Tasting Wild Apples

An Easy Solution!

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Molten Chocolate Cakes With Raspberries

2 sticks butter

8 oz simisweet choc. chips

5 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

4 teas. flour

8 large paper muffin cups and large muffin pan

Melt butter and chocolate in medium bowl.  Beat eggs, sugar with hand mixer in another bowl until sugar dissoves.  Beat egg mixture into chocolate until smooth.

Beat in flour until just combined.

(Can be refrigerated at this point and returned to room temp. just before baking.)

Put tray in middle oven position and preheat to 450 degrees.  Line muffin tins with papers.  Spray papers with vegetable spray.  Divide batter among muffin cups.  Bake until batter puffs but center is not set.  (8-10 minutes for large muffing pans).  Pull papers away from cakes and place on dessert plates.

Top with sugared raspberries and serve immediately.

Another yum!

Pork Roast and Finger Noodles

I have to get this posted before I forget it!  It is a recipe I had lost for a few years and it needs to be passed on to further generations. 

The pork Roast is made with caraway seeds and usually served with sour kraut.  Use any roasting recipe to do your roasting.

Finger Noodles

Sift Flour, salt and Baking Powder  (1/2 c flour to 1.2 teas. baking powder and a pinch of salt)  Make as many as you wish.

Put dry ingredients in a bowl.  Make a hole in center.  Break two eggs or more and some boiling water until dough is of noodle consistency.  (Till you can handle it.)

Flour hands, and cut a walnut sized piece of dought.  Roll out until thick as a finger.  Lay on floured board 20-25 minutes.

Put margarine or butter in shallow baking pan.  Lay noodles in single layer, or two layers.  Pour boiling milk over to cover.  Bake in moderate oven till done. (45 minutes.)  Serve immediately.

Yum.

Christmas Pudding

Christmas Pudding (aka Plum Pudding) from Jeannie Nielsen Davis

                                                A.

4 slices bread, torn in pieces (I use Orowheat Wheatberry)

1 Cup prepared mincemeat (available in a big jar)

½ Cup Milk

                                                B.

2 eggs slightly beaten

1 Cup packed light brown sugar

¼ Cup Brandy (cheap, cheap)

4 oz (1 cup) very finely chopped suet or very cold, shredded butter

1 Tsp. Vanilla

                              C.

1 Cup Flour

1 Tsp. Baking soda

½ Tsp. Salt

2 Tsp. Cinnamon

1 Tsp. Ground Cloves

1 Tsp. Ground Mace

                                                D.

1-1/2 Cups Chopped Mixed Candied Fruits & Peels

1 Cup Raisins

½ Slivered Almonds

Brandy for basting. 

                                                F.

Bottled or Homemade Brandy Hard Sauce

                                    * * * ** * * ** * ** * ** * * ** * ** * *

Combine A in a large bowl.  Beat together.

Combine B in a separate bowl.   Stir B into A, mix well. 

In a separate bowl, thoroughly blend together C.   Add D to C and blend together.  Then, add this mixture to A&B and stir to mix well. 

Pour into a well greased 2 quart ‘pudding’ mold.  Cover (cover comes with the mold).  Place on a rack in a deep soup pot or kettle.  Add boiling water to kettle up to + or- 1 inch up the sides of the mold.  Cover the pot and simmer & steam for 3-1/2 hours, adding more boiling water when necessary. 

Remove from the pot and cool 10 minutes.  Unmold, cool and then wrap in foil and baste with T Tbsp. Brandy every day or so for ten days.

Serve with warmed brandy hard sauce.

Hungarian Butter Horns

This recipe can be used as a breakfast bread or a cookie - yummy either way!  From my husband's mother, Marie Petrovski

1.2 cake yeast (2 1/4 tsp.dry yeast)

2. 1/4 c sour cream

Mix 1 and 2 together and set aside

Blend together with a pastry blender until like course meal:

  2 c. flour

1/4 teas. salt

1/2 c butter

Add 2 egg yolks unbeaten to yeast mixture, then add this to flour mixture. Toss together with a fork and then knead to a dough. 

Filling

Beat together until frothy, 2 egg whites and 1/2 teas. vanilla. 

Add 1/2 c sugar and 1 teas. cinnamon. 

Beat until stiff.  Add 1.4 c. chopped nuts.

Roll out dough into 6-8 inch circles.  1/ 8 inch thick.  Use powdered sugar on your pastry board as needed to keep from sticking. 

