Picking apples is often a family affair. This year was special because our baby granddaughter, Keira, was a part of the process. She and her mom, Leanne, were visiting and her great-grandmother, Florence, also stopped by. While Florence rocked Keira to sleep in the shade, we all visited and Leanne and I picked apples.
It reminded me of stories my mother used to tell of her grandmother, who lived with them for a period of time. The family had a big garden with many fruit trees and lots of fun times with her mom, grandmother, brother and sister picking and processing the garden produce.
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One of the new apple recipes I tried this fall is apple gingerbread. My mom loved gingerbread and would serve it warm with fresh applesauce. I served it with fresh nectarines. I also tried it with some puréed fruit that you can purchase in individual fruit cups for lunches. I used a peach medley, which tasted good with the gingerbread.
Fresh apple gingerbread
1/2 cup butter 125 mL
2 large eggs
2/3 cup molasses 150 mL
2 cups whole wheat flour 500 mL
11/2 teaspoon baking soda 7 mL
1 teaspoon ground ginger 5 mL
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 mL
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 mL
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1 mL
1/3 cup milk 75 mL
11/4 cup peeled, grated apple 310 mL
Grease and flour a nine-inch (22 cm) square cake pan.
Cream butter, eggs and molasses well. Combine the dry ingredients and add alternately with the milk to the butter mixture. Stir in grated apple. Pour into the prepared pan and bake at 350 F (180 C) for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm, topped with sweetened whipped cream, fresh fruit or applesauce.
Source: Whole Foods for the Whole Family
Using fall fruits
In the fall when fresh fruits are plentiful, a fruit platz makes a good after-school snack, harvest dessert or lunch box snack. A platz is a German Mennonite dessert that is made on a cookie sheet. A thin cake batter layer is covered with fresh fruit and sugar and then topped with crumbs. My mother-in-law often made plum platz. The following is her recipe.
I made three different kinds of platz for a family gathering, but the plum and saskatoon berry seemed to be the favourites.
Fruit platz
1/2 cup cream (for a lower content use skim milk) 125 mL
1/2 cup sugar 125 mL
1 egg, beaten
11/4 cup flour 310 mL
1 teaspoon baking powder 5 mL
1/2 teaspoon vanilla 2 mL
Fresh fruit to cover the pan in a single layer. (plums, apples, blueberries, saskatoon berries, peaches etc.)
1/2 cup sugar 125 mL
2 tablespoon minute tapioca 25 mL
Crumb topping
1/2 cup brown sugar 125 mL
1/2 cup flour 125 mL
1/4 cup butter 60 mL
Grease a 17 x 12 x 1 inch (43 x 30 x 2 cm) cookie sheet.
Blend cream or milk and first amount of sugar, add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour and baking powder and mix to make a soft batter. Spoon onto the cookie sheet and spread with the back of the spoon to cover the pan. It will be a thin layer.
Cut the fruit in halves or quarters and remove the pit or cores. Place cut side down, close together to form a single layer on the dough. Mix the sugar and tapioca together and sprinkle over the fruit.
Combine the brown sugar and flour, then mix in the butter to form crumbs. Sprinkle on top of the fruit.
Bake in a 350 F (180 C) oven for 45 minutes.
Serve warm or cold. When cool, cut into squares and package for lunches. Freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Then store in an airtight container in the freezer.
When baking, you can reduce the amount of oil in the recipe by one third and replace this with an equal amount of prune purée, unsweetened applesauce or other unsweetened fruit purées. These could be baby food fruits, fruit snacks or your own pureed fruit.
Source: Simply Great Food
Wrinkles out
Dear TEAM: We purchased a number of tablecloths for our wedding reception. We could not get the wrinkles out from where they had been folded. Do you have any suggestions on how to remove these wrinkles? – E-mail reader
Dear reader: I washed the tablecloths using a fabric softener, rather than a detergent to relax the fabric. Then I ironed the tablecloths straight from the washer.
Produce safety
Washing fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of food-related illnesses.
Food can be contaminated by anyone who handles the food who is infected, from food supply workers to food service handlers.
To reduce the risk of infection, the Canadian Liver Foundation recommends:
n Always wash your hands before preparing food and after going to the bathroom.
n Soak all fruits and vegetables for one to two minutes in clean, fresh water.
n Clean your countertop, cutting boards and utensils with hot, soapy water after each use.
n Don’t forget that pre-packaged or frozen fruits and vegetables should also be well washed.
Source: www.liver.ca.
Farm and Home Safety Contest
A farm is a dangerous place to live and work and there are always things that can be done to make a home safer. What have you done to make your farm or home safer? We would like to hear from you. Send us your innovative ideas or a story about how your safety precautions made a difference.
Please send them to TEAM Resources at The Western Producer, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or team@producer.com by Oct. 15. We will review them and present prizes for the best safety idea or steps taken.
Top prize is a fully stocked emergency and first aid kit. Good luck.
Betty Ann Deobald is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@producer.com.
