Verla Mikklesen Marx Recipes ~~~ (Favorites From Her Mother)

Pickle Season ~ from Alice Peel Hafen's Cookbook

From Alice Hafen's Recipe File

Alice P. Hafen Carrot Cake

3/4 Cup Oil - 1/4 Cup pineapple juice

2 Cups of sugar

3 eggs

2 Cups shredded carrots

2 tsp. vanilla

1 small can of crushed pineapple juice (drained 1 cup)

1 tsp. cinammon

1 Cup choppd nuts

1 Cup raisins or dates

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. soda

3 Cups of flour

Beat oil, sugar and eggs, add carrots, pineapple.

Sift dry ingredients and add to first mixture

Add vanilla, nuts, raisins

Bake in 9x13 pan that has been greased and floured

Bake at 350 degrees  for 45 minutes

Carrot Cake Icing

4 ounces of cream cheese (room temperature)

1 square of margarine or butter

2 Cups of confectionary sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 to 2 tbs. of milk

Mix til smooth and spread on cooled cake

Keneflei and Flapjacks

Starch Cake ~ Anna Gunderson ~ Saga of the Sanpitch 1976

Starch Cake, made by my mother-in-law, Cecilia Gunderson was as traditional for mothers with new babies in Mt. Pleasant as turkey is for Thanksgiving.

As soon as she heard of a new baby in town or someone being sick, she popped a cake in the oven walked miles to deliver.

Making a cake in those days was work; especially a starch cake, for which you had to make your own potato starch and supply your own eggs.  The day of the cake making started out by building a good hot fire in the kitchen range with wood and coal.   The ingredients consisting of 8 eggs, 1 1/2 cups of sugar, and 3/4 cup of potato starch were carefully measured out on the big round table in the center of her kitchen.  First, she would separate the egg whites and beat them with a hand beater until they were stiff.  Next, she beat the egg yolks with a wire spoon until light and fluffy.  Then the sugar was added very slowly and beaten until the granules were dissolved.  The potato starch was also sprinkled in slowly, and last of all the egg whites folded in gently.

The thick fluffy batter was poured into a 16 inch dripper and placed in the hot oven for 10 minutes or more.  As the heat had to be reduced gradually, she would use a small fire shovel and lift the hot coals out of the firebox until it was the temperature she wanted.  In about an hour the golden brown cake was removed from the oven with tender crust that took the place of a good frosting.

Her cakes, which she sold for $1.00 each, were also in great demand for parties, weddings, birthdays, clubs, and banquets.

As I watched and helped her make hundreds of cakes, I learned the art of making starch cake, which has become a tradition in our family as well.  Whenever I have club or the family comes home, they expect to have "starch cake", just like my mother-in-law used to make.  Although I bake it in an electric oven with a glass window and can regulate the heat with a little knob, I have never improved on the texture and beauty of her cakes.

Tamales

Tamales

2 med. sized onions, sliced thin  
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs. chili powder
2 1/2 Cups tomato juice
6 Cups boiling water
2 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbs chili powder
2 Cups yellow corn meal

16 oz package of dried corn husks (optional) softened by soaking in water (optional)

Brown beef.  add onion and garlic and brown slightly.  Ad 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 Tbs. chili powder and tomatoes. Cook slowly for 1 1/2 hours.

Make a mush of cornmeal, water, 2 ts. salt, 1/2 Tbs. chili powder.  Cook 15 minutes, then let cool.
Grease strips of aluminum foil; (or use the corn husks that have been softened)   Pat out the cornmeal on the foil.  Place the meat mixture in the center and roll as for a tamale.  Store in a cool place until ready to use. Tamales then can be heated in the oven or in a steamer.