Blind Pig & The Acorn

Strawberry Pie

Local strawberries are finally ripe! We've been eating them like crazy. My favorite way-is to just grab a handful and munch. I did manage to save enough to make a pie out of the last bunch though.

I grew up eating this version of Strawberry Pie-some people call it Shoney's Strawberry Pie because the restaurant makes a very similar version.

You need:

• 1 pre-baked graham cracker pie crust (I always brush my crust with egg and bake it for 5-7 minutes at 375. Baking it seems to keep the crust crisper.
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons of strawberry jello powder
• 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

Mix sugar, water, and cornstarch-cook until thick and clear. Remove from heat.

Stir strawberry jello into mixture.

Place sliced strawberries into baked pie shell and pour sugar mixture over them.

Place pie in frig until firm.

I've eaten the pie with whipped cream spread on top-but most of the time I leave it off because the pie is plenty sweet enough. 

 

Tipper

p.s. Go by the Edie's Cookies booth on Saturday at the Depot in Murphy (10-2) and mention the Blind Pig & the Acorn for a free cookie. BTW-Edie makes the best cookies EVER!! Go here for more info about Edie's Cookies.

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How To Make A Smoker

If you guessed The Deer Hunter was building a smoker-you were right! Several years ago, one of Papaw Tony's friends made a homemade smoker-and after The Deer Hunter tasted what was cooked in it-he decided someday he'd make his own.

The smoker is an in ground design-meaning it uses the earth to insulate it while the meat is cooking. The neat thing about this design-you build a fire and use the coals to heat the pipe-which in turn cooks the meat. In other words you don't have to worry about keeping a fire going or making sure you don't run out of gas in the middle of smoking.

He got a 3ft long piece of metal pipe-with a diameter of about 24in at a salvage yard. About 10in from the bottom of the pipe, he welded 3 pieces of angle iron to form a seat to hold the grill up off of the coals. He completely buried the pipe in the ground-which = a whole lot of digging! The pipe serves as the main body of the smoker.

Next he dug a hole adjacent to the smoker on one side-so that he could insert a piece of metal pipe under the bottom edge of the smoker. The pipe will allow air to feed the fire.

He built a chimney of sorts to hold the air pipe in place and to block the heat from escaping on that side of the smoker.

The Deer Hunter got a sheet of 1/8in. metal at the salvage yard too. Using an acetylene torch he cut a circular piece from the sheet to make the grill or grate to sit the meat on.

Then as luck would have it-the tank went dry before he could cut out a circular shape for the lid of the smoker. Not wanting to give up on his plan of dining on something good-he deicided to continue and worry about the lid when he got to that point.

The Deer Hunter got a fire going in the bottom of the smoker-and kept it going for a few hours to get a really good bed of white hot coals.

While the fire was burning, The Deer Hunter went inside and got the meat ready. He took a whole chicken and a pork boston butt-seasoned each up with a tasty concotion-then wrapped each individually in aluminum foil. 

While he was inside fixing up his fricassee-I stood by the fire warming my fingers and toes. Then before I knew it-he was back with the meat.

He carefully placed the grate-loaded with meat-down into the smoker till it rested on the brackets. By this point-the fire had burned down to a good bed of coals. 

Then it was time to figure out how to cover the hole tightly-since torching a lid was out. He decided to just use the entire piece of metal for this smoking session. Using the dirt he had dug out of the holes-he covered the entire piece of metal until the smoker was sealed up tight. It was easy to see if there were any leaks-as smoke would begin to rise out of the dirt.

And that was it. He finished up the project about 5:30pm. We went in-cleaned up-and forgot about the meat until the next morning.

At about 8:00am the next morning, we went to check out the meat. The Deer Hunter scraped off the dirt-while I snapped annoying pictures in his face.

Once he lifted the piece of metal off-I couldn't believe the smoker was still hot. And once we were back in the kitchen-I could not believe how good the meat was! Oh my-talk about melt in your mouth. 

The whole process might seem burdensome-but it really wasn't that bad. And once he gets the top cut out-it will be even easier the next time we use the smoker. But honestly-the meat was so good that I think he'd do it again and again even if he had to cover the entire sheet of metal every time.

The Deer Hunter said he was going to tinker with his design-so stay tuned for updates on the smoker. 

Tipper

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The Best Birthday Cake Ever

A few years ago it was someone's birthday at work. They brought in a cake to share and invited me to have a piece. I only ate one piece-but I secretly wished I could take the whole thing home with me-it was that good. 

I came right home, found the recipe online, and I've been making the cake ever since. I recently made one for Granny's birthday and thought I'd share the recipe with you.

