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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1957-03-07, Page 2Applesauce ! l ! In Mother's early years of bousekeeping at the start of the century, there was little fruit sold in the stores during winter months. Bananas were never in evidence and oranges were con- sidered holiday luxuries. Dried prunes could be obtained but; dried dates and apricots were bought only for special occa- sions. The apple was Mother's stand- by, and applesauce was the stan- dard supper dessert. We ate it from November to May but we never tired of it because Mother served it with so many varia- tions. The sauce was always made from firm, first -quality apples, for that was the only kind that Father considered wintering. The apples were stored in the west end of the cellar, where they filled the cool air with heavy fragrance. The McIntosh barrel was • always placed near- est the cellar stairs because the °'Macs" had to be used first, for , they were 'poor keepers" after Christmas. The yellow Bellflow- ers, the huge Tompkins King, the spicy Nodheads, and the red- cheeked Baldwins were each stored in their own barrel. We children could recognize each variety by its odor and the tex- ture of its skin so that we need- ed no candle when we went to the darkened cellar to fill the apple pan. Whether Mother was making sauce from Bellflowers or Bald- wins, she always added a gener- ous portion of dairy butter to the hot mixture when she removed it from the stove. The sauce was usually served in china sauce dishes but occasionally Mother used glass fruit dishes or dainty teacups, capping each serving with a spoonful of jelly or a dab of whipped cream, writes Esther E. Wood in The Christian Sel- ene Monitor. In the fall and early winter while our home -harvested cran- berries were still fresh and firm, Mother made a combination sauce that we children called "cyan -apple sauce." Cooked cran- berries were put through the potato masher and the rich, red }nice that was extracted was combined with applesauce, mak- ing a dessert that was lovely to see and delicious to eat. Now and then another combination was tried. Father preferred the THE UNEVEN hemline is shown. for spring by. Jacques Heim in a dress of printed green taf- feta. Skirt Is short in front but ends in a train. Bodice has V- shaped neckline. gooseberry -apple mixture but the younger members of the family chose the strawberry - apple combination as their fa- vorite. On cold winter afternoons when it was necessary to have a hot fire in the kitchen stove in order to warm the room, Mother made baked • applesauce, She placed finely cut• apples in a shallow pan, sprinkled the pieces with sugar and cinnamon,. and added a cup of water. In the long, slow cooking the water boiled away, leaving a rich, jellylike liquid in the corners of the pan. Boiling and baking were not the only ways of making sauce that Mother knew. We consid- ered her steamed applesauce a great treat. Once or twice dur- ing the winter, Father brought home a package of dried figs and Mother sought to make -the figs "spend well" by combining them with apples. Both figs and apples were ground in the food chop- per and then cooked slowly in the top of a double boiler. No water was added to the mixture but when it was removed from the heat, butter and a small quantity of sugar were stirred into the rich sauce. Sugar was not the only sweet- ening used for applesauce. Sometimesmaple syrup or mo- lasses or jelly was added. There is nothing prettier than apple- sauce sweetened with grape jelly. Today we have bananas and oranges all winter. All sorts of / 1?Sous dried fruits are ob- -:able at the stores. Frozen fruits are tempting in taste and reasonable in price. ' But our family continues to regard apple- sauce as the standard supper dessert. Not infrequently, one hears the quaery, 'when are we going to have steamed apple- sauce for supper?" Hush- ush! For some time now British Railways have been carrying out hush-hush experiments aimed at reducing the noise of their trains. One took place near the small village of Cropredy in Ox- fordshire. • The usual 100 -ft. rails • were workshop - welded into 300 -ft. Iengths. At the site they were further welded into 600 -ft lengths of line. Thus, net only was the noisy click -click of the wheels reduced sixfold, but wear and tear also. The men on the job included highly skilled engineers and sci- entists, for the joins in the weld- ing have to be as smoothas Iliad - ern technicians can make them. Cropredy itself is on the.. main line between Paddington and Birmingham so that the experi- ' mental work had to be done dur- ing slack periods at week -ends.. Trains tested over the track in- clude passenger expresses, light: engines• and heavy freight trains. If the results are satisfsretory the work will be continued else- where and may in time cover the whole of Britain. But a British Railways spokesman was careful to emphasize that there's no question of .a large-scale con- version. The work would cost millions and would take years. If it is done it will