Luscious Lemon Supreme

Luscious Lemon Supreme

Dorcas Annette Walker

The hot and humid days of August are perfect to enjoy bright yellow lemons whose zesty tartness seems to give a respite from the heat. I was amazed to discover oodles of uses for lemons. If you are like my husband, who refuses to drink my homemade lemonade declaring that it keeps him puckered up for a week, don’t despair. Keep reading and you will find a use for lemons to suit your taste.

It is widely thought that lemons first grew in India, Burma, and China then introduced to Persia, Iraq, and Egypt around AD 700. In India lemons were called “the golden apples” and were traded for valuables. The first lemon recorded was in a tenth century Arabic treatise on farming. Wealthy Victorians grew lemon trees indoors as a sign of prestige using the scented plants to keep their large estates smelling fresh and served fresh lemon wedges with their afternoon tea dances. The ladies of Louis XIV’s court used lemons to redden their lips. Sailors used lemons to combat scurvy. Lemons were introduced to the Americas in 1493 by Christopher Columbus. Spanish conquests helped to spread the lemon seeds throughout the New World as ornament and medicine. In the 1700’s and late 1800’s lemons were planted in Florida and California and began to be used in cooking and flavoring. California and Arizona produce approximately 95% of the U.S. crop making lemons available year round.

Today lemons are used primarily for its juice, although the pulp and rind are used in cooking and baking and are a versatile element of today’s healthy diet turning ordinary food into something spectacular. The grated rind of the lemon is called lemon zest and is used to add flavor. One popular science experiment involves attaching electrodes to a lemon and using it as a battery to power light. The electricity generated can power a small motor.

Lemons are used for: lemonade, garnish for drinks, marmalade, natural breath enhancer, finger moistener for counting large sums of bills, deodorizer, bleach wooden rolling pins or cutting boards, and freshens stinky garbage disposals.

Lemon juice can: marinate meats, neutralize fish odor, substitute for buttermilk, be a short-term preservative, remove household grease, berry stains and smell of garlic or onions from hands, is a natural laxative, cleans silver, copper pans, tarnish off brass, and glass shower doors, disinfects, be an insecticide, lighten hair color, add gloss and tame frizz, is great for coughs, heals pimples, relieves itching and rash of poison ivy, freshens the air, and brightens whites that can’t be bleached.

My Luscious Lemon Supreme had my husband and son smacking their lips and asking for seconds. The Luscious Lemon Supreme is a regal cool desert with a mild light lemony taste and is very easy to make. Preparation time for my Luscious Lemon Supreme is twenty minutes (not counting baking and cooling time) and this recipe serves sixteen.

Luscious Lemon Supreme

1 lemon cake mix
2 (3.4 oz) boxes of instant lemon pudding
4 c milk
1 (8 oz) container of cool whip

Make lemon cake mix according to the directions. Divide the batter between two 9 x 13 greased baking dishes. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Cool for one hour. Mix together the instant pudding and milk stirring with a Wisk until thickened. Pour half of the pudding on the first layer of cake. Place second layer of cake on top of pudding. Add remaining pudding and then layer the cool whip over the top. Chill and garnish with thin slices of lemon and mint leaves!

Weekly tip: To make sugared grape or mint leaves beat one egg white until frothy. Dip small cluster of grapes or leaves in the egg white and roll in sugar. Let dry for twelve hours. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Stewed Tomatoes

Stewed Tomatoes

Dorcas Annette Walker

Tomatoes are a popular home garden crop. They require a small area, bear repeatedly with an abundance of fruit, are widely adapted, and easy to grow. There is nothing like the first time a home gardener goes out and picks the first ripe tomato off the vine that he has watched slowly mature. Tomatoes are a favorite subject of gardeners. Some prefer a real mouth puckering tomato while others like a sweeter tasting tomato. Then another consideration is open-pollinated or hybrid, staking or bush, fast ripening, early, main season, or late variety. There are also over 600 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. You can choose any color you wish from the traditional deep red; a rainbow of green, yellow, and pink; yellowish white; bright orange; yellow red; pink; orangey red; deep yellow; pinky purple; lemon yellow; to red and orange stripes. In other words there is a tomato out there for everyone.

