we give you a little family history, as you will see some of these names appear in our book. I was born to John and Elizabeth Weiland on July 17th, 1919. Both of them were born in the United States, but their parents were from Germany. My sister, Dorothy (Aper), was two years older, and brother Don Weiland was born when I was 18 years old. All of us had an opportunity to visit the German home of our ancestors. I married Delmar Diekhoff on June 2, 1940, and we had four children; J. Daniel (Dan), Linda, Kevin Duane, and David Kurt. David now farms where Delmar and I farmed for many years. Dan is married to Judy Lanaghan, Linda is married to Jerry Christensen, Kevin is married to Cindy Tammeus, and David is married to Judy Goeken. There are ten grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Delmar was born in 1916 to John and Kate Diekhoff. John and Kate both came to this country from Germany as children. Delmar had one sister, Florence who was married to Ralph Cross. Ralph and Florence had two children, Phyllis (Stan Struebing) and Bob (married to Julie Harmsen). Sister Dorothy married Herman Aper, and they had three daughters: Karen (Ballard), Kay (Cross), and Lori (Thomas). Don married Glenna Ferguson, and they had three children: Michelle (McLean), Tammy (Norton), and Scott. Don and Herman and Dorothy are deceased, as are Florence and Ralph.

I grew up on an 80 acre farm near Hartsburg, Illinois, which is the setting for most of this story. Delmar also grew up on a farm, but near Delavan, Illinois. All farm ground in this area is rich and fertile, and families could make a decent life on the farm. With the German heritage, people were hard working, conservative, and maybe just slightly stubborn. This may be true of everyone in our family, except for Linda and I, of course. We have decided that we have broken the mold, and we are having a great time doing it!

A special thanks to all in our family who have encouraged me, as Linda and I worked on this book, offering suggestions and recipes to incorporate. But I especially want to thank Delmar (died 9/30/2001), who put up with us every Friday as we holed away in the back bedroom, monopolizing his computer, so he couldn't play solitaire.

You might also note that the recipes contained in this book have no pretense of controlling calories. Foods were prepared with rich butter and cream, sparing no flavor for the price of a few calories.

I just hope you enjoy reading and using the recipes as much as we enjoyed putting it all together!

God bless each of you,

Wilma Diekhoff (died 10/30/2003) and Linda (Kay) Christensen

SPRING

Spring is a new beginning. After spending the winter indoors most of the time, with shorter days of sunlight, everyone anticipates the sunshine and the budding of trees. The wild geese and ducks that had flown south for the winter could be seen in the skies flying in formation. As we write this book, I miss that sign of spring, as the winters are milder, and many of the geese never leave central Illinois. All the wild birds would begin making their nests in the rows of hedges that bordered the farm properties. Many of these hedges have now disappeared to make way for more ground to farm. David, the youngest of my children, and the farmer in the family, has dug out some of the hedges at the Delavan farm that my kids used to climb over when we had huge snowstorms. Ditches have been narrowed, eliminating some of the cover for the wildlife to nest.

When spring came, children could finally discard the heavy boots and scarves, the coats and the long underwear that had been a part of the long winter. Scarves were made of wool, hand-knitted and scratchy. Boots were rubber and slipped on over your shoes. I remember having to wear the long underwear, but when I went to school, I would pull the long pants up to hide them under my dress. Then when I went home, I would pull the legs back down and tuck them into my socks, so my mother wouldn’t know I had pulled them up while I was at school. I was embarrassed to have someone see the long underwear, even though everyone wore them.

Girls always wore dresses in those days. And my mother wore a long dress all the time. We wore button shoes, even to play outside. I always had a pair of dress shoes and a pair of play shoes, and they were always black or brown. Bonnets were worn whenever you were outside, or you had a straw hat to wear. Mom made arm covers out of old cotton stockings, to ward off the