It's the kind of recipe I love: it's super easy, tastes amazing, and looks impressive-you know like you slaved all day to make it.

I've heard the cake called a few different things-but I'm calling it the Chocolate Candy Bar Cake.

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 chocolate cake mix (preferably swiss chocolate or milk chocolate)
• 1 box of instant vanilla pudding
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup oil

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 8oz. pack cream cheese
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 12oz. cool whip
• 3 Hershey bars (chopped or grated)

Add all the cake ingrediants into a bowl and mix well; pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9 inch round cake pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes or till done.

When I first started making this cake-I only used two 9 inch cake pans and it still turned out great. Using 3 layers allows you to use more icing-and make a more dramatic cake-especially once you slice it and see the different layers.

Once cake rounds are done-allow to cool slightly and remove from pans to cool completely.

While cakes are cooling-make the frosting by mixing cream cheese and xxx sugar well.

Add cool whip to bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.

Chop or grate candy bars. I didn't have any candy bars on hand for Granny's cake-but I did have a giant Hershey's Kiss left over from Valentines-it worked just as well.

Add chocolate to frosting and mix well.

Frost cake. Slice. Pour glass of milk. Eat.

Tipper

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How To Make An Apple Stack Cake

I'm finally ready to show you how I made my first Apple Stack Cake. More Than Moonshine: Appalachian Recipes and Recollections by Sidney Saylor Farr is one of my favorite Appalachian Cookbooks. I used Ms. Farr's recipe for my Apple Stack Cake, actually according to the cookbook the recipe is her Mother's. Ms. Farr says you can use fresh apples to make the cake-but you get a much richer taste by using dried apples. (use dried apples if at all possible)

Apple Stack Cake

Part 1: the cake

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/3 cup sorghum syrup
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (I didn't have any buttermilk-so I used the handy substitution of putting 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice into my 1/2 cup measuring cup and filling it the rest of the way with whole milk)
• 3 1/2 cup plain flour (all purpose)
• 1/2 teaspoon soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream together sugar and shortening.

Add egg, sorghum, and buttermilk-mix well.

Sift together flour, soda, salt, and ginger.

Ms. Farr says to make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients; add the creamed mixture; and stir until blended.

Since I was using my mixer-I added the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture a little at a time until the mixture was blended well. I added the vanilla and mixed again till the consistency was like a soft cookie dough.

You'll need to add additional flour as you roll out the dough to make the layers. The layers need to be the size of a 9 inch pan. I'm sure you'll figure out your own way to do this step-but what I did was similar to what we did in the cooking class. First I shaped the dough into a loaf shape and divided it into equal portions. The recipe said it would make 7 layers, but I ended up with 8 layers and 2 cookies! 

Using the bottom of my 9 inch cake pan for a template, I drew a circle on a piece of parchment paper. Using the circle as a guide: I rolled the dough out to slightly larger than the circle; laid the 9 inch cake pan on the dough and cut around the edges. 

I baked the layers at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes until they were light brown. Baking the layers is the most time consuming part of making the cake. I lined my pans with parchment paper-that way I didn't have to worry about greasing the pans or washing between bakings-since I was able to use the same paper for all the layers. 

Once the layers were baked I set them aside to cool on a rack.

 

Part 2: Apple filling

• 1 pound of dried apples (I used 4 cups of dried apples)
• water
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice

Cover apples in a pot with water and cook; keep a fairly close eye on the apples as you may have to add additional water while they cook. Once apples are soft enough to mash, add the other ingredients and mix well.

Part 3: Assembly

Place a cake layer on a cake plate and spread with apple filling. Repeat until you reach the last layer.

Whether you put apple filling on the top layer is up to you. Many cooks put apple filling all over the outside of the cake-just like you would any other icing. 

Since I wanted to recreate what I made at the folk school, I didn't put apple filling on top of the cake, but I did sprinkle it with powdered sugar. During the class, the students used ivy leaves as stencils for their powdered sugar.

I left the cake sitting on the counter till the following day. I believe the recipe said to place it in the frig-but I forgot-and it didn't seem to hurt the cake at all. I did refrigerate what wasn't eaten once it was cut.

Part 4: Custard Sauce

• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups half-n-half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt

Custard sauce is not part of the traditional apple stack cake recipe-however it makes a good thing an even better thing. I had never made custard sauce before the cooking class at the folk school-but since the class I have made it as an accompaniment for all sorts of desserts.

To make the sauce: beat yolks in a metal bowl that will fit over a saucepan in the manner of a double boiler. As you beat the yolks, add sugar a little at a time.