There are endless recipes of how to prepare tomatoes. Tomatoes were popular and a traditional southern dish during the latter part of the Civil War. An 1825 recipe for stewed tomatoes says to take off the skin, put the tomatoes into a pan with salt, pepper, butter and cook until thick. Not only are tomatoes tasty, but they are healthy for you as tomatoes are rich in vitamins A and C, low in calories, and have been linked to prevention of cancer. For the younger generation there is a female rock band called "Stewed Tomatoes". I think the name says it all.

I’ve never had a recipe until now for my homemade Stewed Tomatoes that tastes very similar to fried tomatoes due to browning the flour before adding fresh or canned tomatoes. Stewed Tomatoes makes an attractive vegetable dish by itself or you can eat them over toast for a nutritious and economical lunch. Stewed Tomatoes are good year round, but comes in handy during the summer when canning tomatoes and you have one quart that doesn’t seal or extra tomatoes that needs to be used up. My Stewed Tomatoes takes thirty minutes to prepare and this recipe serves six.

Stewed Tomatoes

4 tb margarine
¾ c self-rising flour
1 c cold water
1 qt tomatoes
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

In a medium-sized saucepan melt margarine and then stir in the flour. Turn up the heat and brown the flour. Then turn down the heat to low and quickly add water and tomatoes. Turn the heat back up gently stirring the tomatoes until they boil. Add salt and pepper. Let simmer for fifteen more minutes. Serve hot by itself or over buttered toast!

Weekly tip: Never refrigerate tomatoes as it destroys the flavor and makes them mealy. If your tomatoes need ripening place them in a paper bag with a banana or apple for a couple of days!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

English Scones

English Scones

Dorcas Annette Walker

There is something relaxing about sitting down on my front porch in a rocking chair in the middle of a hot summer day and drinking a cup of hot tea. Just stopping for a few minutes helps reprioritize one’s schedule and enjoy the world around you. No wonder the English take their teatime seriously. When my niece, Stacy was an exchange student this past semester over in England her one professor told her that he would wait until after teatime to start the class so she wouldn’t miss her tea. Can you imagine one of our American professors doing that? I blame my English genes for feeling the need to take a short break every afternoon.

My great grandfather Smith stowed away on a ship from Liverpool England as a child and spent most of his life on the sea until he married and settled down here in America. Grandpa Smith was never able to get the knack of driving a car after years on a ship. Our favorite story was Grandpa Smith trying to learn to drive. Behind the wheel of his model T Ford Grandpa Smith would forget that he wasn’t at sea when he’d go to turn the wheel for a curve. Thinking he was on a ship he would instinctively spin the steering wheel and turn the car over on its side every time. The passengers would have to crawl out through the window flaps and help turn the model T Ford upright again.

The Duchess of Bedford is credited with being the creator of the teatime when she suffered a faint spell one afternoon and had her servants bring her a pot of tea and some breadstuff. Prior to this the English had two main meals; morning and evening. She liked her snack so well that soon the Duchess invited her friends to join her for tea and the practice was quickly picked up by other social hostesses. There are three basic types of afternoon or low tea; Cream Tea (tea, scones, jam, and cream), Light Tea (tea, scones, and sweets), and Full Tea (tea, savories, scones, sweets, and a dessert). Today in England most tea rooms serve tea from three to five o’clock.

My flat pie-shaped English Scones give a British flair to any afternoon tea with their soft crunchy texture tasting more like a biscuit rather than a cookie. These English Scones go well with any flavor of tea. You can make the scones plain; add nuts of your choice, dried fruit, or currants. My English Scones take ten minutes to prepare and this recipe makes twelve scones.

English Scones

2 c plain flour
½ c sugar
1 tb cream of tartar
¾ tsp baking soda
6 tb butter
½ c chopped nuts
2 eggs
1 tb milk

Mix together the flour, sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, and nuts. Cut in the butter and add the eggs and milk. Form the dough into a ball and pat out into a circle on a greased 12 inch pizza pan. Sprinkle sugar on top and cut into twelve slices. Bake for fifteen minutes at 350º until golden brown. Serve with your favorite tea!

