I recently attended a homecoming tea for Hughton, Sask. Although the celebration was held in Elrose, this homecoming tea was for the Hughton community women. What a time we had.
When I was a child, I attended a two room school in Hughton with four grades in each room. Our grade had only five people for most of those first four years. At least one person from each of the five families attended the tea.
My mother and sister were with me as well, and it was even more exciting to see some of the older students and their mothers there.
Read Also
Starting a small business comes with legal considerations
This article sets out some of the legal considerations to start a business to sell home-grown product, such as vegetables, herbs, fruit or honey.
It was such a heart-warming event, with women sharing stories of the history of the homemakers clubs, forerunners of the women’s institutes, what it was like when they joined the group and what it meant for them to be members.
That club meeting one afternoon a month was the only time some of the women gathered. They usually took turns hosting the meetings. Often the men would drive them to the meetings or look after the children at home. How times have changed, and how important a role this group played in our provinces when information was less available.
At the tea, the women laughed at stories from the past. They remembered how one woman used to hang her laundry out Sunday night so it was the first laundry out in the morning, and then used the binoculars to see who was next.
The women laughed at the taste of the pies they made for the sports days after a gust of wind left dust on the meringue. A daughter described how the homemaker group was like a community raising a child in a safe and warm environment.
On a more serious note, another woman told us of recently reading letters written by her uncle during the war years describing what was happening.
We wandered about, visiting and looking at old pictures and souvenirs of days gone by.
Local ladies in the group had painstakingly created ribbon, open-faced, and roll-up
dainty sandwiches to serve with the sweets for the tea. It was a gentle time of recollections and I will treasure that afternoon spent reliving the past.
Alberta’s centennial cookbook
Alberta’s centennial year is also the year Atco celebrates 75 years of service to Alberta
households, so it published a new cookbook, 100 Favourites Celebrating a Century of
Cooking in Alberta.
The book will sell for $10 at the Atco Blue Flame Kitchen, Atco Gas and Atco electric
offices in Alberta, or $10 plus shipping and handling when calling 800-840-3393. In person, one can also purchase a $5 bottle of Reunion Rub, a blend of spices that contains no MSG, sugar, or food additives, and will add zest to just about anything cooked on the grill.
Parmesan onion biscuits
We enjoyed these biscuits with our lentil soup. They are a delicious take on a traditional baking powder biscuit.
2 cups flour 500 mL
4 teaspoons baking powder 20 mL
3/4 teaspoon salt 3 mL
1/3 cup butter, chilled 75 mL
1/2 cup freshly grated 125 mL
parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped 30 mL
green onion
3/4 cup milk 175 mL
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Mix in parmesan cheese and onion. Stir in milk, just until combined. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently five times.
Roll out dough into a four x 10 inch (10 x 25 cm) rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 10 squares. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake at 400 F (200 C) for 15 minutes or
until golden brown. Makes 10 biscuits.
Layered camembert
Spring and summer are a popular time for wedding, shower and graduation parties. Recently I was at such an event and enjoyed this decadent looking and tasting appetizer.
4 oz. small round of camembert 125 g
cheese
4 oz. block of cream cheese, 125 g
softened
1 tablespoon orange juice 15 mL
2 tablespoons sliced almonds 30 mL
2 tablespoons seedless 30 mL
red grapes, sliced
Cut cheese round in half horizontally. Mash cream cheese in small bowl. Stir in orange juice. Add almonds and grapes. Mix well. Spread all but one tablespoon (15 mL) cream cheese mixture over bottom layer of cheese round.
Place top layer of cheese round over top. Spread remaining cream cheese mixture over top. Serves eight to 10.
More about vinaterta
Dear TEAM: In your May 19 issue of the Producer, M.K., Regina, was asking for a recipe for vinaterta (layered cake). This is an Icelandic cake and one that I make every Christmas. I live in the Wynyard, Sask., area and from here to Foam Lake there was a
large settlement of Icelanders.
Here is my recipe:
Vinaterta cake
1 cup butter 250 mL
2 cups sugar 500 mL
4 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream 125 mL
1 teaspoon baking soda 5 mL
1 teaspoon baking powd er 5 mL
1 teaspoon ground cardamom 5 mL
1 teaspoon vanilla 5 mL
6 cups flour, and a bit more to 1.5 L
roll out on
Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add sour cream and dry ingredients. Roll in thin layers, bake at 350 F (180 C) until just lightly browned. From this recipe, I get 21 layers, which makes three cakes. There has to be seven layers per cake, an old Icelander told me years ago.
Filling: Cover two pounds (one kg) prunes with water (may want more) and cook until soft. I use the freestone prunes. Some people add 1/2 cup (125 mL) sugar to this but being a diabetic I don’t. Add some ground cardamom to the prune mixture as well. Spread between the layers when cold. Don’t leave cookie layers too long because they dry out and will break when spreading the prune mixture. – R. S., Wynyard, Sask.
Cardamom essential
Dear TEAM: I married an Icelandic
Canadian over 30 years ago. His mother still makes vinaterta every Christmas and other times of the year. I love it – the taste, the texture, and yes, the prunes.
I started making it myself over 20 years ago and despite my British heritage, feel I can describe myself as a good (excellent, my daughters say) baker of this torte.
Your recipe published in the May 19 issue of the Producer is, in my opinion, sadly lacking. The key ingredient in this torte is ground cardamom.
You can use one teaspoon (five mL) in the filling, as well as one teaspoon (five mL) in the cookie dough.
But the best flavour comes from whole cardamom. Open the pods, put the seeds (which look disconcertingly like mouse droppings) in a mortar and use the pestle to grind them to a fragrant powder.
Use this powder liberally in the cookie dough, as well as the prune filling and the vinaterta will be a delicious testament to your labours. The addition of almond flavouring to the cookie dough also defines this
seasonal treat.
In all other respects, your recipe seems great. -B.D., Minnedosa, Man.
Barbara Sanderson 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.