Once sugar is added, increase the mixer speed-scraping bowl as needed-and beat until mixture is thick and lemon colored.

Add half-n-half and mix well. Move bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook custard over water stirring often until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add vanilla and salt. Remove from heat and cool in frig or by immersing in a bowl of ice water.

The custard will be thin-it will thicken up slightly once it cools but not very much.

Part 5: EAT

After the apple stack cake has sit over night-slice a thin piece (or a thick piece) and drizzle custard over it or under it (or don't drizzle custard over it or under it) and eat!

If you like apples and sweet spicy cinnamony things-you will think this is one of the best cakes ever-at least this bunch does.

If you give the recipe a try, let me know how your cake turns out.

Tipper

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Apple Stack Cake = The Cake Of Love

Freshly assembled traditional apple stack cake

I've heard about apple stack cakes my whole live long life-but I never tasted one until I co-taught a cooking class at the folk school. After making the cake in class, we also discussed the reasons why apple stack cake has become almost synonymous with Appalachia. 

Fellow blogger, Dave Tabler covered much of the history on his great site-Appalachian History:

At holidays and weddings, early mountain settlers traditionally served stack cake in lieu of more fancy, and costly, cakes. Neighbors would each bring a layer of the cake to the bride’s family, which they spread with apple filling as they arrived. It was said that the number of cake layers the bride got determined how popular she was. 

Kentucky lays claim to originating the dessert via Kentucky pioneer washday cake. “Some food historians say that James Harrod, the colonist and farmer who founded Harrodsburg in 1774, brought the stack cake to Kentucky from his home in Pennsylvania,” observes Mark F. Sohn in Appalachian Home Cooking: History, Culture, and Recipes. “While Harrod may have brought the first stack cake to Kentucky, the cake could not have been common until more than 100 years later when flour became readily available.” Tennessee proudly points to Tennessee stack cake as the first, but in fact variations of the cake abound throughout the region.

On the website, GILT Taste, Stella Parks discusses an interesting phenomenon regarding the apple stack cake recipe. The first widely published recipe for the cake appeared in 1980-however historians know the cake has been around much longer than the year 1980. Regarding the absence of published recipes Ms. Parks wrote:

Some more digging in cookbooks, though, and I found that while apple stack cake may not have appeared in print before the 1980s, it may be in part because, like the brides who served it at their infares, it too changed its name. In those early years, it appeared in cookbooks everywhere under the guise of “apple short cake.” Helen M. Robinson’s The Practical Cook Book, published in 1864, describes apple short cake as a huge biscuit wheel, split in two and filled with stewed apples; a cro-magnon sort of stack cake, but still. By 1877‘s The Cultivator & Country Gentleman, Volume 42, it had evolved into two biscuit wheels, split, brushed with melted butter, filled with homemade apple jam, stacked, sprinkled with nutmeg, and served warm with fresh sweet cream poured over the top. (A preparation known in the trade as, “holy mother of yum.”)

A decade later, the ghost of Alvin Wood Chase would push apple short cake toward its final incarnation. Chase, last seen elucidating the origins of red velvet cake, died three years before the publication of his Third, Last, and Complete Receipt Book and Household Physician, but in it he includes a “receipt” for Apple Short Cake. Where previous recipes for apple short cake revolved around simple buttermilk biscuits, Chase’s “sweet short cake” contained both sugar and egg, marking the first step of apple short cake’s transformation into a proper cake.

Ms. Parks also points out that while the recipe for apple stack cake wasn't popular enough to appear in a nationally published cookbook till 1980, it was published in literally hundreds of community or church type cookbooks from all areas of Appalachia over the years preceding 1980.

It only took one bite of the cake for me to understand the way people go on about apple stack cakes-it is beyond yum! But after studying the history of the cake, I do believe I'd like it no matter the taste-because I see it as a cake of true love.

Love because it symbolized a holy union between a loving couple.

Love because traditionally each layer was made with love by people who wanted the loving couple to get a good start on marriage.

Love because for years and years the recipe was saved and handed down from one generation to the next-even though the culinary world at large wasn't much interested in it.

Love because for generations the cake has defined not only marriages in Appalachia-but also Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, and any other celebration you can name.

Come back in a few days and I'll show you how to make one yourself!

Tipper

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Appalachia Through My Eyes - Love

Photo of Alyce and Drew Williams sometime before or after their marriage in 1931. Photo taken in Hancock County, Vardy, Tennessee. Holding Library: King College.

