Apple Dumplings

1 (8 oz) tube original-size crescent rolls

1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced into 8 pieces

1 stick butter, melted

½ to ¾ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

¾ cup Mountain Dew soda

Ground cinnamon

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-by- 8 inch baking dish with

nonstick spray.

Unroll crescent rolls. Wrap each apple slide with dough and place in the baking

dish; seam side down. Combine butter, sugar and vanilla until just combined (it

doesn’t have to be smooth). Pour over rolls. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Pour

Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden

brown (you want them to get fairly golden so the bottoms cook through, but don’t let

them burn.) Cool briefly, remove rolls from syrup and then drizzle the syrup on top

when serving to prevent them from getting too soggy.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over

the top.

Comment: Mom and Dad enjoy this quick treat.

Syrian Bread

5 lb. Robin Hood flour       

1 cup sugar

3½  to 4 tsp. salt

1 stick margarine, melted

2 3-strip Rapid Rise yeast (dry, total of 6 envelopes)

4 cups warm water (warm enough for yeast)

Directions:  Add yeast to 2 cups warm water with a ½ tsp. or so of sugar to help activate the yeast.  Stir until mixed.  Put flour, sugar and salt in large mixing bowl.  Add margarine and yeast/water to the dry ingredients.  Mix with your buttered hands.  Add additional water as needed to form dough—sometimes takes more than 4 cups.  Knead until dough still looks shaggy, but slight bounce back to finger touch.  Usually 3-5 minutes.

Place dough in a draft-free place, cover with plastic wrap, wrap bowel in bath towel, and let rise.  Carefully punch down dough and let rise again.  Butter your hands (always want the dough to have some butter on it throughout the process so it does not form a hard shell).  Divide dough into balls that will make one loaf, and place dough balls on wax paper.  Cover with towels and let rest/rise for about 30 minutes. 

Butter Hands. Pick up the dough, turn over on counter and pat out with fingers.  Cover with towel and let rest 10 minutes.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Flatten loaves and butter.  Put bread directly on oven rack.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Flip the loaves.  Bake another 8 minutes.  Bread should be golden brown on both sides.

Comment:  Aunt Mary’s prize.  In sharing the recipe, variations have included as little as ¼ cup sugar or a total of 5 cups warm water or a little more melted margarine.  Aunt Mary frequently doubled the recipe and made 10 lb. batches.  Debate rages on about packets of yeast versus fresh yeast.  Aunt Mary was a big believer in using Robin Hood flour. 

Aunt Mary’s most famous instruction:  “Knead the dough until you are sweating under your boobs.”  However, that must have taken her 3-5 minutes.

And, remember, your bread will never be as good as Aunt Mary’s or Granny’s or Aunt Aigia’s bread.

Apple Cabbage Slaw

1 pkg. chopped cole slaw (or core and chop one medium head green cabbage)

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into thin strips

1 tsp. salt

2 scallions, thinly sliced

3 T. vegetable oil

¼ cup cider vinegar

¼ cup sugar

1 T. Dijon mustard

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions: In a large bowl, toss cabbage and salt. Add apples and scallions and

toss to combine. Bring oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, and pepper flakes to boil in a

saucepan over medium heat. Pour over cabbage mixture and toss to coat. Cover

with plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. Serve.

Comment: For some crunch add your choice of chopped walnuts, sliced almonds or

sunflower seeds.

Speedy Salmon Fillet

3 T. lemon juice      1 T. olive oil

1 T. soy sauce      ¼ tsp. ground ginger

1 clove minced garlic      1 tsp. Worcestershire

¼ tsp. pepper      Salmon fillets

Directions: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together all sauce ingredients. Marinade

the salmon fillets for 20 minutes. Brush both sides of the salmon with some sauce.

Grill fillets on aluminum foil. Baste with remaining sauce as the salmon cooks.

Comment: A favorite salmon recipe.

Chicken Enchiladas

16 corn tortillas

Roasted Chicken, shredded

1 can chopped green chilies

Cumin, for sprinkling

Chili Powder, for sprinkling

¼ cups vegetable oil

1 large onion, diced

3 cans (15 oz. size) green enchilada sauce

3 cups grated cheddar cheese

Sour cream for serving

Diced tomato, for serving

Chopped cilantro, for serving

Directions: One at time, hold tortillas over the stovetop burner to brown slightly for

a little charred flavor. Set tortillas aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil and cook the onions until translucent. Add green chilies.

Add roasted chicken to heat. Flavor the chicken mixture with cumin and chili

powder to taste.

In a greased 9” x 13” casserole dish, put a couple of spoonfuls of enchilada sauce on

bottom to prevent tortillas from sticking. To assemble tortillas, dip a tortilla in

sauce, then lay on a plate. Sprinkle with cheese. Add chicken mixture and a

spoonful of sauce. Roll it up tightly and place it seam down in the dish. Repeat.

Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the enchiladas, the sprinkle on the rest of

the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly.

Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with a dollop

of sour cream, a sprinkle of tomatoes and a sprinkling of cilantro.

Comment: I always buy a roasted chicken at grocery store and shred it. Saves time and adds flavor.