Weekly tip: A proper English tea is made by seeping teabags in hot water in a teapot. Pour the tea into china teacups adding sugar and milk or a slice of lemon!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Squashy Homemade Hush Puppies

Squashy Homemade Hush Puppies

Dorcas Annette Walker

Since my husband loved to fish, I began experimenting with hush puppy recipes bringing back memories of when our family lived on Harker’s island off the North Carolina coastline accessed by crossing a drawbridge. It was during this time that my father’s one fishing trip involved the coast guard and entire area. While the memory remains forever etched in my mind, I called my sister to verify the details of this fishing expedition.

Even though my father was crippled due to having severe hemophilia, my dad was not one to sit idle. He bought a used boat and talked my younger sister and me into going for a trial run where the motor clonked out once we were a couple of miles off shore. My sister and I got the “privilege” of rowing back in. After several such trips my sister and I refused to go out anymore. Meanwhile my father had made friends with Doc, a crippled veteran. To my mother’s shock one sunny morning at breakfast my father announced that he and Doc were going fishing. He assured my mother that the motor was fixed and he would come to school to pick us up that afternoon like usual. When my father failed to show up after school we hitched a ride home. At that point my mother wasn’t too worried figuring that the fishing trip was taking longer than planned.

True to form the motor clonked out a couple miles from shore; the boat started drifting, and got snagged on a sandbar. My father managed to climb out of the boat and push them off barely getting back into the boat losing an oar in the process. Another currant drifted their small boat into the commercial fishing lane so they put Doc’s jacket on the top of their one oar to wave trying to attract attention. My dad admitted later that he was beginning to worry as the waves were rough and he knew if they drifted much further out into the ocean the boat would capsize.

After supper my mother called our pastor, who nearly went into cardiac arrest when he learned that my father and Doc had taken the boat out that day. Recent storms in the area had changed wave patterns making two cripples and a small skiff no match for the strong undertow. He phoned the coast guard, who went on full alert. Local fishermen joined the search when word went out that two crippled men were stranded in a small skiff. When darkness came all hope for a successful rescue was shattered. My mother was preparing herself to face the future as a widow when the phone rang. She nearly passed out when she heard my father’s voice asking her to come and pick him up. A current had finally drifted their boat back to one side of the island. My father never did understand what all the fuss was about, although the locals shook their heads for days afterwards.

My Squashy Homemade Hush Puppies resemble small biscuits, are finger-licking good, and can be made in an iron skillet over a campfire. This recipe is an excellent way to use up garden squash, but you can also make plain hush puppies by substituting milk in place of squash. Preparation time for my Squashy Homemade Hush Puppies is thirty minutes and this recipe makes fifteen.

Squashy Homemade Hush Puppies

1 c yellow cornmeal
1 c flour
2 c cooked and mashed squash
1 egg
1 tb dried onion
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp lemon pepper
1 qt cooking oil (your choice)

In a medium-sized bowl mix together all the ingredients except for the cooking oil. Drop a tb of stiff batter into the cooking oil that has been heated until hot. Cook for five minutes on medium heat turning the hush puppies until they are golden brown. Using a slotted spoon remove the hush puppies from the oil and drain on paper towels. Serve hot!

Weekly tip: You can save and reuse cooking oil several times when cooking items that you deep fry!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Rose Mints

Rose Mints

Dorcas Annette Walker

Summer is the main season for weddings. It is exciting and joyous to see a couple exchange vows to cherish each other for life after months of preparation. This year our son is getting married. Once more I am in a whirl of activities planning a wedding shower. What started at my sister’s wedding and has become a tradition in any weddings for our family is my Rose Mints. Every time I make my Rose Mints I’m always asked for the recipe.

As a young child, I was always fascinated by the after dinner mints that were handed around at the end of my grandmother’s yearly Christmas formal dinners. The sight of those large square white mints sitting on a fancy glass dish that melted in one’s mouth always mesmerized me as they were slowly passed around the table. No matter how stuffed one was there always was room for an after dinner mint. I promised myself that when I grew up and had a home of my own I would always end a fancy meal with after dinner mints.

