The seemingly sad or maybe just beautifully nostalgic lyrics of “September Song” are so very truly meaningful.
September indeed does year-after-year seem to roll around just too very fast, ending every summer season and leaving in its wake precious little time until this year’s end.
Right now here we are once again so incredibly quickly greeting and welcoming yet another just arriving September knocking demandingly on our doors, ready to boot August out and down the road to wherever it is all of our old used-up Days Past go.
How can these days of our lives race us through our calendars so quickly?
How can 2015 by now already have eight used-up, done-and-gone months so fast? How can an entire year so soon be out the door, come and gone in such short time, leaving us now with just four quickly passing months left in our so fast-flown-by year 2015?
Time does indeed fly!
That might be the only answer we’ll get to the ageless question of where does all our time go and how did this whole year 2015 get already almost past so fast?
We’ve got September through December still ahead, however, and that’s good news, just seeing what we’ll do with that time and what we’ve got cooking for it.
How about that cooking including an attention grabbing Cherry Torte from Cape Cod, supplementing that interesting sweet treat with health-oriented main menu staples and then just seeing what other interesting recipes jump off the pages of our Apopka community cookbooks for this week’s column?
Some of our own geographical region’s local good eats from your Apopka-area neighbors’ kitchens are included here on this week’s Kitchen Kapers menu along with the two Cape Cod recipes, all just waiting to be tried and shared. It is hoped readers will enjoy cooking and eating some or all.
Glancing at our calendars, we see yet another year’s Thanksgiving time coming in thirteen weeks, then again the Christmas season, after that a new start of yet another New Year, all of that once again coming up in this year 2015, daily speeding us fast forward toward the coming year 2016.
Eat well, enjoy greatly and share with your neighbors and other friends these several good Apopka home cooking recipes here this week, along with the two aforementioned recipes which came to us via a recently discovered Cape Cod Kitchen Secrets cookbook created by the Yarmouth Branch Cape Cod Hospital Aid Association way back in 1949, a 66-year-old cookbook kindly contributed or found for this column’s use.
That well-aged special treasure from such a far distance now all in the Kitchen Kapers’ cookbooks collection provides a very interesting quick glance at one geographical location’s interesting culinary customs including this week’s first and second recipes here, followed by a couple recipes from our usual local cookbook collections’ treasured hometown Apopka recipes.
CHERRY TORTE FROM CAPE COD KITCHEN SECRETS COOKBOOK
(Cookbook created by the 1949 Yarmouth Branch Cape Cod Hospital Aid Association)
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup nut meats
2 cups drained unsweetened pie cherries (reserve drained cherry juice)
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon butter
Sauce:
1 cup cherry juice from the drained can of cherries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
Combine 1-1/4 cups sugar with the cup of flour and teaspoon of cinnamon and teaspoon of baking soda, half teaspoon of salt and half cup of nut meats, the two cups of drained unsweetened pie cherries, the beaten egg and tablespoon of butter.
Bake in a square tin in 375 degrees oven. Cut into squares while warm and cover with whipped cream.
Over the Cherry Torte Squares pour the Cherry Sauce, which is made by combining and cooking until thick the one cup of cherry juice from can of cherries, half cup of sugar, tablespoon of melted butter, pinch of salt and one tablespoon of cornstarch.
GRANDMOTHER’S
APPLE STRUDEL
Recipe from Cape Cod Kitchen
Secrets Cookbook
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups flour
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 quarts sour apples, cut fine
1 cup seeded raisins
1/2 cup currants
1/4 pound almonds, blanched and chopped
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Place the salt, flour and egg into a large mixing bowl. Add the warm water, mix the dough quickly with a knife, t™hen knead on board stretching it up and down to make it elastic and
until it leaves the board clean. Toss it on a well-floured board, cover with a hot bowl and keep in warm place
for half an hour or until it will stretch easily.
Lay the dough in the center of a well-floured cloth, on a large molding board. Brush well with some of the melted butter and with hands under the dough, palms down, pull and stretch the dough gently, and then gradually around the edges until it is of a very large size and thin as paper.
Sprinkle apple, raisins, currants, almonds, the sugar and cinnamon over three-fourths of the area of the dough. Drip a few tablespoons of melted butter over all. Fold the dough over apple mixture on one side, then hold cloth high with both hands and the strudel will roll itself over and over into a big roll. Trim edges.
Twist the roll to fit pan which has been well-greased, or cut in two strips. Bake one hour at 400 degrees then reduce to 350 degrees and continue to bake until brown and crisp. Brush top with melted butter. Serve slightly warm with heavy sour cream or whipped cream.
SARA KOWALCHUK’S
UKRAINIAN VARENIKI (PAROGIES)
Recipe from Apopka Memorial
Middle School Cookbook
Vareniki is a noodle-like dough stuffed with farmer’s cottage cheese or mashed potatoes with butter and onions pressed in a half-moon shape and cooked in boiling water till floating, served hot with sour cream.
For the dough:
3 cups flour
3/4 cup water
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
Make a dough by using three cups flour, 3/4 cup water, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon salt.
Then roll dough very thin and cut into a 2-1/2-in. to 3-in. circle to be stuffed with potatoes or cheese, sealed into half-moons using a fork or pinch with cleaned fingers, being sure dough edges are sealed. Drop into boiling water until the Vareniki floats. Bathe the Vareniki in melted butter with chopped onions. Serve the Vareniki with sour cream.
PEPPERMINT COOLER FOR HOT AUGUST DAYS
Recipe from
Chris Rucker’s and Jan Hoffman’s The Seventh Day Diet
2 cups boiling water
4 peppermint tea bags
Honey (amount to your taste)
2 cups cold water
1 can (12 ounces) frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed
1 can (12 ounces) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 can (12 ounces) frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
2 medium-size ripe bananas
Make iced tea: Pour boiling water over tea bags and let steep for four to six minutes. Remove tea bags. Stir in honey (usually one teaspoon per cup) and add cold water. Mix well and chill.
Mix juice concentrates in large pitcher or punch bowl, using two cans of water per can of concentrate instead of the usual three. Pour two cups of juice into the blender. Add cut-up bananas and coriander to juice in blender and blend until smooth. Add blended mixture and mint tea to juice in pitcher and stir. Recipe makes 15-20 servings.