It's apple season in Wisconsin. I make the world's best applesauce, and I will share the recipe with you. But first I have a few things to say about apples.
1. If you type "apples" into your search engine, you will get a lot of hits, including Apple computers, Apples to Apples game, Wikipedia on apples, and much more. Who would have guessed? Apple computers must be delicious.
2. The apple genome has about 57,000 genes. That's more than in human beings, which have about 30,000 genes. (Wikipedia says.) Does that make apples superior or more complex than humans?
3. China produces the most apples. The US is second. (Wikipedia again.) Wisconsin grows a lot of them. Apparently Washington grows more.
4. The apple is in the rose family. (Wikipedia yet again.) But to make a bouquet, keep them on the branch. Roses work better than apples in vases.
5. Johnny Appleseed was an apple tree salesman. I heard that on television.
Sarah and I went apple gathering on Washington Island during the Labor Day weekend. That is a place where wild apple trees grow along the road. We brought the apples home and I made applesauce for us to share. I make wonderful applesauce due to two things: good sour apples and Mrs. Robertson, my home economics teacher in 7th and 8th grade. This is what she taught us girls so long ago:
Applesauce That is Better Than Canned Applesauce
Apples - sour, such as MacIntosh or Cortland
water
sugar - about 1/4 cup for every 4 apples (you may use white or brown sugar or real maple syrup)
Cinnamon
Quarter, peel and core apples. Put them in a pan. Put a small amount of water into the pan, about 1/2 inch for a small batch. Cover the pan and bring the apples to a boil over high heat. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the apples are soft. If you didn't add enough water, add more. Add sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon. If you use a lot of cinnamon, you might overpower the good apple taste, so don't overdo it. Stir the sauce to break up the apple pieces, but don't mash them. Cool the sauce and enjoy the aroma in your home. Eat.
Mrs. Robertson did not tell us to sweeten the sauce with brown sugar or maple syrup. That is something that I figured out myself.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The I Hate to Cook Book
I read in July that the I Hate to Cook Book by Peg Bracken is fifty years old this year. To honor the half century, the deceased Ms Bracken's daughter has published a revised and updated version of the very funny commentary on cooking for people who don't enjoy cooking. I haven't seen the update, but I still enjoy the original version.
The original does give some good recipes. What makes it extra good is the non-recipe stuff. Yes, the book tells how to cook with the convenience foods of that era, and yes, I still prefer to cook with minimally processed foods, but the commentary is worth keeping. It begins with, "Some women, it is said, like to cook. This book is not for them. This book is for those of us who hate to, who have learned, through hard experience, that some activities become no less painful through repetition: childbearing, paying taxes, cooking." (p. ix.)
How about this, from page 113: "Once, in an elevator enroute to my office, I was eating some spice cookies which I had made from a recipe in my big fat cookbook. I gave one to the Elevator Lady, and she tasted it. 'My,' she said reflectively, 'I can sure make a better spice cooky than that.' So she brought me her recipe, and she was quite right. This is a short, rich, ginger-snap sort of a cooky, and the recipe makes plenty." This is much better than the comments in any version of Joy of Cooking. The cookies are good ones.
Bracken also gives her standards for cookies. The cookie dough that now sells in grocery stores probably hadn't been invented when she wrote this. Her standards appear on page 113. I agree with her on them. "When you hate to cook, you ask a lot of a cooky recipe. It must call for no exotic ingredients. It must be easy. It must not, above all, call for any rolling out and cutting. It must produce extremely good cookies. And quite a lot of them."
She comments about cheese: "Now cheese is something of a yes-and-no proposition. It isn't too trustworthy, because you have to concentrate on it; and when you hate to cook, you don't want to. After you've produced a curdled Welsh Rabbit or a Welsh Rabbit that resembles a sullen puddle of rubber cement, the tendency is to leave cheese severely alone." (p. 22)
The wisdom of the kitchen is in this old book. I stand behind some of her recipes. At the end of the book she gives a lot of household hints "or, What to Do When Your Churn Paddle Sticks". She points out that "...I...feel that I speak with a certain modest authority when I say that most household hints are pretty terrible." (p. 140) Her hints are good.
Maybe it will be worth it to buy the new revised version of the book. A review of it appeared in the media last July. http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2010-07-19-bracken19_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
The original does give some good recipes. What makes it extra good is the non-recipe stuff. Yes, the book tells how to cook with the convenience foods of that era, and yes, I still prefer to cook with minimally processed foods, but the commentary is worth keeping. It begins with, "Some women, it is said, like to cook. This book is not for them. This book is for those of us who hate to, who have learned, through hard experience, that some activities become no less painful through repetition: childbearing, paying taxes, cooking." (p. ix.)