Since Thursday is Valentine's Day, many people consider this the week of Love. Here in Appalachia there will be teddy-bears, candy, and roses galore given to those who are loved-or who are at least greatly desired for this moment in time.

Papaw Tony calls that kind of sweet romantic stuff he-ing and she-ing. When I was young my elders called it courting. The kids today-I have no clue what they call it-dating maybe?

Over the next few days we'll talk about love here on the Blind Pig-but don't worry we won't get too mushy. Come back tomorrow to see how the most famous dessert in Appalachia is all about love.

Tipper

p.s. Aren't Alyce and Drew one of the most lovely couples you've ever seen? 

*Source for photo Digital Library of Appalachia.

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Fried Apple Pies - Or Not Fried Apple Pies

Today's post was originally published here on the Blind Pig in October of 2010. With all the talk of apples I thought it would be a good time to repost it.

 
Today I'm going to show you how Granny makes Fried Apple Pies. I bet most of you have already noticed-the pie in the picture isn't fried. If you did-you're smarter than I am-it took me 20 years to figure that out. Well not really. I always knew they weren't fried-but Granny and all the rest of us-call them fried pies. Sometime after I was grown-probably the first time I made them myself-I realized we called them fried pies even though they're not.

 
First Granny opens a jar of applesauce-along with sugar to taste she warms it through on the stove.

 
While the applesauce warms-Granny turns the oven on to-450 degrees-then she makes the dough.

 
Granny sifts 2 cups of plain (all purpose) flour and 1 teaspoon of salt into a mixing bowl. Granny says-don't forget the salt or the pies won't be any good.

 
Next add 2/3 cups of shortening to the flour/salt mix.

 
Mix the shortening into the flour-a pastry cutter works good-but Granny just uses her fingers. (thats how she makes biscuits too-with her hands)

 
Once the shortening is mixed thoroughly with the flour-Granny said to add 5 to 6 tablespoons of cold water-but she added more than that.

 
 
After the flour has come together in a stiff dough Granny divides it into 6 lumps.

 
Granny said "everybody has their own way of doing this part-and this is how I do it." She rolls each lump out to about the size of a salad plate.

 
As Granny rolls each lump out she piles them in a plate with flour between each to prevent them from sticking.

 
When Granny is through rolling out the dough-she puts the excess flour back into the canister "so it don't waste."

 
On a greased bread pan, Granny puts a large spoonful of applesauce in the center of each round, folds it over,

 

and crimps the edges shut with her fingers. She takes a fork and pokes holes in the top of each pie to let the steam escape-then bakes the pies at 450 for about 20 minutes or till light brown. (if you want them a deeper golden brown-Granny says to brush the tops with melted butter before you bake them)

 

So there you have it-Granny's Fried-I mean Baked Apple Pies. They are delicious piping hot straight from the oven-but they're good the next day with a glass of cold milk too.

I asked Granny why she baked the pies instead of frying-I thought maybe her mother did it that way too. Granny said somewhere along the way she started baking them cause she was never pleased with how her fried ones turned out.

Have you ever seen anyone else who bakes them?

Tipper

p.s. Granny's 'fried' pies also work great with my biscuit recipe if you're a fan of it!

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Making Jelly From Apple Peelings

Once I had the dehydrator loaded with apples I walked out to see what the girls were doing, read my book, or just starred off into space (if you didn't know-staring off into space is medicine for the soul)

In between my apple drying cycles-I let all the peelings and cores pile up in a giant pot.

After all the apples were dried-I washed the cores and peelings in cold water and put them back in the giant pot with water to cover.

I got Papaw or The Deer Hunter to light the coleman stove for me and I cooked the peelings for about an hour-making sure the water didn't evaporate. 

I poured the apples through a colander into another big pot. I used the back of a metal spoon to squeeze all of the juice out of the peelings before discarding them.

I let the juice cool completely-then poured it into clean gallon jugs-I had enough to fill two. By the time I got to this point in my apple project-it was almost time to go home. I put the juice in the frig until the next day when it was time to head for home.

I kept the juice in the frig until a few days later when I had time to make apple jelly.

I've read apple juice has enough pectin in it to jell the sugar when you make jelly-but I didn't want to chance it so I used store bought pectin.

To make apple jelly: combine pectin and 5 cups of apple juice in a large pot over medium high heat and bring mixture to a full rolling boil. Add 7 cups of sugar-stirring to combine.

Bring mixture to a full rolling boil and boil for one minute. Pour hot jelly into sterilized jars and seal. 

According to Chitter-it's the best apple jelly EVER! It is good-but I like knowing I got dried apples and jelly out of my apples.

