Aunt Jenny's Dumplings

It's apple season, so here's a blast from the past to get you started. It comes from Who Says We Can't Cook, and submitted by cookbook author Florence Brobeck of "Press Relations".

Florence writes:

My aunt Jenny was oen of the most famous cooks in central Ohio forty years ago. Her kitchen was a huge room dominated by a coal range from which came aromas which touched off a stampede of children from all parts of the house.

Best of all, especially in winter, were the big pans of apple dumplings, steaming at the top with apple jelly oozing out. They were supposed to be served cold, or nearly so. But we couldn't wait. We ate them hot with very cold, very thick cream.

Here is her recipe. (Today's busy housekeepers may use ready mixed pie crust.)

Ohio Apple Dumplings

6 cooking apples

Pastry for two pie crusts

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons grated lemon peel

1/2 cup dried currants (soaked and drained)

1/4 cup apple jelly

1/4 cup butter or margarine

Wash, pare and core apples. Roll pastry about 1/4 inch thick. Cut in circles large enough to cover apples. Mix sugars, cinnamon, peel, currants, and jelly. Spoon mixture into apples. Dot each with butter. Wrap each apple in dough, crimping edges togeter at the top. Place on baking sheet or in shallow baking pan. Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) about 30 minutes, or until apples are soft and pastry golden. Serve warm or cold, with cream, lemon sauce, or hard sauce. Six servings.

Switched at Birth. Or at Least at Editing.

It's BOGO Monday, though you may feel a bit gypped by this set.

Orange Date Dumplings

Orange Date Rolls

Near as I can figure, there are only two differences between these recipes:

1) The first uses homemade Bisquick rather than listing the biscuit ingredients.
2) The second produces a much more substantial amount of syrup.

Item 2 leads me to believe that the recipes were switched at birth. The "Orange Date Rolls" which include about a cup of syrup must actually be the dumplings.

And vice versa.

Can't pull a sweater over MY face. Oh no you can't.