Not long after I was married, I was thrilled to discover a recipe for homemade mints and began experimenting. When I found a store that carried rubber candy molds I began producing hundreds of Rose Mints in all colors. Homemade mints add a finishing touch to weddings, baby showers, graduations, and birthday celebrations. You can find different shaped rubber candy molds at craft stores to use for other holidays as well.

My Rose Mints are decorative. These bite-size confections that melt in one’s mouth are irresistible with their mild peppermint flavor and a smooth creamy texture. You can substitute almond flavoring instead of peppermint for a different taste. Any leftover mints can be stored in the freezer. Just let the mints thaw out before serving. This Rose Mint recipe makes 5½ dozen mints and takes about 30 minutes.

Rose Mints

1 lb powdered sugar
¼ c real butter (melted)
¼ tsp peppermint extract
6 tb milk
couple drops of food coloring (optional)
rose rubber candy mold
In a medium-sized bowl combine the powdered sugar, butter, extract, and milk. Knead the ingredients together with your hands for about five minutes until it is thoroughly mixed and you have a solid hard-like consistency of a very stiff icing. If you are using food coloring make sure that all the coloring is spread evenly throughout the candy.

Take a tsp of the mint candy, fill the rose mold, and press down firmly with both thumbs until the surface is smooth and even with the tip of the mold, discarding any extra filling. Turn the rose mold over and position both thumbs above the center of the mold.

Twist and pop the Rose Mint out on a waxed surface. If the candy sticks to the mold add some more powdered sugar. If the rose falls apart add more milk. Any disfigured roses can be instantly redone. Let the Rose Mints harden on wax paper for twenty-four hours and then store in a closed container!

Weekly tip: To make a crystallized mint as soon as you pop the mint out of the mold, gently turn the mint face down in a bowl of granulated sugar, and twist in a circle. Place upright on wax paper and let harden!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com

Curled Celery

Curled Celery

Dorcas Annette Walker

As a young college student, my mother worked a couple of summers at Martha’s Vineyard helping prepare food in the kitchen. It was there that she learned how to make fancy celery. During the summer or on holidays a dish of Curled Celery would lend a classy touch to our small meal. My mother always served her Curled Celery in an oval fancy glass dish. We thought it was the only way to prepare celery and it wasn’t until we were married and entertaining ourselves that we discovered other people had never seen Curled Celery before. I always think of my mother every time I prepare Curled Celery or see an antique oval cut glass dish.

Celery was first recorded in France in 1623, was used by the ancient Greeks and Romans for flavoring, and is native to the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The ancient Chinese used celery for medicine. Celery was first introduced to the United States in 1856 by a Scotsman in Michigan. One ounce of celery seeds produces an acre of celery. Today California is the top celery producer with Michigan ranking fourth and Florida producing 20%. Two billion pounds of celery are grown each year here in the United States with a consumption of nine to ten pounds per person annually. Plain celery is great for losing weight as more calories are consumed eating and digesting celery than the 10 calories intake per stalk. Celery is also a good source of fiber.

Curled Celery is worth the extra minutes it takes to prepare, is great for family reunions or holidays throughout the year, and is a feast for the eyes. The crunchy texture of the celery with a nutritious filling is a perfect addition to any meal. For extra color dice cranberries into small pieces, add chopped raisins, or grapes to the cheese filling. You could also include minced carrots or broccoli. One regular stalk of celery will make a dozen pieces and preparation time is around fifteen minutes not counting chilling or filling.

Curled Celery

Wash and cut the celery stalks into four to six inches. Then make shallow cuts down the celery stalk about a ¼ inch on both sides. Chill in a container of water in the refrigerator overnight.

Fill the celery stalks by first patting the stalks dry with a paper towel and then spread regular, crunchy peanut butter, or a cream cheese filling on the celery.

Cream cheese and nut filling:
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese softened
¼ c chopped pecans
Mix together and spread on a celery stalk. Place celery in a decorative glass dish and serve!

Weekly tip: Instead of throwing away celery leaves dry them by cutting off the leaves and place on a paper plate in a thin layer. Air-dry for two to three days until the leaves are completely dried. Crumble the leaves and store in an empty spice container with your other spices. Dried celery leaves adds flavor to soups!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com