Thanksgiving surely is one of the most challenging as well as one of the best of times for which a Kitchen Kapers column can be put together.
For one of the year’s major holidays like Thanksgiving, certainly one of our most meaningful, it is always an enjoyable but sometimes tough challenge trying to find just the right recipes and to choose and use as many as can fit into this space, the more the better.
Now, patiently and politely waiting in line right after Thanksgiving will be Christmas and following fast will then come New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Our Apopka-area cookbooks are packed with such an immense wealth of great recipes perfect for all these upcoming holidays as well as for every day. All were provided by members of our many local organizations and church groups and schools who in years past diligently collected and published countless great recipes which fill the pages of all of these wonderful community treasures.
Apopka is bountifully blessed with that abundance of treasured local recipes being cooked in homes all over town thanks to all of you so greatly appreciated Apopkans who a couple decades or more ago contributed time and talents plus a great deal of hard work to create all of these many Apopka community cookbooks from countless skilled “home chefs.”
Kitchen Kapers’ weekly challenge is not lack of recipes but, far from that, the difficulty of trying to select just a few recipes from such a wonderfully bountiful multitude of great recipe possibilities for sharing in this and every week’s column. Choosing each week’s is a tough task!
Enjoy the recipes here this week and be looking forward to more next week and all through the coming-around-again-fast Christmas holiday season, best time every year for showcasing all our best recipes.
The recipe here for homemade ice cream is perfect for creating nostalgic “old-times” old-fashioned Thanksgivings feeling and might revive memories of gone-by Thanksgivings of our youth. It will also be fun!
The Brazilian Bananas and Georgia Fried Peaches are definitely not traditional Thanksgiving-associated foods, but they will add a little bit of something new and different served alongside all the old familiar standard dishes associated with the Thanksgiving holiday.
Have a very happy Thanksgiving Day and may all this week’s days leading up to it be very special memories-making times as well.
CONNIE TOUCHTON’S
HOMEMADE ICE CREAM
Recipe from Apopka Citizen Police Alumni Association’s
Sharing Our Finest Cookbook
1 pint whipping cream
6 eggs
Pinch of salt
2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond
2 cartons Half and Half
1 quart milk, if needed
(Fresh fruits or chocolate or other flavors may be added, optional)
Whip the whipping cream. Separate the eggs. Add salt to the egg whites and beat until stiff. Beat the yolks. Add sugar, one cup at a time. Continue to beat until creamy. Add the beaten egg whites and flavoring, then the whipped cream. Beat together until mixed. Empty into freezer and add the Half-and-Half. Fill freezer with milk to one and a half inches from the top and freeze.
(Always keep these ingredients in refrigerator until needed, this recipe reminds.)
GEORGIA FRIED PEACHES
Recipe from Apopka Citizen Police Alumni Association’s
Sharing Our Finest Cookbook
6 peaches
2 tablespoons butter
12 teaspoons brown sugar
Peel and split peaches. Melt butter and pour into the split peaches’ centers. Fill peach hollows with brown sugar. Simmer until well cooked. Serve with whipped cream.
CAROL AUSTIN BOGAN’S
BRAZILIAN BANANAS
Recipe from Apopka Citizen Police Alumni Association’s
Sharing Our Finest Cookbook
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
Dash of vanilla
4 medium-sized bananas, sliced lengthwise and then halved
Vanilla ice cream or coffee ice cream
Cool Whip (optional)
In a large nonstick skillet, heat the butter, sugar and vanilla until the mixture bubbles. Then lay in the banana slices. Cook lightly on both sides, coating with sauce. Transfer to warm serving dishes. Top with a scoop of ice cream and drizzle sauce over all. Top with Cool Whip, if you wish.
“Easy, spectacular dessert,” is this cookbook’s bottom line for this recipe which definitely is not traditional Thanksgiving Day food at all but surely would add an interesting tiny touch of something unexpected and totally new and different amid all the typical Thanksgiving dishes being served alongside it.
SIS PITMAN’S INDIAN PUDDING
Recipe from First Presbyterian Church of Apopka’s
Treasures and Pleasures
1/4 cup corn meal
2 cups hot milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup cold milk
Whipped cream (amount to your liking)
Nutmeg (amount to your liking)
Stir corn meal, a little at a time, into the hot milk and cook in top of double boiler, stirring constantly for 15 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat. Mix together sugar, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon; then stir into the corn meal mixture. Add molasses and cold milk, mixing thoroughly. Pour into a 1-quart casserole and bake in a preheated 275 degrees oven for two hours. Serve warm with whipped cream and a light sprinkling of freshly grated nutmeg. Serves 6 to 8.
FRAN FORREST’S
SWEET POTATO BABY CAKES
Recipe from Lake Hill Baptist Church’s Treasures from Heaven
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoons minced ginger (optional)
1-1/2 tablespoons honey
1 garlic clove, minced
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and grated
1 small onion, grated
1-1/2 teaspoons flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 to 1/3 cup peanut oil or corn oil
1/3 cup sour cream
In large bowl, combine egg, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Beat until well blended. Add ginger, honey and garlic. Mix well. Stir in sweet potatoes and onion. Sprinkle flour and baking powder over sweet potato mixture, mixing well.
In a large fry pan, heat two tablespoons oil over medium heat. Drop tablespoons of mixture into hot oil and flatten with back of spoon. Cook until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining sweet potato mixture, adding more oil when necessary. Serve with sour cream and any added topping you wish, such as ginger, chives or applesauce.
GRACE YOHANNON’S
MILLICENT’S CRANBERRY SALAD
Recipe from
First Presbyterian Church’s
Treasures and Pleasures
1 large or two small packages raspberry gelatin
1-1/2 cups boiling water
1 small or medium can jellied cranberry sauce
1 small can crushed pineapple
Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Cool mixture. Add jellied cranberry sauce. Blend well, then add crushed pineapple with liquid. Stir and pour into mold. Refrigerate until set.
