Apples

[becke_davis]

When it's just the two of us at home, we generally avoid the temptation altogether.

[becke_davis]

They no longer run this -- probably because the term "Indian Summer" is politically incorrect -- but the Chicago Tribune used to run this every fall when I was growing up:

[Choisya]

Oh! Does the term 'Indian Summer' apply to Native Americans?  I always thought it applied to Indians from India because it is Summer there when we have Autumn.  It is also called St Martin's or St Luke's Summer and those 'harvest' festivals take place in October.  Shakespeare refers to it in Henry IV:  'farewell thou latter Spring, all Hallow'n summer', as Halloween also falls in October.

In Germany it is called Altweibersommer because spiders then weave lacelike webs which look like old ladies shawls!  

[Choisya]

Traditionally, we eat Yorkshire Parkin, Bonfire Toffee and Toffee Apples in the Autumn.  Here are my grandmother's recipes:-

Yorkshire Parkin 

Ingredients

1/2lb plain flour

1/4lb golden syrup

1/4lb black treacle ('molasses')

1tsp baking soda

1tbs warm water

3oz butter

1/4lb demerara sugar

1tsp ground ginger (or 1tbs plain cocoa powder to make Chocolate Parkin)

1 egg and a little milk

Method

Grease a 12” meat tin with butter and keep slightly warm.  Put oven on Gas Regulo 4 (moderate).

Beat the egg and milk together.

Using a 2 pint saucepan, slowly melt butter, syrup, treacle on top of the stove over a low light.  (Do not allow to boil or ‘caramel’.)  Gradually add flour, sugar, oatmeal, ginger/cocoa  until well blended and sugar is dissolved.  Add the beaten egg and milk.  Finally and quickly add the baking soda  mixed with warm water and beat well.  Quickly pour mixture into a greased, warm meat tin and cook in the centre of the oven for approximately 45 minutes or until risen evenly. (Test middle with a fork – if it comes out ‘clean’ the cake is done.)  Cut into 2” squares whilst warm and in tin.  Remove from tin with a spatula and place on a rack to cool.

Traditionally eaten warm on ‘Bonfire Night’ – November 5th, with cold milk but stores for many months if kept in an airtight tin with a sound apple (as do most ‘cut-and-come-again’ cakes).

Bonfire Toffee

Ingredients

3 oz Demerara sugar

5 ozs Butter

1tbs golden syrup

1 tbs black treacle (or 1tbs melted plain cooking chocolate for Chocolate toffee)

Saucerful of iced water

Melt sugar and butter over a low heat, with a wooden spoon in a heavy saucepan.  Gradually add syrup and black treacle/chocolate and slightly raise heat until boiling point is reached.  Test for ‘crack’ by dropping a small amount of mixture into the iced water.  If it sets and ‘cracks’ crisply, it is done.  It should not be ‘chewy’.  Pour into a well greased shallow tin or dish until cool then mark into 1” squares with a greased knife.  Traditionally eaten on November 5.  (Can also be used to dip toffee apples in.  Put apples on a fork or sticks, dip into toffee and then twirl to cover.  Place on greaseproof paper to set.)

[TiggerBear]

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Choisya wrote:

Oh! Does the term 'Indian Summer' apply to Native Americans?  I always thought it applied to Indians from India because it is Summer there when we have Autumn.  It is also called St Martin's or St Luke's Summer and those 'harvest' festivals take place in October.  Shakespeare refers to it in Henry IV:  'farewell thou latter Spring, all Hallow'n summer', as Halloween also falls in October.

In Germany it is called Altweibersommer because spiders then weave lacelike webs which look like old ladies shawls!  

---

Hmm not sure.

In the US, depending on which state, and not every year we have them. Used called a indian summer when it gets slightly cool, leave turn but then a week or so later it gets summer hot again. The longer and hotter an indian summer the shorter winter is that year. Something to do with how close earth is to the sun, sun spots, volcanic activity...

I've heard that it called that because you can get a second grow. A second summer ment fewer of us natives would die come winter from staving. So it was good news to the "Indians". But what that the really reason why it called that .. (shrug)

[TiggerBear]

Ok what's "golden syrup"?

[becke_davis]

Golden syrup is very popular in England - my husband loves it! This is how Wikipedia describes it: Golden syrup is a pale treacle.[1] It is a thick, amber-colored form of inverted sugar syrup, made in the process of refining sugar cane juice into sugar, or by treatment of a sugar solution with acid. It is used in a variety of baking recipes and desserts. It has an appearance similar to honey, and is often used as a substitute for people who do not eat honey. It can also be used as a substitute for corn syrup. Golden syrup was invented in 1883 by Scottish businessman Abram Lyley, when he discovered that a byproduct of the sugar cane refined at his factory in Plaistow, East London, could be made into a delicious spread and sweetener for cooking. First sold to Lyle's employees and local customers in wooden casks, the iconic green and gold tins that Lyle's golden syrup is sold in today were introduced in 1885.[2] The tin bears a picture of the rotting carcass of a lion with a swarm of bees, and the slogan "Out of the strong came forth sweetness". I'm trying to add images but that feature isn't working at the moment -- I'll try later.

[becke_davis]

Choisya asked about the meaning of the term "Indian Summer." This is what I found online -- some of the articles were fascinating, so I've included the links:

An Indian Summer refers to a time of year when temperatures are considerably above normal. The term Indian Summer dates as far back as the early 1800s with possible connections to early American Indian tribes, and typically is associated with a stretch of warm, quiet weather occurring in the autumn months. Though the exact circumstances that constitute a true Indian Summer are debated, most agree on a few solid aspects that define an Indian Summer. Many references to an Indian Summer state that a true Indian Summer can not occur until there has been a killing frost or freeze. While this is typically and almost exclusively a weather event that occurs in the fall, some areas have reported weather conditions applicable to an Indian Summer in the winter months.

