Tasting Wild Apples

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.

Family Treasure

Yesterday I opened a cupboard and found my mother's recipes. I had forgotten all about them and going through the scribbled notes, pieces of paper napkin, restaurant placemats on whichmother had scribbled her notes, I realized what a treasure trove of delicious smells and tastes from the past that these scraps afforded.

Little by little I will add recipes from my mother and my grandmothers (and one from my grandfather Matthews to this blog. Feel free to try them and understand that some old tastes are still good.