This is a compilation of recipes handed down over generations and collected by my great grandmother, who immigrated to America in the early 1900s. These are traditional recipes from the turn of the century. Many were handwritten in old German script. Some were clipped out of German language newspapers and some came from American newspapers. All were written or pasted into an old ledger. It is easy to imagine Christmas in Europe during the late 1800s with these gingerbread and lebkucken recipes. Baking was a large part of the tradition, including cakes, nut breads and biscuits. The ledger is full of tips from how to turn forty cents worth of milk into a dollar twenty-five worth of cheese to how to make beer and soap. Read along and enjoy the history and culinary heritage of old Europe.