Fall in the Smoky Mountains

Anyone who knows me knows that fall is my very favorite time of year.  I love the changing leaves, the cool weather, soft sweaters, hot teas, and the sound of migrating geese as they turn their V’s back to the south.  Last weekend, I had the opportunity to celebrate the coming of autumn by drive north into Cherokee County, North Carolina to visit a friend. The two of us travelled through the foothills of the Smoky Mountains on Saturday and spent the better part of Sunday at the John C. Campbell Folk School’s annual Fall Festival (http://www.folkschool.org).  The event reminded me of being a kid and spending time with my family at a similar place, the Ozark Folk Center near Mountain View, Arkansas (http://www.ozarkfolkcenter.com).  The Folk School’s Fall Festival had a really nice selection of beautiful art and handmade crafts. There was also mountain music to listen to and traditional foods like meat pies, hot beans, and apple turnovers to try.  It was everything that the first weekend of fall should be.


In honor of this glorious time of year, I thought that I would write about my favorite fall foods, but to be honest, the list is way too long. There are so many things that I love to cook that, like my favorite sweaters, I leave packed away through the warmer months.  My mom’s famous beef stew is a perfect example. In fact, I just finished making my first batch of the year this week (substituting fresh deer for stew beef of course…sorry mom).  But mom’s stew is in good company with my homemade chili, ham and beans, and pot roast with root vegetables. I decided that instead of trying to cover such a wide spread, I would dedicate this fall food blog to a single ingredient that epitomizes the season for so many people: the apple.  I really came to appreciate apples as an icon of fall when I lived in Missouri, where the arrival of apples, pecans, pumpkins, and alpaca fiber to the local farmer’s market marked the bitter sweet culmination of the year’s harvest.  My first apple recipe is actually something I made for the first time just recently, and it was an absolute hit!

Apples and Pork Chops
4 bone-in pork chops
2 Tsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar
Salt, pepper & cloves
1/8 Tsp cinnamon (heaping slightly)
1/8 Tsp nutmeg (heaping slightly)
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tart green apples (washed, cored, and sliced thin)
4 Tbsp pecans (halved or roughly chopped)

Preheat oven to 200°F and place a medium sized baking dish with lid in the oven to warm. Heat a large cast-iron skillet on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Brush the pork chops with the vegetable oil and place in the hot skillet. (You may have to add a little more oil depending on how well your skillet is seasoned.) Salt and pepper the pork chops lightly on each side as they cook and turn them occasionally for even browning. Cook the pork chops for 5-10 minutes, or until they are just cooked through. Remove the chops from the skillet and place them in the covered dish for continued warming. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg along with a dash of salt, pepper, and cloves.  When the pork chops have been removed from the skillet, reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, dry mixture, and sliced apples.  Cover and cook, stir occasionally, until the apples are tender.  Then, remove the apples with a slotted spoon (leaving the juice) and place them in the baking dish on top of the pork chops. Leave the lid off the skillet and add the pecans. Continue to cook the liquid and pecans, stir constantly, until the mixture has reduced to a moderately thick sauce and pecans appear slightly caramelized.  Pour the entire combination over the apples and pork chops and serve immediately.

When I made this recipe, I realized that I didn’t have a tight fitting lid for my cast iron skillet, and I ended up needing to add liquid back to have enough sauce and to keep the apples from burning.  I didn’t want to use apple juice because I was afraid it would be too sweet. Likewise, oil would probably lend a greasy flavor.  Butter cooks off too quickly, and water would dilute the spices. My solution: apple cider vinegar. It worked like a dream, adding moisture and tanginess without being too sweet or too strong.  In the end, the pork chop and apple dinner was perfect.  It would be great for low key entertaining, and it didn’t even take that long to make (~45 min).