How about this, from page 113: "Once, in an elevator enroute to my office, I was eating some spice cookies which I had made from a recipe in my big fat cookbook. I gave one to the Elevator Lady, and she tasted it. 'My,' she said reflectively, 'I can sure make a better spice cooky than that.' So she brought me her recipe, and she was quite right. This is a short, rich, ginger-snap sort of a cooky, and the recipe makes plenty." This is much better than the comments in any version of Joy of Cooking. The cookies are good ones.
Bracken also gives her standards for cookies. The cookie dough that now sells in grocery stores probably hadn't been invented when she wrote this. Her standards appear on page 113. I agree with her on them. "When you hate to cook, you ask a lot of a cooky recipe. It must call for no exotic ingredients. It must be easy. It must not, above all, call for any rolling out and cutting. It must produce extremely good cookies. And quite a lot of them."
She comments about cheese: "Now cheese is something of a yes-and-no proposition. It isn't too trustworthy, because you have to concentrate on it; and when you hate to cook, you don't want to. After you've produced a curdled Welsh Rabbit or a Welsh Rabbit that resembles a sullen puddle of rubber cement, the tendency is to leave cheese severely alone." (p. 22)
The wisdom of the kitchen is in this old book. I stand behind some of her recipes. At the end of the book she gives a lot of household hints "or, What to Do When Your Churn Paddle Sticks". She points out that "...I...feel that I speak with a certain modest authority when I say that most household hints are pretty terrible." (p. 140) Her hints are good.
Maybe it will be worth it to buy the new revised version of the book. A review of it appeared in the media last July. http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2010-07-19-bracken19_ST_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Friday, August 27, 2010
Ice Age Trail Upgrade
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/article_2bb503c0-afd4-11df-a805-001cc4c03286.html
The Ice Age Trail has received an upgrade. I took a walk on this new two-mile superhighway for bikes, and here are my observations.
The new path is called the Ice Age Junction Trail, and it goes from Highway PD in Fitchburg to the junction with the Military Ridge State Trail in Verona. It's beautiful new smooth blacktop. It mostly goes around the hills that the walking trail has enjoyed. It's a quick ride for people who want to get from point A to point B.
The walking trail still exists, and it goes to the same place. It's still grass covered, maintained with lawn mowers. It's a bit more strenuous than the bike trail, and a bit longer. It meanders through the prairie flowers and wild berry bushes with no apparent concern for speed of travel. More meditative. Less efficient.
In addition to going through the prairie flowers, the blacktop version of the trail goes through a small woods. I think there is some incongruity in a blacktop path going through a woodsy natural space like woods. I get it that cars go through woods on blacktop, but I think of bikes as being more nature friendly. Blacktop is a manufactured surface made of non-natural stuff. It has little in common with spaces filled with flowers and woods.
The new trail has a stopping off point for those who want to rest. It has more access points for bikers than the former walking-only trail, from area streets. Those are good features. It covers part of the walking trail and crosses it. Both trails go under Verona Avenue through a bridge that has been there for some time, but now the path at that location is easier to traverse due to a small bridge that goes over a watery space. I remember crossing it by climbing on rocks and doing some jumping. This is an improvement for bikers and walkers.
I'll stick to the walking trail with all its beauties and meanderings. The day may come when I try the blacktop trail on my bike. Thanks, Madison, Dane County Parks, and the Community Foundation, for offering a new alternative, even if it is blacktop.
The Ice Age Trail has received an upgrade. I took a walk on this new two-mile superhighway for bikes, and here are my observations.
The new path is called the Ice Age Junction Trail, and it goes from Highway PD in Fitchburg to the junction with the Military Ridge State Trail in Verona. It's beautiful new smooth blacktop. It mostly goes around the hills that the walking trail has enjoyed. It's a quick ride for people who want to get from point A to point B.
The walking trail still exists, and it goes to the same place. It's still grass covered, maintained with lawn mowers. It's a bit more strenuous than the bike trail, and a bit longer. It meanders through the prairie flowers and wild berry bushes with no apparent concern for speed of travel. More meditative. Less efficient.
In addition to going through the prairie flowers, the blacktop version of the trail goes through a small woods. I think there is some incongruity in a blacktop path going through a woodsy natural space like woods. I get it that cars go through woods on blacktop, but I think of bikes as being more nature friendly. Blacktop is a manufactured surface made of non-natural stuff. It has little in common with spaces filled with flowers and woods.
The new trail has a stopping off point for those who want to rest. It has more access points for bikers than the former walking-only trail, from area streets. Those are good features. It covers part of the walking trail and crosses it. Both trails go under Verona Avenue through a bridge that has been there for some time, but now the path at that location is easier to traverse due to a small bridge that goes over a watery space. I remember crossing it by climbing on rocks and doing some jumping. This is an improvement for bikers and walkers.