The most commonly accepted locations for an Indian Summer to occur are the Mid-Atlantic states north to New England and west across the Ohio Valley, the Great Lakes areas, and the Midwest, as well as into the Great Plains states. Essentially, anywhere that has a defined winter season can experience an Indian Summer. The weather patterns that impact and cause an Indian Summer involve large areas of high pressure along the East Coast with warm temperatures from the South and Southwest being pulled up. This results in a clockwise rotation of wind around the area of high pressure. It is possible for the warmer than normal stretch of weather to last for a few days to over a week, but it is widely agreed upon that an Indian Summer involves at least three days of such weather.

Though the term "Indian Summer" is typically reserved to refer to climatic conditions in North America, other areas, such as Europe, refer to similar seasons differently. In areas where no defined winter season or freezing occurs or is likely to occur, the term has little meaning, if any at all.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/basics/indian-summer.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_summer

The etymology of "Indian summer" The origins of the term Indian Summer are most commonly thought to have derived from the timing of Summer in India to correlate with good weather in Autumn in the Western world. The expression "Indian summer" has also been used for more than two centuries. The earliest known use was by French American writer St. John de Crevecoeur in rural New York in 1778. There are several theories as to its etymology: In The Americans,

The Colonial Experience, Daniel J. Boorstin speculates that the term originated from raids on European colonies by Indian war parties; these raids usually ended in autumn, hence the extension to summer-like weather in the fall as an Indian summer. Two of the three other known uses of the term in the 18th century are from accounts kept by two army officers leading retaliation expeditions against Indians for raids on settlers in Ohio and Indiana in 1790, and Pennsylvania in 1794.[1] It may be so named because this was the traditional period during which early North Americans First Nations/Native American harvested their crops of squash and corn.

[becke_davis]

Okay, something's up with the board. I'll have to come back later and reformat that post.

[Choisya]

We also call it treacle, although that name is also used for what Americans call molasses, black treacle, which I believe is used in Cajun cuisine?  Golden Syrup is particularly nice on porridge!  The baked apple recipe here is a popular one in Autumn, I usually core then stuff large cooking apples with dates, sprinkle with cinnamon and cover with golden syrup - a very easy dessert which can be cooked in a microwave.   I am sure that Golden Syrup is bad for you but I love it!

Tate & Lyle are the only cane sugar refiners in UK and Europe and they have been manufacturing since the late 19C.  There is a picture of a lion on the tin, surrounded by a swarm of bees, with the biblical quote 'Out of the strong came forth sweetness'.

[TiggerBear]

---

Choisya wrote:

We also call it treacle, although that name is also used for what Americans call molasses, black treacle, which I believe is used in Cajun cuisine?  Golden Syrup is particularly nice on porridge!  The baked apple recipe here is a popular one in Autumn, I usually core then stuff large cooking apples with dates, sprinkle with cinnamon and cover with golden syrup - a very easy dessert which can be cooked in a microwave.   I am sure that Golden Syrup is bad for you but I love it!

Tate & Lyle are the only cane sugar refiners in UK and Europe and they have been manufacturing since the late 19C.  There is a picture of a lion on the tin, surrounded by a swarm of bees, with the biblical quote 'Out of the strong came forth sweetness'.

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Molasses, now that stuff (chuckle) I know. Black strap and grama molasses or do you buy it from the bespeckled bunny or a woman with a lace scarf. Cajun cuisine (shaking head) nope, pure southern. Post Civil war sugar was beyond dear to buy. All that anybody could get if they did not find wild honey was molasses.

Now I thought treakle was fudge (scratching head). Got me wondering though if White Karo would work. Cause I looked it up, I'd have to order "golden" from UK. Can't find a US service that sells it.

[Choisya]

This US company appear to sell it TB.

http://www.englishteastore.com/golden-syrup.html

[becke_davis]

Yesterday I couldn't post images. Let's see if I can do that today:

[Choisya]

Ooh that photo of a treacle pud!  Yummy!

[TiggerBear]

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Choisya wrote:

This US company appear to sell it TB.

http://www.englishteastore.com/golden-syrup.html

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Well hello yes it does, thanks. 

It didn't come up off of google, wonder why?

[TiggerBear]

Well I've been trying out some new recipes. One of mine, a few other I done though work long ago, and a couple I stumbled on, wrote down, forgot about, and the stumbled into again. I thought I share them with you guys. Here's one.

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Apple Soup

2 carrots small diced

6 celery stalks diced

2 onions (white or yellow) diced

8 to 12 Apples diced (use 2 kinds; grammy greens, empires, galas, even crab apples.. anything firm apple)

1 stick of butter or smart balance diced

1 qt of vegetable or chicken stock

1 qt water

1 pinch of nutmeg

2 pinches of cinnamon

2 pinches of white pepper

salt

In a pot add carrots, celery, onions, and butter on low soften the vegis. Add the apples, stock, water, cinnamon, and pepper  cook until soft. Add nutmeg and salt to taste. Remove from stove, allow to cool somewhat. With a stick blender or in your blender hit puree until smooth. Enjoy warm.

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[becke_davis]

I went to Target yesterday and bought a couple of their holiday yoghurt flavors (Archer Farms brand). The reviewer here hated them: http://grocerysavings.today.com/2008/11/24/horrible-holiday-yogurt-archer-f/ but my husband really liked the bread pudding flavor.

[becke_davis]

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