Orchard FreshWritten by Arleen M. Kaptur
A few apple-delicious facts: Two pounds of apples make an excellent 9" pie. Apples are fat, sodium and cholesterol free. It takes an apple three four to five years to produce its first fruits - no wonder they taste so great! ********************************* A bowl of beautiful red, yellow, and green apples will enhance your home with color, aroma and a delicate appearance. Run a pretty fall ribbon through bowl or basket that contains your apples or even tie a pretty raffia ribbon at base. Apples in bushels outside on steps, porches, decks, etc. add a nice "atmosphere" of fall to your decor. Dried apples strung on a tree give a treat to our fine feathered friends as wel as a festive look to an area. Intertwine with dried oranges, cranberries, dried berries, and you have an autumn garland. ****************************** Dippin'apples: 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts (optional) 1 tsp. vanilla Cream all ingredients together. Serve with crisp apple slices.
| | A Sprinkling of Magical DustWritten by Arleen M. Kaptur
As Holidays approach, cooks everywhere have visions of "perfect" pumpkin pie or most "mouthwatering" beef roast or turkey sitting on a platter that has been used for generations. The tender crowning glory meal entree was also prepared in a roasting pan that "can do no wrong." It has, and it will make you proud no matter what you decide to make as main course. It's very same with baking. You may have twenty wooden spoons in a drawer but you inevitably reach for one particular wooden spoon when there is that every important task to do. Holiday baking, whether pies, cookies, or tortes, requires a special spoon, or pan that you know will turn an everyday dish into a Holiday entree. Is it coincidence or is there truly magical dust that takes over and assures most delicate pie crusts, wonderfully moist roasts and fowl, or assorted cookies that you could just die for? Of course, your skill or talent would never enter into picture. The fact that there is always a bit of extra effort because it is Holidays is certainly not a component. It will, now and always, be grandma's favorite turkey platter, that old, dented, but trustworthy pie plate, and that wonderful-to-hold in your hand wooden spoon that has been you through thick and thin. We all relish things that are comfortable to us, that represent success in bygone attempts at impressing relatives and friends. Childhood memories of perfect crusts, pies, coffeecakes, and meals will be in back of our minds each Holiday as we whip, blend, and stir. Definitely there is a lot to be said that cooks, and bakers, like artists and writers, need that nudge of trust and dependability in tools of their trade. A story is just a bit better because you sat in your lucky chair and wrote notes with pen that your son/daughter gave you one Christmas Eve long ago. Yes, it was sprinkled with some "angel" dust and yes, it has powers that, in your hand, will give you confidence and ability to create treasures once again.
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