My next recipe is something that I modified from an item on the menu at Café Berlin in Columbia, Missouri (or as my husband likes to call it, “that hippy place.”) I mention this nickname freely because I think the people who run this local food, whole grain, part organic, vegetarian friendly-type joint would take it as a compliment, and well they should.  It was one of my favorite places for breakfast in Columbia, and this is my take on one of their best dishes:

Apples and Sausage

1 tart apple (washed, cored, and sliced)
1 smoked sausage link (approximately 12")
2 Tbs vegetable oil
3 Tbsp maple syrup
¼ cup apple juice OR ¼ cup apple cider vinegar + 2 Tbsp brown sugar
Cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper

Slice the smoked sausage on a diagonal into ¼ to ½ inch thick medallions. Heat the oil in a medium cast-iron skillet and add the sausage medallions. Cook on medium-high heat until browned on both sides. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Soak-up any excess oil in the pan. Add the apple slices and juice (or vinegar).  Season the dish to taste with cinnamon, cloves, and pepper.  Cover and cook, stirring frequently, until the apples are soften. Remove the lid and allow the liquid to reduced to a runny syrup. Serve in a bowl or on top of pancakes or waffles

My last recipe is one of my all time favorites, but I will admit that it’s more of a Christmas apple dish than a fall one. None the less, I just can’t write about apples and leave it out. I’ll try to tie it back to fall by pointing out that in the time before refrigerators, a person would have had to plan ahead in the fall for recipes like this by drying fresh apples for later use.  I picked this recipe out of a copy of Southern Living a long time ago. To be honest, I don’t even remember exactly when, but it has been the envy of Christmas parties ever since.

Appalachian Apple Stack Cake (My name for it, not the published name)
Cake:
1/3 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco type product not vegetable oil)
½ cup sugar
1 large egg
4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tsp baking powder
1 Tsp baking soda
½ Tsp salt
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup molasses
2 ½ Tsp sugar

Beat shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or until creamy. Add ½ cup sugar gradually, beating for 5 to 7 minutes.  Add the egg and beat until the yellow disappears.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Combine the buttermilk and molasses in a large measuring cup.  Gradually add the flour combination to the shortening, alternating with the molasses and buttermilk.  You should begin and end with the flour mixture. Beat until well blended.  Divide the dough into 5 equal parts.  Place each portion into a greased and floured 9-inch round cake pan or a similarly sized cast-iron skillet.  Firmly press the dough into the pan with clean, floured fingers.  Use a fork to prick the surface of the cake and sprinkle the top with the remaining sugar.  Bake the cake for 10 minutes at 400°F. 

Filling:
3 (6 oz) packages dried apple slices
6 Cups water
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1 Tsp ground ginger
1 Tsp ground cinnamon
½ Tsp ground allspice
½ Tsp ground nutmeg

Stir together apples and water in a large sauce pan or dutch oven.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the apples are tender/rehydrated.  Stir in the sugar and spices, return the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Cool the filling completely.

Layer the cakes and filling, starting and ending with cake.  I’ve served the final product within a few hours of making it, and it was delicious.  But the original recipe claims that it should sit for a minimum of two days for the best flavor.  I’ll be honest: I just don’t have that much patience.

I hope ya'll enjoy the recipes.  Please send me some of yours and have a very happy fall!!

Photos by Jenn Ballard

Cutting to the Chase

I want to dedicate this blog to five very special people.  They will know who they are, but for discretion’s sake, their names will not be listed.  I want to dedicate this little article to these very special people because they have inspired me. They have shown courage, persistence, and grace in the face of unbelievable circumstances. These five people, my friends and family, have inspired me because they have all suffered from, battled against, and beaten a common enemy: cancer.  The exact types have varied, as have the symptoms and struggles, but they are all an inspiration to me.  Like most people I have made donations from time to time and walked in a race or two, but it never seemed like I could do much that would really make a difference.  For quite some time I have wanted to do more, but, with my extremely limited time and fiscal resources, I didn’t know what more I could do. 

It was in hearing a story about one of these five people that I found a new way to show my support.  I have known this beautiful woman my whole life.  For as long as I can remember she has worn her long blonde hair most of the way down her back.   When she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer not so long ago, she decided to cut her hair before her treatments began.  So many people I know, possibly myself included, would have made a braid and kept it in a box to remember the “before.” Some people might have bitterly left it all on the salon floor.  But in the most graceful gesture I have ever heard of, she donated her hair for wigs for other cancer patients. Today, I am overjoyed to say that she has recovered nicely from her treatments.

It took a few months for this story to sink in and become an actual course of action for me.  It was sometime last fall when it finally occurred to me that if she could make such a beautiful gesture, the least I could do would be to put my vanity aside for a few months to match it.  I started growing my hair out about nine months ago.  My plan had been to keep growing it so that my own hair would remain somewhat long after I made the donation, but somehow, last week just felt right. I made an appointment at the Republic Salon (http://www.republicsalon.com/) here in Athens, Georgia, and they gladly obliged.  Here is the finished product....The person holding it was the very talented stylist who helped with this project. I only cut her face out for privacy sake.

