German Home Cooking

Due to my husband’s past career in the military, I have traveled extensively in the United States, from the tip of the north to the deep south. I have lived through record snow storms, sand storms, heat waves, and Hurricane Camille. I have met many wonderful people and sampled delicious food throughout the years; and learned how much German food is liked and appreciated by every American. Yet, one cannot find much information (if any) regarding "German cooking" in book stores.

For years I have been thinking of doing something about this, perhaps by putting only a small amount of my favorite recipes into print. However, I have discovered that to write a German cookbook, whether large or small, is quite an endeavor.

To translate a German recipe into English was not an easy task, not to mention the slight differential in measurement's, and/or weight. Most of my mother’s recipes, as well as my own, were formulated without actually measuring. The recipes consisted of "a little here and a dash there", and somehow they always came out very tasty. There was no scale or a measuring cup used for most recipes, only the utilization of our sixth sense in how to accomplish it. I am also not a professional Chef; just a plain German housewife, and hope my readers realize that my English my not be perfect, since I received my education mostly in Germany.

I realized, that my choice of cookbook would have to depend upon my own personal taste. In retrospect, all of my own recipes, which are the majority of recipes found within this book, and the inclusive recipes from friends in the United States, and relatives who live back home in Germany, had to be tested before consideration of placing them in this cookbook.

Most of my recipes are southern cooking and baking; some are so old, that only a few people, and/or bakeries still make them, if at all. However, I also included a few American recipes that I have learned to love, and cook quite often for my family. While these are not bona fide German recipes, they have been, and still are prepared by a German person.

Most German foods are high in fat and calories, but one can substitute ingredients with a lesser fat content. Use fat free cream cheese for all cheese cakes, except cheese torte. Cool Whip can be used instead of whipping cream, except for cheese torte, ice coffee, etc. Use low fat sour cream, and a little less oil with vinegar and oil salad dressings. Light mayonnaise may be substituted for some of the potato and macaroni salads. Use a vegetable oil and flour spray, such as Bakers Joy, instead of the grease and flour method. For many dishes, one can use Pam for fat free cooking. Gravy mixes are also available fat free, and are found in grocery stores. However, when making butter cream, do not substitute with an off brand butter; use only the best sweet butter, such as Land O Lakes, for this butter cream is very tricky to make, but "oh", so good.

I am hoping, that these few German recipes will bring a lot of enjoyable eating into many homes. However I would like to remind my readers, that no recipe formulation is finite, and that almost every dish comes in a variety of many versions. German recipes are no exception. Not everyone has the same tastes for different foods. However, if my readers take pleasure in only one percent of these recipes, then my book was worth writing for their enjoyment.

For your convenience, I have written the Index in both German and English, so each recipe may be found easily. However, true stories and memoirs following some recipes are not listed under the Index.

Guten Appetit,

Maria M. Swaringen