As was common for farm people, breakfast was a big meal at the Apps home. We got up at five thirty—even earlier in summer—to do the morning milking and barn chores, and by the time we came back into the house around seven, we were hungry. The breakfast menu varied with the seasons, with heavier fare, such as pancakes fried in bacon fat, in the winter, and lighter meals, like cornflakes with fresh strawberries, in summer. My parents drank black coffee with breakfast, as they did with every meal, but we kids weren’t allowed to have it until we were twelve or so.
Ma toasted slices of homemade bread on a toaster that required no electricity and stood directly on the warmest part of the cookstove. Sometimes, if the fire was down a bit and only coals remained, she removed a stove lid and replaced it with the toaster, which speeded up the toasting process considerably. The toaster, constructed of metal, was shaped like a pyramid, and would toast four slices of bread at a time. The slices had to be turned when the side facing the toaster was properly browned.
Toast made over the open coals had a very special taste, as the flavors of the homemade bread merged with those of the oak smoke. When the toasted bread was ready, we smeared it thick with butter and homemade jam—especially strawberry jam for me.
We usually had as many as a hundred chickens, and that meant we always had plenty of eggs. They were one of Ma’s regular sources of income, which she spent on groceries, Christmas presents, and clothes for my brothers and me. But of course we also ate plenty of them. We all liked eggs—fried, sometimes poached, and occasionally hard-cooked. Fried eggs were a staple along with fried potatoes for breakfast. Seldom did Pa miss a day when he ate at least two of them. He always buried his fried eggs in a coat of black pepper. Pa liked pepper. When we helped Ma set the table for a meal, we made sure that the pepper shaker was in front of his place. There was a salt shaker, too, but as I recall we rarely used it, as Ma had already salted the food that required it before putting it on the table. Besides, many of the foods we ate used goodly amounts of salt in their preparation: sauerkraut, dill pickles, and smoked meats.
On winter weekends we had a little more time in the mornings, and when it was ten below zero and the snow was waist deep, Ma usually made a special breakfast. Of course, on most winter weekends, on top of the barn chores, we shoveled snow and cut or split wood for our ever-hungry woodstoves. During heavy snowfalls the shoveling never seemed to stop, as we had to make sure paths were cleared from the house to the barn, from the barn to the pump house, from the pump house to the house, from the house to the chicken house, from the chicken house to the barn, from the granary to the barn and the chicken house, and from the house to the outhouse.
Herman Apps and neighbor Louis Miller shoveling after a big snowfall
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Dash of nutmeg or cinnamon
In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add buttermilk and then melted butter. In a different bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg or cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to the milk mixture and stir until just moistened. The batter will have lumps.
Lightly grease a griddle or skillet with butter or bacon fat and heat over medium heat. To test the griddle, sprinkle with a few drops of water. If the water drops sizzle around, the griddle is hot. Pour batter onto the griddle. Cook pancakes until they form bubbles and puff up. Turn and cook other side until golden brown.
6 medium white or red potatoes
2 tablespoons shortening or vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
Wash potatoes. Leave skins on and remove any eyes with a potato peeler. Cut into slices. Heat shortening or oil in a skillet until melted. Layer potato slices and onions, if using, in bottom of skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Continue layering potatoes. Dot butter on the top. Carefully turn potatoes while cooking so all sides brown.
Fried Eggs
Heat butter or bacon drippings in heavy skillet until hot enough to sizzle a drop of water. Break egg and slip carefully into the skillet to avoid breaking the yolk. While cooking, spoon butter over the egg until it sets for a “sunny-side-up” egg. Or, turn the egg over gently when whites are set for an “over-easy” egg.