I'll stick to the walking trail with all its beauties and meanderings. The day may come when I try the blacktop trail on my bike. Thanks, Madison, Dane County Parks, and the Community Foundation, for offering a new alternative, even if it is blacktop.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Blackberries Galore
It's still blackberry picking time in Madison. This morning I found some along the Verona link of the Ice Age Trail, accessible from county road PD. It would have been wonderful if the mosquitoes hadn't emailed all their relatives to say that I would be coming. The only person who wasn't complaining about the bugs was the dog that came along with the other lady who was picking. I finally decided that I could have brought home many more berries, but the mosquitoes became a major obstacle. Alas. It's not easy being part of their food chain.
I really have found enough for one season anyway. I have made a blackberry pie, blackberry ice cream topping, blackberry cobbler, and put some blackberries in the freezer. I regret that our fair city leveled a very promising blackberry patch in Elver Park near my home. It cut my harvest in half. I don't understand why the city fathers didn't wait until after the berries were finished. Fortunately, there are other blackberry patches. And there will be more in a patch at an undisclosed location on Washington Island later in August, when I expect to be there.
The blackberry cobbler that I made is my adaptation from the Cherry Cobbler that I reported on, from the Prairie Farmer WLS Cook Book of 1941. They could have thought of blackberries while they were working on cherries, but they didn't. So here is my version. I like it a lot in spite of the seeds.
Blackberry Cobbler for 2
1 - 1 1/4 cup (approx.) fresh blackberries (Maybe thawed frozen ones will work; I don't know.)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk (approx.)
Find a baking dish that is 7x7 inches, or 6x8 inches. Pyrex sells a 6x8 dish. Goodwill occasionally sells old Corningware baking dishes that are about 7x7. The dish should hold about 1 1/2 quarts. The cobbler won't come up to the top of the dish.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put berries and water in baking dish. Combine sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons flour, and sprinkle over the top. Put in oven and stir occasionally until the mixture is heated, about as long as it takes to mix the dough that goes on top.
Mix together the 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in butter until it resembles pie crust dough. Add milk and stir until soft dough is formed. Stir as little as possible. Roll out dough 1/3 inch thick and place on hot berry mixture. If dough is too wet to roll, add more flour. Place dough on hot berry mixture to cover most of it.
Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve plain or topped with whipped cream or with ice cream.
I really have found enough for one season anyway. I have made a blackberry pie, blackberry ice cream topping, blackberry cobbler, and put some blackberries in the freezer. I regret that our fair city leveled a very promising blackberry patch in Elver Park near my home. It cut my harvest in half. I don't understand why the city fathers didn't wait until after the berries were finished. Fortunately, there are other blackberry patches. And there will be more in a patch at an undisclosed location on Washington Island later in August, when I expect to be there.
The blackberry cobbler that I made is my adaptation from the Cherry Cobbler that I reported on, from the Prairie Farmer WLS Cook Book of 1941. They could have thought of blackberries while they were working on cherries, but they didn't. So here is my version. I like it a lot in spite of the seeds.
Blackberry Cobbler for 2
1 - 1 1/4 cup (approx.) fresh blackberries (Maybe thawed frozen ones will work; I don't know.)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk (approx.)
Find a baking dish that is 7x7 inches, or 6x8 inches. Pyrex sells a 6x8 dish. Goodwill occasionally sells old Corningware baking dishes that are about 7x7. The dish should hold about 1 1/2 quarts. The cobbler won't come up to the top of the dish.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put berries and water in baking dish. Combine sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons flour, and sprinkle over the top. Put in oven and stir occasionally until the mixture is heated, about as long as it takes to mix the dough that goes on top.
Mix together the 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in butter until it resembles pie crust dough. Add milk and stir until soft dough is formed. Stir as little as possible. Roll out dough 1/3 inch thick and place on hot berry mixture. If dough is too wet to roll, add more flour. Place dough on hot berry mixture to cover most of it.
Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve plain or topped with whipped cream or with ice cream.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Berry Picking
And now, here is Blogspot's Senior Outdoor correspondent.
Good morning, everyone. During our Independence Day weekend, a shocking event has the west side of Madison all abuzz. It seems that two people, identified as Kathy Whitt and Dolores Becker, were spotted picking black raspberries on public land. They appeared to be enjoying it.
On the ground, we interviewed Deary the Deertick, who said, "Bring them on. They're part of my food chain." However, not everyone was pleased. Faline the deer, mother of the famed Bambi, said, "Get them out of here. Those berries are my dinner. Let them go to the farmers' marker if they want berries." Further remarks from Deary the Deertick, were that Friday night's fireworks at Elver Park were "deertick heaven." Thousands of people were there.
Here's a followup to the event. Ms. Whitt and Ms. Becker announced that they planned to maked the black raspberries into a pie. They reported that it was delicious.
Now back to our regularly scheduled blog.