The last thing I want is to make this blog about me. I did this to praise the people who have inspired me.  After all, hair grows back. However, I did manage to get a cute new short "do" out of it, and I would recommend Republic to anyone in the Athens area. They were very helpful with the whole donation process, and I promised to include a picture of myself for curious friends and family.

There are actually several groups that take donations like this.  You can choose the one that is closest to your heart, the one your salon is familar with, or the one meets your needs in terms of hair length.  For more information, you can read the article "How to Donate Your Hair to Cancer Patients" at  http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20411427,00.html. It pretty much runs through the how-to's of everything you need to know.

I'm really excited to have been able to do this as a show of support for my brave friends and family. Actually, I'm really hoping that they like it since it was meant to be a surprise. But the truth is that people make donations like this everyday. In talking about my plans, I found out that several of my friends are on their second and third donation cycles.  It's something that almost anyone can do, and when people ask you about the change, you can tell them about the brave people in your life.

Think about it...maybe today is your day to do a little something more.

Selling a House, Moving, and What Not....

I’ve clearly fallen behind in writing my blog, a fact that I’m sure my readers have noticed (Hi Mom!).  This has been a summer full of changes and excitement, not to mention stress and acid reducers. Most of you guys know that I just finished school this spring and accepted a job in Georgia. I’m excited to be going back to the South, although I did enjoy spreading a little “southern comfort” around the Midwest for the last four years. This endeavor has meant trying to “finish” our Missouri fixer-upper (in as much as such projects are ever really complete). It has also meant putting that same house up for sale on a rather dismal housing market, packing our things, and moving some 12+ hours away. In the mean time and because I have vowed to use this blog to share information and insight rather than to blather on about my own feelings (27 is too young to write one’s memoirs), I thought I would share the valuable list of “must do’s” that my realtor ran me through to prepare our house for the market.

1. Keep everything clean. This one is something of a given, but that’s because it’s actually the most important thing you can do. Pick up your underwear, clean AND put away your dishes, dust and polish ‘til it hurts. In my realtor’s words…”it should look like a catalog.”

2. In keeping with the “catalog” theme, the next advice I received was to declutter. This one was a hard pill for me to swallow because one realtor’s clutter may be another person’s prized antique glass collection. Pride swallowed and chased with a shot, I decided not to take any of this personally. Taking down a few decorations (even ones you love) makes your house look bigger. Bigger is good.

3. Shed some light on the subject….One of the more surprising pieces of advice I got was to replace all of the compact fluorescent bulbs (CFB’s) in my house with the old-school incandescent types. These, it turns out, are actually brighter than the more eco-friendly CFB’s , and good lighting is a big selling point. Being the eco-nut/cheapskate that I am, I freely admit that I packed up all the CFB’s and brought them with me to the next house.

4. The other side of the lighting argument is that some realtors don’t even turn on the lights when they walk into your house. Therefore, keeping all the window treatments open full tilt will provide natural lighting and make the house look larger without the flip of a switch.

5. When my realtor asked me if there was “something I could do” about my dogs, I was tempted to ask if there was something he could “do” about his kids….I refrained. Understandably, leaving your pets at home intimidates some people and will keep them from spending much time (if any) in your house. It’s best if you can take them for a walk or drive during planned showings.

6. As scary as it is to invite total strangers to come “check out” your house AND turn off your security system, it’s actually recommended that such systems get temporarily shut down to prevent accidental set offs and to stop constant chirping on the part of the alarm. Realtors and buyers alike tend to find constant alarm-type sounds disconcerting, and they are more likely to rush through the showing.

7. Keep the lawn and gardens tidy because your curb appeal is half the battle.

8. Make sure the house is well marked with the address so that it is easy to locate.

I hope that these tips will be useful to anyone planning to sell their house now or in the future. As for my husband and I, we have gone on to settle in a slightly larger rental near Winder, Georgia. It’s been a mixed bag of extra space, great views, and renters’ remorse, but that’s a blog for another day. I guess that’s it for now, but it goes without saying that if anyone out there is looking for a tidy little three bedroom in central Missouri, I know one that is priced to sell!

