The Frau Erica Texts
An index of biographies, memoirs, histories, recipes, and oddments The Frau Erica Project has lots of text files — long and short, English and German — all of them linked from the appropriate family pages. That means, however, that some readers might not discover things of interest that are available elsewhere on the site. This index gathers most of those text files, sorts them by genre, and provides links (usually a name). Style point: The Frau Erica archive tries to use birth names for everyone. Authors are listed here by birth name, sometimes with married name appended after a slash. Adelheid Nickel, for example, is alphabetized under ”Mueller/Nickel, Adelheid.” Frau Erica herself, mother of many Muellers, appears under the Rickmeyer name. There are 93 of these text files in the archives. To narrow your search, select: Biography | Memoir | History | Literary Work | Letters | Recipes | Oddments || All Files
Recipes
Bigelow McMillan, Molly Nana's 100-Year-old Fruitcake
Molly McMillan — Nana to most generations — sent fruitcake to family members every Christmas. Her handwritten recipe credits the <em>Minnesota Centennial Cookbook</em> as a starting point but includes her own refinements. Where the original called for two cups of water, Molly replaced a half cup of the water with an equal amount of scotch or bourbon. Rickmeyer/Mueller, Adelheid (Frau Erica) Frau Erica’s cookbook: Sauerbraten
There are countless variations on the sauerbraten theme, from chopped celery to stewed raisins, and many German families have their own recipes. This is Frau Erica’s. Rickmeyer/Mueller, Adelheid (Frau Erica) Frau Erica’s cookbook: Johann im Sack
This giant dumpling recipe, also known among older family members as “<em>Johann im Sack</em>,” comes from Frau Erica’s <em>Deutsch-Amerikanisches Kochbuch</em>. Rickmeyer/Mueller, Adelheid (Frau Erica) Frau Erica’s Cookbook: Twenty Recipes for Catsup
These recipes come from a chapter on <em>Scharf gewürzte, eingekochte Beigüße</em> — Sharply spiced, cooked sauces. Rickmeyer/Mueller, Adelheid (Frau Erica) Frau Erica’s cookbook: Biskuit oder Schwammkuchen
Official Mueller gatherings were never complete without a dense yellow sponge cake, often served with berries or other fruit. The Muellers called it <em>Eierschwer</em> (egg-heavy) because the recipe listed its ingredients based on the exact weight of the eggs. From the <em>Deutsch-Amerikanische Kochbuch.</em> Succotash Succotash, an American Heirloom
The original Succotash was a dish made by native people for the first Thanksgiving. It was likely a combination of corn and dried beans (succotash) cooked in bear grease. Ziesemer/Nickel, Margaret Heppen, a German soul food
The Muellers styled themselves as sophisticated immigrants; the Nickels were straightforwardly blue-collar. The Nickels made <em>Heppen</em>, a pickled melange of organ meat with excellent keeping qualities — South Milwaukee’s answer to chitterlings and collard greens. Ziesemer/Nickel, Margaret Sauerhecht: Not quite herring in wine sauce
A <em>Hecht</em> is a pike or pickerel. A <em>Sauerhecht</em> is a pickled pike. H.C. Nickel prepared a batch at Melahn’s Resort on Lake George in northern Minnesota, to a mixed reception. His brothers-in-law, the Rev. Herbert Mueller and the Rev. Gerhard Mueller, ate it with great relish. Children left the cabin. | 
