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2014


Old Hickory House Brunswick Stew

From: mike 
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2014 10:58 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Subject: Brunswick Stew

Uncle Phaedrus,

Would you have a specific recipe for Brunswick Stew made by the Old Hickory House chain?  

Thanks.

Michael 

Hello Mike,

I’m seeing Old Hickory House restaurants in at least three places, and there probably were more: Atlanta, GA (opened 1953 by Bill Black and son Jack), Charlotte, NC (opened 1957 by the Carter Family), and Tucker Georgia.

I had no success finding the actual Hickory House recipe for Brunswick stew.

This place in Boone, NC claims to have and serve the Hickory House recipe: Watauga Democrat

These folks offer recipes that they say are similar:

Original Brunswick Stew

Official Guide

Yahoo Answers

See also: Old Hickory House Brunswick Stew 2

Best I can do, Mike. Your best bet is to try to locate living members of the families that operated the restaurants. You might be able to get the recipe that way.

I’ll post this. You can never tell when a family member or former employee will respond.

Phaed


Polish Butter Cookies

From: Mary  
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2014 1:07 AM
To: Phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Subject: old and secret Polish butter cookies - Christmas butter cookies

Hello Uncle Phaedrus, 

When I was a kid (in the 70s) my aunt had a friend Rosie, who was a polish lady and she made the most 
delectable butter cookies for Christmas. I have searched for over 22 years for this recipe...no kidding.

I have made every butter cookie recipe under the sun and on the web, from books, everything in existence...
and I'm a pretty good baker, so yes, they're coming out good, but I cannot duplicate the taste of her cookies.

Here is what I remember:
1) She only made them at Christmas - so it's gotta be a Christmas butter cookie recipe.
2) They were pressed out of a press...wreathes pink...trees green.
3) I remember eating about a dozen cookies in one sitting at 8 years old and my aunt couldn't believe my 
appetite and said "Mary, you're gonna get drunk eating all those cookies."  And my aunt and Rosie were 
laughing and Rosie mentioned there was brandy in the cookies, or some type of liquor (can't be 100% sure she said brandy).
4) When I asked Rosie for the recipe, she guarded against this little 8-year-old like I was asking for a secret 
password to her life secrets.  She replied, "oh they're a lot of work and you have to boil the eggs and stuff."  
She wouldn't give it up.  And yes, believe or not I did bake when I was that little.  My mom used to let me stay home 
from school if I would bake something for her like an apple cake =).

Anyway, the cookies (I would think) also had to be a Polish recipe.
My parents are Polish, my family is Polish, from a Polish neighborhood in Chicago, Rosie was Polish, had a Polish husband.
It was like that back then in Chicago - everything and everyone in my world was Polish.

If you can find something it would complete a lifelong search.
Thanks!
Mary 
Arizona

Hello Mary,

There is a type of Polish Butter Cookie that calls for hard boiled egg yolks that have been passed through a sieve. See below and on these sites:

Ciasteczka

Polish Butter Cookies

These may be decorated in several different ways, including colored sugar, as you can see. I did not find any that specifically called for a cookie press or for brandy or other liquor, but these things would probably be optional anyhow.

Phaed

Polish Butter Cookies

1 c. butter or margarine
1 c. sugar
7 egg yolks--cooked, mashed, and sieved
1 tbsp. sour cream
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. almond extract
1 egg
1 tsp. milk
Finely chopped nuts, decorative sugar, poppy seeds, or cinnamon sugar*

  In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Stir in egg yolks, sour cream, flour, salt, and almond extract.  
Mix well and chill. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll chilled dough over floured cookie sheet or board until 
about 1/4-inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters and transfer to cookie pans. Mix beaten egg with milk and brush 
over cookies. Sprinkle with nuts, decorative sugar, poppy seeds or cinnamon sugar. Bake for 10 minutes or 
until golden brown.

