Strawberry Dumplings!

  

These strawberry dumplings are an old, old recipe that my grandmother and aunt made when my mother was just a little girl.  My grandparents were farmers raising 11 children and times were hard for a lot of folks back then, but they always had plenty of butter and cream and they grew strawberries, so this was a special treat that was fairly easy for them to have.

This would definitely be a recipe Julia Child would approve of since it uses her two favorite ingredients.  There are no substitutions for the butter and cream either.  You can  make these with other fruit...blackberries, peaches, blueberries, even apple slices would be good.  This is what you will need for these: 

2  1/2 cups biscuit mix (like Bisquick)

3/4 cup cold water

4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

8 Tbs. butter, divided

1  1/2 cups sugar, divided

2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

                Mix the biscuit mix and water and roll into a ball. Place on a floured surface.



Divide the ball into 8 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a circle.  Place 1/ 2 cup strawberries, 1 Tbs. butter and 2 Tbs. sugar on top of the berries.

Wet the dough around the edges just a little and pinch each 'dumpling' up into a  little purse.  Place seam side up in a greased 9"x13" baking dish. 

Pour the 2 cups of cream over  and around the dumplings.  Sprinkle each with 1 more tablespoon of sugar.  Place in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour uncovered.  Half way through the baking time, remove from the oven and dip some of the cream up and pour back over the tops of each dumpling.  This keeps them from drying out and makes the tops nice and brown.

Remove from oven and serve with ice cream, whipped cream or just like this!  These are just delicious! 

Strawberry Dumplings!

Mama's Spiced Apples!

This recipe can be served as a light dessert or as a side to meat dishes.  They are really good with pork such as,  ham or pork loin.  Even though they look elegant, these apples are really easy to prepare.  Your guests will be wowed by the presentation!

 Here is what you need:

6 large, firm apples
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
6 thin lemon slices
1 Tbs. grated orange zest
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 whole cloves
2 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
red food coloring
12 maraschino cherries

Peel and halve apples.  Remove the stem ends.  Carefully remove the core using a melon ball scoop.  The halves need to be left intact in one piece. 

Combine sugar and water in  a large skillet.  Bring to a boil.  Add the lemon slices, cloves,  orange zest,  and cinnamon.  Add the apples.   Simmer over medium heat until the apples are tender but still firm, about 15 minutes.  Turn the apples over once during cooking.

Remove apples and lemon slices to a serving dish.

Bring the syrup in the skillet to a rolling boil.  Boil until it forms a thin syrup (4-5 minutes).  Stir the cornstarch into the 1/4 cup cold water.  Stir into the syrup mixture and cook for about 2-3  minutes or until thickened.   Add  a few drops of red food coloring.

 Allow to cool just slightly and pour over the apples.   Garnish each apple half with a maraschino cherry in the middle.

This is a perfect side dish with the Kentucky Bourbon Brown Sugar Ham or Bacon Wrapped Maple Glazed Pork Loin or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as an elegant dessert!