July/August 2008

                Well readers I took a months vacation and now the Cannon is in business. www.hamptoncannon.org and you can read all the news about Hampton or all the links where you can find all the news.  Jane Cady, Martha Nelson and moi are trying to get it started.  It will have a counter to see how many hits we get.

        We have been busy peeling apples.  Roger Wildermuth from Osco has supplied me with apples for many years when the weather permits.  Well last Monday his old transparent apple tree blew down in the wide spread wind storm we had that day.  We peeled apples, froze apples, made apple butter and also made bread and butter, and dill pickles.  Brettun and Black’s Store is now stocked with all three. Of course you know the apple butter is the result of peeling so many apples.  We cook the skins and peels cook these with a little water to prevent sticking and then run them through a colander to make applesauce.  Then you measure 1 cup apple sauce to ½ c sugar.   I had 20 cups 10 cups of sugar, 3 T cinnamon, 1 T cloves and 1 can frozen apple juice concentrate.   Put this in a long aluminum pan in the oven at about 250 degrees and cook 8 hours stirring periodically.  Wash and sterilize jars and lids.  I use pints.  Then process in a hot water bath 10 minutes.  Now we have 28 pints of apple butter with 2 batches.  That was also about 6 gallon bags of peelings.

        I imagine all of you are going to reunions.  Our Cook reunion is August 10 which is my mother, Mary Ellen Cook McNeal’s 98th Birthday.  I discovered a neat dish for a reunion.  I like to cook the rump roasts from Fareway to take for this meal but the other day we were going to a picnic and I had already put my roast on when they canceled the  picnic.  So we sliced up the roast and put it in the freezer for the next week.  It was about a 5 lb roast.  The next week I took it out of the freezer the night before and defrosted it in the refrigerator. The next day I pulled all apart and put it in my crock pot and put one bottle of Famous Dave’s Barbeque  Sauce on it and about ½ can beef broth.  I buttered two bags of sandwich buns and took a bottle so small dill pickles.  Every one thought it was great.  I plan to take it on the 10th to the Cook reunion.

        If you make apple butter or apple sauce here are a couple of pies I have tried.  I liked the first rather than the second, maybe because it just looked better.  I also find if I am just making a single crust pie I will buy the already made crust in the dairy case.  If you make them in smaller aluminum pans you can squeeze out 3.  I put the crust in a pie pan and cut the excess off two of them.  Then I roll that crust for the third.

        PIONEER PUMPKIN APPLE BUTTER PIE

1 c cooked mashed pumplin

1 c apple butter

1 can 14oz can condensed milk

2 eggs beaten

½ t cinnamon

¼ t ginger, salt, nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice

1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell

Mix the spices with the pumpkin and apple butter.  Add beaten eggs and milk and stir well. Pour into shell.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes the reduce heat to 350 degrees for 35 minutes.  Serve with  whipped topping.

 

        APPLE SAUCE PIE

2 unbaked pie shells

1 – 1lb jar apple sauce

3 eggs beaten

1 t vanilla

1 c sugar

1/8 t salt

½ t cinnamon

¼ t cloves

1 stick butter or margarine

Combine spices with the applesauce and sugar.  Then add the eggs and melted margarine. Pour into shells and bake 325 degrees 30 to 40 minutes, also good with whipped topping.

         I hope you enjoy this method of delivery.  I will send this individually and you can read it also on jammingwithjane .com.