Tipper

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Dried Apples And Apple Jelly Step One

Me and the girls slipped off to deer camp with The Deer Hunter for a few days last fall-I told you about the rock hunting but I didn't tell you about the apples. 

A week or so before our trip I came into a hoard of apples-they were given to me by a sweet lady. Things were so busy I didn't get to do anything with the apples before we left-but I needed to do something with them. Pondering my predicament I decided to take them with me-I knew I'd have time to put them up while we were at deer camp.

The Deer Hunter said "Are you crazy why are you taking all those apples and that dehydrator?" I said "I'm driving my own car so don't worry about what I'm taking."

In between goofing off, reading, and relaxing I'd peel apples-being sure to save the peeling.

Once peeled, I quartered them and removed the core pieces-saving them as well. I used to have an apple peeler/corer but I have no clue what happened to it.

Then I cut the quarters into slices for drying. I like my dried apples fairly substantial-so I cut the slices about a quarter of an inch thick. One of my friends likes hers crunchy so she cuts them really thin-its a matter of preference.

My yard-sale dehydrator has stackable trays-so all I have to do is lay the apple slices on the trays, stack them up, and turn it on. I never time how long it takes I just keep a check on them-sometimes I rotate the trays if one seems to be drying faster than others. And I always end up taking slices out that seem to dry quicker than others. 

If you're worried about them turning brown I've heard you can dip the slices in lemon juice before drying-but brown doesn't bother me so I skip that step.

I've read where people dry apples and then store them in the freezer-but I don't. I put mine in either a sealed canning jar or a freezer bag and store them in a cabinet-they do fine for me-but if you're worried about them spoiling-put yours in the freezer.

I was serenaded by this bunch during part of my apple drying time which was super nice. 

I do believe deer camp is the place to dry apples because I thoroughly enjoyed it! But that could have been because the apples were my only real responsibility during those days.

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you what I did with the peelings and cores.

Tipper

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The Best Ever Macaroni And Cheese

Are you a macaroni and cheese fan? I am. Granny never made it much when I was growing up-but I always looked for it as I walked along the side of a potluck table.

After I graduated high school I had 2 friends who basically lived on the boxed variety of macaroni and cheese. It was the first time any of us had ever been out on our own (we all hung out there) and it didn't take us long to realize groceries = money.

Even though it came in a box we all loved it-one girl said she liked the macaroni and cheese we made so much-because when her mother made it-she never drained the water out of the macaroni before adding the rest of the ingredients to the pot. We hysterically laughed about that as only all knowing teenage girls can. Now when I think about the mother and her watery macaroni I think well maybe that's how she like it! Age makes such a difference in how you view the world-even the world of macaroni.

After The Deer Hunter and I were married I made a macaroni and cheese recipe I found in my Betty Crocker Cookbook-and it was pretty good-miles above the box for sure.

Somewhere along the way 2 picky little girls who shall remain nameless decided they would only eat macaroni and cheese if it came in box. That's all Granny needed to hear-she practically bought stock in Kraft so that her malnourished (remember the gold fish) grandkids would have something to eat. So I gave up and made the box variety for years-until...

A few months ago I started rethinking the box and found a recipe for creamy macaroni and cheese on food.com. It's hands down the best macaroni and cheese I have ever eaten-period. However-it is neither the cheapest nor the one with the least amount of calories.

You need:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup plain flour (all purpose)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 cups half-n-half
• 2 cups milk
• 20oz. shredded cheddar cheese
• 10oz. shredded extra sharp cheese (or whatever cheese you like)
• 16oz. cooked elbow macaroni

I usually have a block of cheddar cheese so I grate 20oz of that-then for the other 10ozes the recipe calls for-I use whatever I have on hand swiss, mozzarella, asigo, etc. 

In a large pot melt butter and gradually add flour while whisking over medium-high heat. Cook mixture for 2 minutes. Add in salt, pepper, mustard, and garlic powder.

Gradually pour in half-n-half and milk while whisking. Cook/whisk mixture for 8 to 10 minutes-until it thickens.

Add half of the sharp cheddar cheese to the mixture-stirring until melted. Save the other half of sharp cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top of the macaroni.

Stir in the other variety of cheese-then stir in the cooked elbows. 

Pour macaroni into a greased 13x9 pan-sprinkle with reserved cheese-and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. 

Not only is this the best macaroni and cheese ever-it reheats really well. Sometimes I'll make a pan over the weekend and we eat it during the week for those rushed weeknight suppers. 

The best part-this macaroni and cheese has even made a believer out of the picky girls-so I can say goodbye to the boxed variety-at least I think I can.

Tipper

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