You Will Never Be Alone

Written and performed by: Cosimo

Didn't I tell you when I met your eye
that I never need to look away from who you are inside
Didn't I show you when I held your hand
that my heart would always linger even when my body can't

What happens next when all the little things
that make you second guess come back
Take a step away to the truths you know
The sun will always shine, and you will never be alone

Didn't I convince you when I touched your hair
that our love would always flourish even when the land is bare
Didn't I reach you when I kissed you right
that the moment would continue even when I'm gone from sight

What happens next we'll never know for sure,
but if you second guess, come back
Take a step away to the truths you know
The birds will always sing, and you will never be alone

What happens next we'll never know for sure
But if you second guess come back
Take a step away to the truths you know
The sun will always shine, and you will never be alone
The birds will always sing, and you will never be alone
The sun will always shine, and you will never be alone

Available on iTunes

The Devil Inside Them...

My mom and aunt were recently sorting through some of my grandmother's things. In the process, they passed along to me something I consider very special: my grandmother's deviled egg dish. The deviled egg dish probably violates all of Alton Brown's rules about kitchen items needing to multitask. It's pretty much a one trick pony, but it was considered a kitchen essential for southern women in my grandmother's generation. The deviled egg was considered the quintessential finger food for showers, barbeques, and parties of almost any kind. I'd like to think this dish still holds a very important place in the heart of southern culture. To honor my latest kitchen treasure, I'm going to share my recipe for deviled eggs.



Everyone has probably had the stereotypical deviled egg...yolks mashed with pickle relish, mayonnaise, and mustard with a little salt, pepper, and a garnish of paprika. This standard arrangement is probably the reason I came around to liking deviled eggs later in life...I don't really like pickle relish. I tried a friend's version once that had all the usual ingredients except the relish. That was good but a little bland. Finally, I did my own research and discovered that Joy of Cooking (my default guide for everything food) doesn't even call for pickle relish! According to this reference the deviled egg is actually a southern variation on the stuffed egg. The "deviled" part comes from hot sauce and paprika...ironic since I'm not sure I'd ever seen anyone use hot sauce in their recipe. After playing with all this for a bit...I landed on a version that I really like.

No matter what recipe you use, it's hard to disagree that good deviled eggs start with one key ingredient: good boiled eggs. My friend Maria (who will get a good laugh at being mentioned here) informed me several months ago that there is actually a proper way to boil eggs. Returning to my Joy of Cooking, I discovered that she is totally right. To boil an egg correctly, you bring a small pot of water to a simmer (not an actual boil). Add the eggs gently, making sure the water covers them all completely. When the water returns to a simmer, start the clock. You'll need 14 minutes for your average large egg (12 min for medium or small eggs and 15 min for jumbo eggs). Keep the water simmering but not boiling for the duration. When the timer goes off, plunge the eggs immediately into ice water to stop the cooking. You'll find that this process actually makes perfectly cooked, fluffy eggs with yolks that aren't chalky or hard. Despite my deep love for fresh, free range eggs, it turns out that eggs that are too fresh won't peel very well when they're boiled. Store bought is the way to go for this or at least letting your farmer's market eggs sit in the fridge for a week.

After you peel your eggs, cut them in half parallel to their long axis (so they look like an avocado). Place the yolks in a mixing bowl and the whites on your deviled egg dish. I like to chill the whites while I make the filling because I think it makes them firmer and less likely to tear. With the yolks, mix the following ingredients:

Jenn's Deviled Egg Filling  (a slight variation on "Deviled Eggs" Page 126 in The All New Joy of Cooking)

4 yolks removed from hard boiled eggs and mashed
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise or miracle whip
2 teaspoons freshly minced chives
1/2-1 teaspoon spicy dijon mustard
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon vinegar (any type)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
pinch of curry powder (optional)
hot sauce to taste



Be sure you mash your yolks first or you'll never get the filling smooth. When it says "any type" in regards to the vinegar, I have found that regular white vinegar will give a more classic "pickle relish" taste. Apple cider vinegar adds a hint of sweetness, and balsamic vinegar adds a really interesting tanginess. Once the filling is smoothly mixed, spoon it into a ziplock bag. Cut off a small piece from one of the lower corners of the bag and leave at least part of the zip top open for air to escape. Use the whole thing like a pastry bag to pipe the filling into the egg whites. Garnish with ground red pepper or paprika and serve chilled.
References:
Rombauer IS, Becker MR, and Becker E, 1997. The All New, All Purpose Joy of Cooking. Scribner Publishing. Pages 125-126.