Before you ever learn her story, the woman in this photograph already feels familiar to anyone who has visited Historic Reher’s Bakery. Sadie Reher, born in 1905 and one of nine siblings, grew up in the building that housed both the family’s home and their bustling bakery.
While most of her brothers and sisters spent their days downstairs shaping dough and serving customers, Sadie’s contributions took place a floor above. She wasn’t fond of the bakery work itself, but she kept the household running: cooking, cleaning, and caring for her family in the apartment that overlooked the shop.
Among the things she left behind is an extraordinary collection of recipes: handwritten instructions, clipped notes, and ingredient lists gathered over a lifetime. Like many American kitchens in the early and mid-20th century, Sadie’s cooking drew from more than one source.
Her repertoire was a blend of dishes passed down through her immigrant family, favorites shared by neighbors, and new ideas discovered in the booming world of cookbooks and women’s magazines. These printed resources were part of how home cooks experimented, adapted, and built something distinctly their own. Together, Sadie’s saved recipes reflect this mix–both familiar and newly adopted, both inherited and inspired. They offer one of the clearest windows we have into her daily life.
With the holiday season just around the corner, it feels like the perfect time to revisit the dishes that once filled the Reher home with warmth. Whether you follow Sadie’s recipes exactly or simply draw inspiration from them, we hope they bring a little extra comfort and tradition to your own celebrations.
Jelly Roll
Ingredients: Yolks two eggs; one cup sugar; 6 tbsp boiling water; 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract; 1 cup flour; 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon salt; whites of 2 eggs.
Beat the egg yolks until lemon colored; add slowly half the sugar; Beat. Stir in the boiling water; then gradually the rest of the sugar; lemon extract.
Sift flour, baking powder, salt; whip egg whites; mix the flour mixture into dough; fold in the beaten whites. Pour into shallow pan – bake 25 minutes.
Orange filling:
Ingredients: half cup sugar; two and 1/2 to 2 tablespoons flour; few grains of salt; grated rind of one orange; 1/4 cup orange juice and pulp; 1 teaspoon lemon juice; one egg slightly beaten; one tablespoon butter
Have the water hot in the lower part of the boiler.In the top place the sugar, flour, few grains of salt and mix. Stir in the orange and lemon juice. Beat and add the slightly beaten egg; adjust the double boiler parts.Cook the mixture constantly for ten minutes in the boiler. When it begins to thicken add the grated orange rind; take from the fire + beat in the butter. Let cool.
Egg Nog
Ingredients: 6 eggs; sugar; milk; bourbon; rum; nutmeg
Beat separately the yolks and whites of 6 fresh eggs. Add 1/2 cup of sugar to yolks while beating and 1/4 cup of sugar to whites after they have been beaten very stiff.
Mix egg whites with yolks. Stir in 1 pint of rich cream and 1 pint of milk. Add 1/2 pint of Four Roses bourbon and 1 ounce of Jamaica Rum. Stir thoroughly.
Serve very cold with grated nutmeg.
Hamantaschen Dough
Ingredients: 1 qt milk; 2 ½ cups sugar; 3 eggs; ¾ lb butter; 3 oz. yeast; vanilla; salt
1-1 ½ inch min. [circles of dough] is enough.
Pineapple Coconut Cake
Ingredients: ½ cup Crisco; 1 cup sugar; ½ teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon lemon flavoring; 2 eggs; 2 cups cake flour; 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder’ ¾ cup milk
Blend Crisco, sugar, salt, flavoring and eggs. Add alternately sifted dry ingredients and milk. Pour into two greased 8 inch layer bans. Bake 30-35 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool. Put layers together with pineapple filling. Cover top and sides of cake with icing.
Pineapple Filling
Ingredients: cornstarch; sugar; crushed pineapple; lemon juice
Mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch with ½ cup sugar; add 2 cups crushed pineapple (juice and fruit) and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Cook slowly until thick and clear. Save ½ cup of filing to decorate top of cake.
Frozen Dough Cake
Ingredients: 2 eggs; 1/4 lb butter; 1 glass milk (or half sour cream and milk); 3/4 glass sugar; 2 teaspoons baking powder; flour as much as it takes to handle, not too stiff. [additional ingredients: jelly, crushed nuts, raisins, coconut]
Make at night and put in refrigerator. Roll out dough, spread jelly, crushed nuts, raisins and coconut. Roll, cut one inch wide. (Stand up like sugar buns.)
Lemon Allspice Cake
Ingredients: 1/4 cup shortening; 1 cup sugar; 1 egg; 3/4 cup milk; 2 cups flour; 2 teaspoons baking powder;1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon lemon extract.
Cream shortening and sugar, add egg; add milk alternately with dry ingredients. Add extract; pour into greased pan 8×8×2.
Walnut topping
Ingredients: sugar; allspice; one lemon; walnut
Sprinkle batter with 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind, 1/2 cup broken walnut meats. Bake 50 min.
We are so grateful to have so many of Sadie’s recipes preserved in our collection to share with our community and hope that you will share some of her creations with your loved ones.
Thinking of trying out any of these recipes (or one of the many others in our collection)? We would love to see a photo and hear how it worked out for you! If you share your baked masterpiece on Facebook or Instagram, you can tag us or direct message us at @rehercenter. Or, shoot us an email at info@rehercenter.org.