be carried out bit by bit with the minimum of interruption to main line • traf- fic. "You would have followed ine to the ends of the earth ' beg- ging me to marryY you," storm- ed a wife during an argument with her husband. "If I had," he replied, "I -ought to have pushed you off." RELAXED, HE SAYS After 12 years' practice, 47 -year-old Iver Johnson has perfected his stunt of floating vertically in fresh water without any bodily rn +'etnent. Here the refired account- ant, dubbed the "Human Cork", demonstrates his technique while hording a tray and -cup above water. Johnson says a serene mind and intense concentration are necessary to float Vertically. He once was timed floating this way for 20 minutes, ROYAL REUNION — Ending a four-month separation that caused rumors of a rift between them, Queen Elizabeth and her hus- band, the Duke of Edinburgh, walk down a ramp of an airliner following the Queen's arrival in Lisbon, Portugal. ABLE cam vews. If you like meringue -topped, pies, perhaps you would like to make this pear pie. In it,the delicate flavor of canned Tear Ls enhanced with sour cream and a sprinking of nutmeg. "PEARADISE PIE" 1 No. 21/2 can Bartlett pear, halves Pastry for`a single crnstt�4 1 pie 1/2 cup sugar 2 egg yolks 1 tablespoon flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/z teaspobn nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup sour cream ' Line .9 -inch pie pan with pas- try. Drain pears; slice into . pie . pan .on pastry. Beat .egg,youlks. until lemon colored; add sugar, flour,salt, nutmeg and vanilla. Beat until - smooth. ,Stir in sour cream. Pour over pear slices. Bake at 350° F. for 50-55 min- utes. Spread meringue over top of pie; bake at 350° F. for 10 min- utes. Meringue: Whip 2 egg whites until frothy; add 1 cup sugar and 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar gradually, beating until stiff. * * • CHERRY PIE 3 cups canned cherries, drained 34 cup sugar 23/2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 teaspoon salt cup juice drained from cherries 1 teaspoon lemon. juice • Dough for 2 -crust 9 -inch pie 2 tablespoons butter Combine corn starch, sugar, salt, and cherry juice in sauce, pan. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly,. until mixture thickens and comes to bpil. Add drained cher- ries, and lemon juice. Line pie pan with half the dough; pour in cherry mixture; dot with but- ter. Roll out remaining dough; cut several slits; place over cherry mixture and seal and flute edges. Place pie in lowest rack position in oven. Bake at 450° F. for 10 minutes, . then re- duce beat to 350° F. for another hour or until brown. w * While the weather is still cool, you may want to bake a pecan pie. Here is an easy way to do it. PECAN PIE 1 cup pecans 3 eggs 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup dark corn syrup 1/g teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 cup melted butter Dough for bottom pie crust Beat eggs and add sugar and syrup; add salt and vanilla, and, last, the melted butter. Mix. Roll dough and Spread in bottom of pie pan. Place pecans on dotigh in pan, Pour filling over pecans. Bake 350° F. for 50- 60 minutes. Nuts will,rise to top of filling and form a crusted layer. Here is a lemon pie with <a light and creamy texture and a tangy flavor that your family will like: LEMON VELVET CHIFFON PIE % cup sugar 4 tablespoons cornstarch 4 teaspoon salt cup boiling water 2 eggs, separated 2, tablespoons butter t� cup fresh lemon :juice 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel 1 tablespoon plain' gelatin 4/2 ,cup cold water 1.cup cream - 1 9 -inch baked pie shell Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in saucepan. Add ., boiling, water and.'while stirriiig con- atantly, cooky until thick;, and smooth. ' Remove from heat and .. mix in beaten egg yolks and butter. Cook over low heat, stir- ring constantly, for ,5 minutes. Remove from heat; add lemon, juice and peel. Dissolve gelatin in cold water and .. stir in the above . mixture; blend in cream. Let set until mixture begins to thicken. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour into baked 9 - Inch pie shell and let stand in cool place .until thick. Top with whipped cream, if desired. * • * A real party dessert is this refrigerator peppermint chiffon pie: . PEPPERMINT CHIFFON PIE 1 baked pastry shell (1 -inch) 2 teaspoons gelatin 1/ 'cup cold' water % .cup crushed peppermint stick 'candy Stone Trees Tell Colorado Story Nobody eve r associates, the cool, crisp air and the whisper- ing green pines of the Rockies with a tropical or subtropical climate. And yet, . according to geological records, several mil- lion years ago the Rocky Moun- tains were a maze of tropical forests, . inhabited with strange creatures such as dinosaurs and brontosaurs. How do we know all this? Because of the stories the rocks and petrified wood tell in And . one of the most. interesting stories has been preserved in the Pike Petrified Forest just 35 miles west of Colorado Springs, Colorado, . and 21 miles south of the village of Florissant. Here on a 40 acre