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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 12, 2018)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 • 3A Cook’s Corner: Using fall apples in your kitchen recipes By Betty Kaiser For The Sentinel Time flies! It seems like just yesterday it was June and we were planting flowers and tomatoes while looking for- ward to summer days, barbe- cues, peaches and watermel- on. Now, I am so done with summer and ready for the weather to get a little cooler and put the gardens to bed. My first “foodie” thought for the soon-to-be fall season is always... apples! Oregon is a great place to grow (and buy) apples. There are so many ways to use the old Johnny Appleseed fa- vorite that it’s hard to know where to begin. Of course, we can all heed the adage that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” and often have one for lunch. Thanks to the mild weath- er and abundant rainfall, Or- egon orchards produce more nthan 21 apple varieties. Gala and Fuji are the most abun- dant crops, but each variety has just a little different ap- pearance and taste. Check out these newer ones. • Fuji’s are a Japanese cre- ation and have been around since the 1980s. Their par- ents are the American Red Delicious and the Ralls Janet. They are large with speck- led pink. They are sweet and very juicy and come fresh on the market from Oct. to Dec. Good for making sugar-free applesauce. • Galas are another favor- ite. They are medium-sized with a range of colors. They are a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Kidd’s Or- ange Red. I like them for eat- ing out of hand or cooking. They ripen early and store well. • Honeycrisps have been around about 20 years but they are excellent ready-to- eat apples right out of the re- frigerator. Their flat tops and bottoms highlight their red peel with light green or yel- low. They start to ripen about now and are good keepers. • I started making small batches of homemade apple sauce when my kids were lit- tle. Golden or Red Delicious apples would get kind of old and it was quick to mix up a batch for dinner to go with pork chops, etc. One year, I tried canning a small batch mixed with a couple of Granny Smiths. It worked so well that apple- sauce canning became my regular fall season ritual. The following apple sauce recipe is a mixture of three or more old-fashioned apples. First, I use some Granny Smiths that have bright green skin, are firm, subtly sweet and crisp in texture. Also, some Gravensteins, a tart, green, end-of-summer apple that can be baked, sau- téed, roasted or slow cooked and pureed. Then I add the national apple of Canada — McIntosh apples. They have red and green skin, a tart flavor and tender flesh. They ripen in late Sept. and are perfect for pies or sauce. Check out my home- grown recipe below along with my mother’s recipe for Old Fashioned Applesauce Cookies. Everyone loves them and they are great in back-to- school lunches. apples are tender and trans- lucent and juices thicken. Mash apples with a pota- to masher until desired tex- ture is reached. Add sugar to taste and cinnamon; stir un- til dissolved. Serve warm or chilled. If canning, process according to your canner’s instructions. Yield: unknown. It all de- pends on the apples. BETTY’S APPLESAUCE Note: We use an old-fash- (Can be frozen or canned) ioned apple peeler gadget. It • 12-14 large apples, works like a charm because peeled and coarsely chopped my husband does it! (about 6 ½ pounds) Note: I use a mixture of OLD-FASHIONED 3 varieties of apples in the APPLESAUCE COOKIES sauce. • ½ cup shortening (not • 3-4 cups water margarine) • 2-1/2 cups sugar (can • 1 cup sugar be a mixture of brown and • 1 large egg white) • 2 cups flour, sifted • 2 teaspoons cinnamon • 1-1/2 teaspoon cinna- Peel and core apples and mon put in a bowl of cold water • 1/4 teaspoon cloves with lemon. • 1/2 teaspoon salt Drain. • 1/2 teaspoon baking Put apples and water in a soda Dutch oven (large pot) and • 1 teaspoon baking pow- bring to a boil over medi- der um-high heat. Reduce heat • 1 cup sweetened apple- and simmer, stirring often sauce with a potato masher (!) until • 1/2 cup golden raisins • 1/2 cup chopped wal- nuts Cream the shortening and sugar together. After they are well blended, add the egg to the mixture and beat until light and fluffy. Sift the flour together with the cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add the sifted ingredients alternating with the apple- sauce to the creamed mixture and blend together. Next, add the raisins and nuts and mix until blend- ed. Drop by teaspoons onto greased cookie baking sheets. Can be iced later. Bake at 400 degrees Fahr- enheit for 15 to 20 minutes until well browned. Cool on wire racks. 'Makes about 3-4 dozen depending on size of cookies. Contact Betty Kaiser’s Chatterbox at 942-1317 or email bchatty@ bettykaiser.com Matsutke mushroom picking permits now available as season begins ROSEBURG — Matsutake mushroom permits are now avail- able for the Umpqua National For- est. The permits, which became available Sept. 4, are also good for harvesting on the Fremont-Wine- ma, Willamette and Deschutes Na- tional Forests, except in wilderness areas. The 2018 matsutake mushroom season runs through Nov. 4. To pick mushrooms on national forest system lands, a permit from the U.S. Forest Service is required. A commercial use permit for matsutake mushrooms is $200 for the 62-day season, $100 for a half-season (valid for 31 con- secutive days) or $8 per day with a three-day minimum purchase (picking days need not be consec- utive). Harvesters must be at least 18 years of age with a valid U.S. gov- ernment-issued ID in order to pur- chase a permit. Each person picking mush- rooms must have a permit. The permits may be purchased Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at all district offices of the Umpqua National Forest. Offices are located in Tiller, Glide, Toketee and Cottage Grove. Permits are also available at dis- trict offices of the Deschutes, Fre- mont-Winema and Willamette Na- tional Forests. Hours may vary by ranger dis- trict. Included with each permit is an informational synopsis and a map showing areas open for harvesting. The permit is not valid on state or private property. Areas closed to harvest include Crater Lake National Park, New- berry National Volcanic Monu- ment, HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, and Research Natural Areas, Wilderness areas, Oregon Cascades Recreation Area, campgrounds, and othewr areas that are posted closed. ore We Fetch You M yo ur door! …and deliver it all to EVERY CHILD HAS A CHANCE– ® IT’S YOU. Get FREE e-edition access with your subscription! Our e-edition gives you full online access to all of the valuable features included in our print edition, plus bonus weekly deals and shoppelocal.biz. Local News Local Events, Entertainment & Special Off ers Weekly Coupon Savings Restaurant & Dining Coupons Th emed Special Sections Local Jobs & Classifi ed Listings Local Real Estate Local Sports Reporting Games, Puzzles & TV 541.942.3325 Subscribe Today with our most fetching off er yet! Weekly Delivery, Only $32.00 a year New Subscribers only Your satisfaction is guaranteed. Cancel anytime! 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