Secret RecipesHi! I'm Laura Emerich and Gloria Pitzer, the ORIGINAL Secret Recipe Detective, is my mom. This website is lovingly dedicated to her memory and legacy.
SAILORMAN’S FRIED CHICKEN By Gloria Pitzer As seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 96). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).] INGREDIENTS: DRY COATING MIX: 3 cups self-rising flour 1 cup cornstarch 3 […]
AUNT JENNY’S 8-INCH FUDGECAKE By Gloria Pitzer As seen in… The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes (Secret Recipes, St. Clair, MI; June 1997, p. 4) CAKE INGREDIENTS: 1 cup sugar 1 cup flour ½ cup water ½ cup Spry [or Crisco] (or 1 stick margarine) 2 TB dry, unsweetened cocoa 3 TB buttermilk (or sour […]
BASKET & RIBBONS – STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM By Gloria Pitzer As seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 252). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).] INGREDIENTS: 3 egg yolks 14-ounce can, sweetened, condensed […]
FRIED CHICKEN, LIKE FRANKENMUTH BY GLORIA PITZER As seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 94)… [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]* The German community of Frankenmuth, Michigan, which for decades has celebrated […]
GRIDDLECAKES AND SYRUP, LIKE PANCAKE HOUSE – BY GLORIA PITZER As seen in… The Original 200 Plus Secret Recipes (Secret Recipes, St. Clair, MI; June 1977, p. 32). INGREDIENTS: 2 eggs 2½ cups buttermilk 3 TB oil ½ tsp salt ½ tsp vanilla ½ tsp baking soda 3 TB pancake syrup (*see homemade version below) […]
Happy Monday and happy February Eve! Personally, I always look forward to Mondays because they are my 52 Chances each year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with you! #TheRecipeDetective #NationalMentoringMonth It’s the last day of January. The final day for observing (among other things)… National Mentoring Month! Thankfully, mentoring can […]
TEXAS FRUITCAKE BY GLORIA PITZER As seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 279)… [A rewrite of her famous, self-published cookbook, Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]* Legend has it that Puddin’ Hill has the best-darn fruitcake […]
SATURDAY BREAD DOUGH & WEST VIRGINIA BREAD Both, by Gloria Pitzer [*As seen in… Eating Out At Home Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Sep. 1981, 12th Printing, p. 24).] Grandma and the five girls were up at 4 AM to begin the baking each Saturday. Here is her bread recipe in her own words […]
MY MOTHER’S PERFECT PIE CRUST By Gloria Pitzer *As seen in her self-published book… The Copycat Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Oct. 1996, 12th printing; p. 73) INGREDIENTS: 2 cups flour 2 tsp sugar ½ tsp salt ¼-lb chilled butter, broken into bits 5 TB Crisco About 5 TB cold tap water (added as […]
STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM By Gloria Pitzer Please, don’t ask me to use pectin if I don’t have to! Give me the simple life – even in the kitchen. I found that there is enough natural pectin in rhubarb that you really don’t have to use the powdered or liquid pectin to equal a very dignified […]