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My great-grandmother, Nora Presnell Farnworth, created her own customized cookbook. We might even call it a smashbook today. She used the shell of an old book and inserted sections from cookbooks, newspaper clippings, and her own handwritten recipes. It is quite a treasure that we have inherited. 

Nora’s Cookbook

Nora’s recipe that I chose to share today is Rich German Stew.

Rich German Stew Recipe

[recipe]
Rich German Stew

3 lbs. beef chuck, cut in small pieces
3 large onions, diced
3/4 cup vinegar
8 or 9 cloves
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fat
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup cold water

Cover the beef with water and cook slowly, removing the scum as it appears, for 2 hours. Add onions, vinegar, cloves, and salt about an hour before meat is done. Melt fat in frying pan, add flour and brown. Pour cold water gradually, while stirring constantly. Add this to liquid of the stew for thickening. Just before ready to serve, add cream dumplings, made as follows:

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix and sift dry ingredients and add enough cream to make dough of consistency to drop from a spoon into the boiling stew. Let cook about 10 minutes and serve at once. Makes 6 or 8 servings.
[/recipe]


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