Bucks County Crumb Cake

A few weeks ago we went to a used book sale at my children's school.  I was so excited to find a couple of vintage cookbooks there.   One of them is "Bucks, the Artist's County, Cooks".  It is a compilation of  recipes from The Woman's Auxiliary Trinity Chapel of Solebury, PA.  It was created in an effort to raise funds for the enlargement of their chapel.  The first printing was in 1950.

I love the variety of recipes in this book.  Some are Pennsylvania Dutch, some are regional, a few are Southern-influenced, and all most all use traditional ingredients.  A little bit of everything!

There is even a chapter on pickles and preserves.  I can't wait until this summer.  I am going to try and make some bread and butter pickles and peach preserves.  Yum!  The following poem is in this section.  I thought it was cute.

Preserving Children

Take one large grassy field,
1/2 dozen children, 3 small dogs,
and walk along a narrow strip of brook, pebbly if possible. 
Mix the children with dogs and empty them into field,
stirring constantly. 
Sprinkle the entire with daisies and buttercups,
pour brook gently over pebbles,
cover all with a deep blue sky
and bake in hot sun for several hours. 
When the children are thoroughly browned,
they may be removed. 
They will be found right and ready
for setting away to cool in the bathtub.

The first recipe we made from this cookbook was a crumb cake.  It turned out perfectly!  It was literally devoured in 2 days.

The Best Crumb Cake Ever