Connecting Generations:
Fond Recollections of German-Russian Heritage, Traditional Family Recipes and Reminiscent Stories from Five Generations of Cooking with Mom

By Donna Erbele Iszler and Mya Iszler Mayer

Self-published by Donna Iszler and Mya Mayer, Bismarck, North Dakota, 2005, 100 pages, Softcover.

The Germans from Russia Heritage Collection is pleased to provide this impressive publication of family recipes and memories. Mya Mayer includes excellent graphics throughout the cookbook. The authors share interesting family memories including "Cooking with Mom"; "Baking Bread in the Good Old Days"; "Milking the Cows and Fresh Cream Bread"; "Churning the Butter"; "The Gate to Mother's Garden"; and "Our Dinner Table".

Donna Iszler writes: "My daughter, Mya was the catalyst to writing down and eventually creating this book our family's recipes, which seem second nature to us, as they are prepared regularly in our home. However, together we have found that more recent generations have lost a piece of their kitchen-heritage."

Mya Meyer comments: "I have been inspired by working along side my mother, Florence, in the kitchen. Helping her to prepare and cook some of the family's favorite German dishes and listening to her stories of cooking, preserving, preparing family meals with her mother before the days of electricity and other modern conveniences such as frequent trips to town has given me a great appreciation and understanding for the kitchen."

"We hope you enjoy reading and using this book as much as we had creating it. Smecks gut!"

Recipes include: Breads: 1) Sarah's Basic White Bread (Weiss Brot) Loaf Bread; 2) Florence's Bun Dough; 3) Crackled Wheat Bread; 4) Rye Bread (Schwartz Brot); 5) Homemade Starter Yeast; 6) Fry Bread (Brot Kuchen); 7) Bread Pudding (Brot Pudding); 8) Buttermilk Doughnuts; 9) Pancakes; Soups: 10) Borscht Soup; 11) Potato Soup (Grumbarasuppe); 12) Chicken Rice Soup; 13) Chicken Noodle Soup (Huehner Suppe); 14) Milk Noodle Soup (Milch Nudel Suppe); 15) Knoephla Soup; 16) German Egg Drop Soup (Einlauf Suppe); 17) Beef Noodle Soup; 18) Bean Soup (Bohne Suppe); Noodles & Spaetzle: 19) Erbele Egg Noodles; 20) Knoephla; 21) Spaetzle Dumplings; 22) Knoephla Potatoes & Sausage Skillet; 23) Schupf Noodle (Dampfnudel; 24) Baked Rice; 25) Chicken & Dumplings; 26) Cheese Buttons (Kase Knoephla); 27) Strudels; Main Dishes: 28) Stirum; 29) Bierishki (Oven Baked Fleischkuehla); 30) Mother's Savory Sloppy Joe; 31) Kraut Bundles; 32) Potatoes and Cabbage (Kraut Stumbus); 33) Pigs in the Blanket (Halupsy); Side Dishes & Salads: 34) Mother's Green Jell-O; 35) German Potato Salad; 36) Potato Salad Before Miracle Whip; 37) Mother's Calica Beans; 38) Baked Beans; 39) Garden Salad Dressing (Cucumber Salad); 40) Colesaw; Pastries & Cakes: 41) Five-Generation Rhubarb Custard Pie; 42) Sugar Kuchen; 43) Mother's Kuchen; 44) Kuchen Varieties; 45) Sarah's Old-Time Pie Crust (Piekruste); 46) Florence's Pie Crust; 47) Florence's Pumpkin Blachinda; 48) Apple Blachinda; 49) Five-Generation Apple Pie; 50) Donna's Apple Dumplings; 51) Mother's Apple Pastry Bars; 52) Old-Fashioned Molasses Cake; 53) Mother's Johnny Cake (Corn Bread); 54) White Cake (Suesserahmkuchen); 55) Mother's Crazy Cake (Chocolate Cake); 56) Angel Food Cake; Cookies & Bars: 57) Erbele Honey Buns; 58) Honey Cookie Frosting; 59) Molasses Cookies (Melassekeachla); 60) Giant Ginger Cookies; Sarah's Old Time Sugar Cookies; 61) Raising Cookies; 62) Date Filled Cookies; 63) Krispy Krunch Cookies; 64) Donna's Authentic Chocolate Chip Cookies; 65) Donna's Monster Cookies; 66) Sour Cream Raising Bars; 67) K-Flake Bars; Miscellaneous Treats: 68) Homemade Ice Cream (Hausgemacht Speise Eis); 69) Fudge Ice Cream Topping; 70) Whippies; 71) Scrapped Apples; 72) Homemade Chocolate Pudding; 73) Graham Cracker Mush; 74) Chamomile Tea (Kamillentee); 75) Divinity; 76) Homemade Root Beer; Christmas Traditions: 77) Donna's White Fruitcake; 78) Mother's Popcorn Balls; 79) Pfeffernuesse Cookies; 80) Mother's Holiday Stuffing; Preserved Foods: 81) Emma Refrigerator Pickles; 82) Mother's Pickles; 83) Pickled Watermelon; 84) Pickled Beets; 85) Chokecherry Jelly (Kirschagelee); and 86) Canned Beef Pork, Chicken, or Sausage.