Good morning, everyone. During our Independence Day weekend, a shocking event has the west side of Madison all abuzz. It seems that two people, identified as Kathy Whitt and Dolores Becker, were spotted picking black raspberries on public land. They appeared to be enjoying it.
On the ground, we interviewed Deary the Deertick, who said, "Bring them on. They're part of my food chain." However, not everyone was pleased. Faline the deer, mother of the famed Bambi, said, "Get them out of here. Those berries are my dinner. Let them go to the farmers' marker if they want berries." Further remarks from Deary the Deertick, were that Friday night's fireworks at Elver Park were "deertick heaven." Thousands of people were there.
Here's a followup to the event. Ms. Whitt and Ms. Becker announced that they planned to maked the black raspberries into a pie. They reported that it was delicious.
Now back to our regularly scheduled blog.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Overused Words and Expressions
How many have you heard today? They're everywhere: in conversation, on television, in email and postal mail, and maybe in your dreams. Americans are fond of being unoriginal in their ways of speaking. Overused expressions are ubiquitous. Metaphorical speaking is popular.
Don't stop reading now, but stay online. We are the salt of the earth and will leave no stone unturned in our search for the Pandora's box of expressions. Just try to wrap your head around them and and relax. Here are my big five overused expressions for today.
(1) That said. We used to say however or moreover. The first time I remember hearing it was in an Obama speech. Then everyone was saying it.
(2) Wrap my head around. We used to understand something; now we wrap our heads around it. I even heard it in a sermon last Sunday in church.
(3) Green. It seems to be about environmental friendliness. We now have green airplanes (fuel efficient), green architecture (made with environmentally friendly materials), green automobiles (using fewer fossil fuels), green technologies, and more. Today in my mail I received a flyer from a cleaning company that proclaimed, "Green is the new color of clean." Is a quiet home without noise green?
(4) Perfect storm. Once it was a crisis or a disaster. Now it is a perfect storm. The oil gusher in the gulf is today's perfect storm. It certainly is a disaster, and the problems of slowing it down are the perfect storm. I haven't heard tornadoes and hurricanes called perfect storms.
(5) Wake up call. When something blows up in our faces, or we experience sudden important changes of heart, we have wake up calls. They used to be insights for action.
We can describe an event such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico with metaphors. Once BP was considered the salt of the earth, maybe even a green corporation, but now its executives are trying to leave no stone unturned in trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They have had their wake up call and are in the midst of the perfect storm. That said, they are trying to wrap their heads around this disaster as they give up their pipe dreams of uneventful, profitable drilling. There is no more pie in the sky for BP as it bites the bullet in its efforts to get back online. John D. Rockefeller will roll over in his grave with today's policy of drill, baby, drill.
Don't stop reading now, but stay online. We are the salt of the earth and will leave no stone unturned in our search for the Pandora's box of expressions. Just try to wrap your head around them and and relax. Here are my big five overused expressions for today.
(1) That said. We used to say however or moreover. The first time I remember hearing it was in an Obama speech. Then everyone was saying it.
(2) Wrap my head around. We used to understand something; now we wrap our heads around it. I even heard it in a sermon last Sunday in church.
(3) Green. It seems to be about environmental friendliness. We now have green airplanes (fuel efficient), green architecture (made with environmentally friendly materials), green automobiles (using fewer fossil fuels), green technologies, and more. Today in my mail I received a flyer from a cleaning company that proclaimed, "Green is the new color of clean." Is a quiet home without noise green?
(4) Perfect storm. Once it was a crisis or a disaster. Now it is a perfect storm. The oil gusher in the gulf is today's perfect storm. It certainly is a disaster, and the problems of slowing it down are the perfect storm. I haven't heard tornadoes and hurricanes called perfect storms.
(5) Wake up call. When something blows up in our faces, or we experience sudden important changes of heart, we have wake up calls. They used to be insights for action.
We can describe an event such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico with metaphors. Once BP was considered the salt of the earth, maybe even a green corporation, but now its executives are trying to leave no stone unturned in trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They have had their wake up call and are in the midst of the perfect storm. That said, they are trying to wrap their heads around this disaster as they give up their pipe dreams of uneventful, profitable drilling. There is no more pie in the sky for BP as it bites the bullet in its efforts to get back online. John D. Rockefeller will roll over in his grave with today's policy of drill, baby, drill.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Iceland’s Volcanic Ash Causes Fluoride Poisoning
Iceland’s Volcanic Ash Causes Fluoride Poisoning
This is a long article that isn't really about Iceland. It gives a lot of information about how fluoridation is bad for our health, doesn't really prevent tooth decay, and is responsible for worsening of some diseases.
This is a long article that isn't really about Iceland. It gives a lot of information about how fluoridation is bad for our health, doesn't really prevent tooth decay, and is responsible for worsening of some diseases.
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