tract there are more than 90 petrified stumps and fallen trees which date back at least 28 million. years. Fifteen of these stumps have been excavated, and work on others had been started. A living pine tree, estimated to be about 45 years, grows out of a petrified stump some 15 feet across. Another stump measures 173/4 feet in diameter, 103/4 feet high, and is estimated to weigh 140 tons. One fallen trunk about 20 feet long looks like charred wood which prob- ably means it had been burned before it was covered with lava, and petrified. Another stump sparkles brilliantly in the sun from its crystal content. ' The onp petrified trio, in the world rises majestically, and each stump of this unusual trio measures at least six feet across.., On examination you will find that the trio has a ' common 11k cups milk 3 -eggs, separated Vs teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup chopped nuts Soften gelatin in cold water. Place candy and milk over low heat in top of double boiler and stir over boiling water until candy melts. Beat egg yolks slightly. • Add salt and 2 table- spoons of sugar to egg yolks; rriin. well. Stir in part of hot milts mixture. Add to remaining hot milk. Cook until mixture coats spoon, 10-15 minutes. Stir In gelatin. Beat egg whites to soft peaks; add remaining sugar; fold into gelatin mixture. Turn ' into baked -shell. Decorate with nuts„chill, in refrigerator. root with a base diameter of 27 feet --probably larger than your living room. The tree sites show up as eir= miler outcroppings of petrified wood, shattered in small pieces. Then comes thebig job of ex- cavating a tedious, careful task because the trees are so brittle. A huge trench is dug around the site, about two feet from the tree, and the men work in toward the tree lifting out lay- ers of pumice, soil and silt. This pumice is interesting too as it shows the imprints of leaves, bugs, fishes, and other objects which existed in anti- quity. Some of the specimens seen in the museum on the property are ancestral elm which now are found living only in China, magnolia leaves, ancestral oak leaves, oregon grape leaves, myrtle leaves, cattails, and an- cestral ironwood leaves. There is the imprint of a 24 -inch trop- ical fish and many, many in- sects recorded on the pumice. Pumice is actually a volcanic ash which covered this area during the periods millions of years ago when some of the sur- rounding mountains were active volcanoes. In fact, the . volcanoes are really responsible for our accurate record of what. took place here in antiquity. Let's turn back the pages in Our geology book to find out what happened to these trees. and this area. During the Ceno- zaic period a great lake which now is known as Lake Floris- sant filled the valley. Giant ce- dars, sequoias, andother trees lived on its banks. During this • time a great upheaval took place forcing the mountains upward. The neighboring volcanoes erup- ted and volcanic ash driven by the wind fell into the lake and its feeder streams. Lava poured down taking with it soil and rock. The trees were broken off by the agglomerate which filled the lake, leaving the giant stumps and trunks. Then nature got busy and played another trick on the trees. Silica soaked through the agglomeration resulting in petri- fied trees. Petrifaction does not mean the tree turns to stone. It means that as each particle of the tree—the bark and fiber— is dissolved in the mineral wa- ter, a .bit of quartz takes its place, thus preserving the exact form of the tree. Small pockets and fissures are often filled with a different flow and thus the chalcedonys, opals, and calcite crystals also. appear. HAIR OF THE . DOG — In 'photo at 'left, it looks as if someone had left a large blonde wig next to five -month-old' Angela Coolen. Actually, as seen at right, the pile of hair was really a rare Lasha Apse—Champion Hamilton 'Torrna by name. '— who was supposed to be watching over the sleeping baby. . 'Circulating Percolator Cuts Coffee Costs BY EDNA MILES IRIMMING the family food budget and keep - ;big it that way is a big con- cern of most homemakers ;these days. Any real aids lin holding the food money line ,are most welcome. For the household con- suming cups and cups of coffee each day, there's a new coffee maker that's said to effect a 40 per cent sav- ing coffee costs. It works like this: What looks like a conventional percolator Contains a flaring funiiiel and cof- fee container into which you place 0 per eent the usual amount of coffee you use, A mild pressure builds up in the funnel land swirls and resWirls the hot {water through the ground coffee ►to extract full flavor. Actually, the coffee - making Isnethod is a combination of per- colator, drip and espresso. • As ith a percolator, the boiling water is brought by pump to the p of the stem. As in the drip method, the water temperature Is reduced to the correct point for st coffee. And, like espresso, /Hot water is swirled through t ground coffee to extract full New coffee pot is said to mean a 40 per cent savings in, coffee testis with the es0. wr flavor to boot,