Cut into wedges.  Add 1/2 teas. filling, roll into cresents.

Bake 375 degrees on lightly greased cookie sheet or parchment paper. (let stand to full yeast before baking).

Add powdered sugar frosting while hot.

Cobblers

Fruit Cobber

l cup of flour
l cup milk
l 1/2 tb. baking powder
l cup of butter melted in baking dish (That's what it says! I think I would cut down on this)
6 cups of fruit - sweatened as necessary
Bake at 350 until brown.

Raw Apple Cake

l egg
2 cups finely chopped apples
l cup flour
l cup white sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
l tsp vanilla
l cup chopped nuts

Blend ingredients as given. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to l hour.

French Chocolate Pie

The favorite pie recipe in our family. From Mother.

1 cup pecans (cut up)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 beaten egg yolks
1 1/2 squares chocolate, melted
1/2 teasp. vanilla
3 beaten egg whites

Cream butter and sugar, add yolks, chocolate and vanilla. Mix well. Add beaten whites and nut meats. Fold into batter.
1. Pour into a baked pie sheel and refridgerate. Serve cold. OR

2. Put mixture in pan between layers of crushed vanilla wafers.

Keep in refrigerator until served. It is not good war. It starts to melt and loses it's flavor.

From a restaurant in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Mama Walton's Ham Balls

Mama Walton and her family lived next door to us in Freeport, Illinois. Her hamballs were delicious. Great with escalloped potatos. Today the hamballs could easily be made in a food processor.

l pound of ham (smoked and ground)
1 1/2 pounds of fresh pork
2 eggs
l cup of cracker crumbs
l cup milk
Salt and pepper
Mix and shape into balls.

Sauce

l cup vinegar (use more if you so desire)
1/2 cup of water
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. mustard

Bring to boil Pour over hamballs and bake in a slow oven (325) for 1 1/2 hours.

Chicken and Dumplings

My Grandmother Matthews was not an ambitious cook. Cooking was something she was forced to squeeze in between feeding the chickens and plowing. She utilized any new timesaving item that the grocer offered - canned fruits, applesauce, custard etc. But when it came to chicken. Leahr Bullock Matthews shone like a rare Indiana jewel.

This is her recipe - changed to meet our modern requirements for lowfat.

1 chicken, legs and breasts, cut into serving size pieces. (Can also use only breasts or only legs.)
(If using skinned chicken you may want to add some instant chicken boullion flavoring.)

3-4 cups of chicken broth (Swansons, or homemade - whichever you prefer.)
2-3 cups of Flour
Salt and pepper
1 TBS parsley flakes
1 tsp. poultry seasoning

Stew chicken in broth. Add salt and pepper and seasoning to taste. Add water or extra broth as needed to keep the amount of liquid stable.

When chicken is tender remove it to a separate bowl or dish. While broth bubbling gently, place flour and additional salt and pepper into a separate mixing bowl. Make a depression in the center of the flour (As a child I always helped Grandma "Make the lake.") Ladle broth into the depression and with a fork stir flour into the liquid little by little until it makes a dough simililar to pie crust. Remove to a floured board and roll out to about a quarter inch thickness. Cut into 2 inch squares and using a spatula return them to the broth. Make another depression, add more broth and make more squares until you have as many dumplings as you want. Let them cook until they all return to the surface of the water.

In the meantime, remove the chicken from the bone and readd to the broth and dumplings. I sometimes add a tiny bit of white wine before serving, but Grandma never did that!!

Sugar Taffy

This recipe was from Gilbert C. Matthews, my grandfather. G.C. was no big help around the house, but at Christmas time he always made his favorite Sugar Taffy, and in my child's mind, it was absolutely delicious. Instead of chewy it almost melted in your mouth.

This is written from Grandpa's notes. Remember, use regular kitchen items as indicated - no special cooking utensils, please!

l Large size Teacup of granulated sugar.
l Lump butter size of a large walnut.
3 Tablespoonfull apple vinegar. Strong

Mix all together before putting on stove.
Do not stir while cooking or while taking up. Cook it but do not stir it. to a tuff gumball tried in water, then pour in butered plates till it can be handled with hands. Then start pulling all of it together. Let it ease thru fingers while pulling but do not squeeze it. This is the art in good taffy making.

Any coloring that you wish must be added in the first mix before cooking.
Flavoring is added after you start pulling.

Don't be disgusted if you fail. Remember practice means a lot in good candy making.