Introducing Georgia’s Kitchen

Georgia Diehm

Keota, Iowa – I was blessed to inherit my Mother, Georgia Diehm’s recipe box. It was crammed with old recipes dating back to pioneer days & the Great-Depression era. I appreciate the fact that most of them use basic, simple ingredients.

I would like to honor her by sharing them with you.

This may be helpful for people who are struggling to make ends meet in today’s tough economy. Some of them will sound funny because some ingredients are rare or cannot be found on the market today. If you’re interested in trying them, you can change them to use similar ingredients. Just use your imagination.

I try to use less sugar or a more nutritious sweetener such as Stevia. I’ve also gone from using white flour to using more whole-grain flours.They really are much healthier. I hope you enjoy these recipes for fun and nostalgia’s sake…..

Milkless, Eggless, Butterless Cake

Boil together 3 min.

• 1 cup brown sugar,
• 1 cup water,
• 1/3 cup oil or lard,
• 1 cup seedless raisins,
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, and 1 tsp cinnamon.

Cool thoroughly. Add 2 cups flour sifted with 1/2 tsp each baking powder, soda & salt. Bake in 8×8 square pan in a moderate oven (350) 35 min.

Note: In my opinion lard is healthier then hydrogenated oils & shortening sold on the market today. You can still purchase lard at most grocery stores. The key is moderation.

Brunswick Stew (1880)

• 2 squirrels, 3 if small,
• 1 qt of peeled & sliced tomatoes,
• 1 pt butter beans or limas,
• 6 potatoes, parboiled & sliced,
• 6 ears of fresh corn cut from cob,
• 1/2 lb butter,
• 1/2 lb fat salt pork,
• 1 tsp ground black pepper,
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper,
• 1 gallon water,
• 1 tbs salt,
• 2 tsp white sugar,
• 1 small minced onion

Put on the water with the salt in it & boil 5 min. Put in the onions, beans, corn, pork(or bacon). Cut into shreds potatoes. Add pepper & the squirrels which must first be cut into joints & laid in cold water & salt to draw out blood. Cover closely & stew very slowly for 2 1/2 hrs. stirring frequently from the bottom. Then add tomatoes & sugar & stew 1 hr. longer. 10 min before you take it from the fire add the butter, cut into bits the size of walnuts and rolled in flour.