*Make cinnamon sugar by mixing 1 cup granulated sugar with 2 tablespoons cinnamon.
-------------------------------
Polish Cookies
     
5 hard boiled egg yolks (sieved)
3/4 c. sugar
1 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg mixed with 1 tsp. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. flour, sifted
Cream sugar with butter. Stir in hard boiled egg yolks (sieved), vanilla and flour mixed with salt. 
Chill the dough.
Roll out dough on a floured cloth approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut into various small shapes. 
Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Glaze with beaten egg. Can be sprinkled with chopped nuts, 
poppy seeds and cinnamon sugar. Bake 12 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
========================================================================

thank you for the recipes. I had already made those a few times.
Unfortunately I don't remember her last name, so there is no way to look them up.
I appreciate your prompt reply. Thank you Phaedrus!

========================================================================
From: "Lisa" 
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Subject: 12-5-14 Edition Butter Cookies
Date: Thursday, December 11, 2014 9:30 AM

Hi Phaed,

My DH's family is Polish and Czech. His mother gave me a butter cookie
recipe that sounds like the one Mary was looking for. I have no idea if
it's from the Polish or Czech side of the family.

Christmas Cookies

3 hard-cooked egg yolks, pushed through a sieve
Rind of 1/2 lemon
1 pound (2 cups) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons brandy
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg white, lightly beaten
6 cups sifted flour
1-cup mixture of sugar and coarsely chopped blanched almonds
3 raw egg yolks

Put the 3 hard-cooked yolks through a fine sieve.
Cream butter and gradually add 1 1/2 cups sugar, stirring constantly until
light and fluffy.
Add the 3 strained yolks alternating with the flour and the raw yolks.
Knead the mixture with your hands until thoroughly blended, or until the
dough is smooth and easily handled.
Add the rind of 1/2 lemon and/or 2 teaspoons brandy and continue kneading.

Cookie Cutters
Chill the dough several hours, then roll as thin as possible.
Cut it with cookie cutters in as many fancy shapes as desired.
Brush each cookie very evenly with slightly beaten white of egg.
Sprinkle the tops with a mixture of 1 cup each sugar and blanched almonds
or walnuts, coarsely chopped.
Place them on a slightly floured cookie sheet

For the kids
Put dough in a cookie press and press on to a lightly floured cookie sheet.
You may need to add more brandy to make
it work in the cookie press
Have kids decorate with colored sugar and candy.

Bake at 350°F for 10 to 15 minutes,
or until delicately brown, removing each cookie as it is ready.

Enjoy,
Lisa
==================================================================

I'm going to bake them this weekend!
THANK YOU SO MUCH and tell your reader THANK YOU!
I'll let you know how they turn out.  I'm so excited I have goosebumps! Really


Black Walnut Cake Rolls

From: Ellen  
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2014 11:29 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com 
Subject: black walnut request

Hello Uncle, I just found your site, with great delight. Two days ago, at my local Kroger, 
I saw black walnuts for the first time ever. Then this morning, out of nowhere, my sister Judy, 
who lives in Texas, wrote asking me about a recipe our Mother used to make. Such a coincidence! 
While searching to find out some info. I ran across your site. I did not see any other references 
to my recipe on your site. I hope you can help me surprise my sister and gift me, from Michigan, 
with the recipe. 

What I remember is that the dessert was labor intensive, involving something like a little roll 
of a cake, maybe three inches long and less than an inch wide. (I think if might have been cut 
up from a larger cake). She must have dipped them in some solution, or perhaps frosted them in 
something to get the crushed black walnuts to stick. (They sure taste different than regular walnuts). 
We loved them and it seems as though I remember them being somewhat addictive. Due to the labor 
involved, my Mom only made them for a few years around the holidays. Since I was only a teenager, 
it never occurred for me to keep track of the recipe. 

All these years later, filled with nostalgia, and retired and having the time to fuss, I long for the recipe. 

Can you use your investigative talent to help me? 

Thank you in advance,
BEV

Hello Bev,

Sorry, I cannot find any sort of cake roll recipe with black walnuts. Closest that I can get are black walnut pinwheel cookies. Best I can do is post it on my site in case a reader can help. The rolling may have been a variation on a regular black walnut cake, but with no more information than that it had black walnuts I have no way to locate it. If these had a unique name that comes to yours or your sister’s memory, then that might help.

There are lots of black walnut recipes here: Black Walnut Recipes

Phaed


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